Pope meets Brigittine abbess named in Indian novices' complaint

Published: 2004-02-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II met with members of the Brigittine Sisters' general chapter and their re-elected abbess, Mother Tekla Famiglietti, less than two weeks after news reports said some of the order's Indian novices complained they were mistreated. The pope made no mention of the accusations when he met the sisters Feb. 9 at the Vatican, but Mother Tekla told the pope closeness to him and fidelity to the church's teaching had led to trouble. "Precisely our unconditional love for your person, Holy Father, and our unlimited fidelity to the church and the magisterium can cause jealousy and diabolical machinations," she told the pope. "But nothing and no one can break our deep communion and the solid unity among all the sisters of our order, nor drive us away from you, Holy Father, and from the church," she said. The abbess, who is Italian, was re-elected Feb. 2 to her fifth six-year term as abbess general of the 600-member order.

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