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In 1659 in a confessional box in Malta, priest Don Simone Azzoppardi, whilst caressing the face of Graziosa Borg, put his fingers in her mouth and demanded ‘take these 2 confetti that I had in my mouth and put them in yours; can you feel my saliva?’. She was 19 at the time and he had been harassing her since she was just 10 years old. In a confessional box in Tuscany in 1639, a priest named Francesco Mei asked 17-year-old Brigida Gorinito do something for him. He took a confetto and put it in his mouth, then told the girl to take it in her mouth and suck it, before forcing her hand on his penis. Brigida reported his abuse during the sacrament of the confession anywhere between 10 and 12 times.
We can only imagine how these survivors felt after such assaults, bewildered by guilt and shame, afraid of judgement from their families, or fearing repercussions from the parish and being led to understand that they had enticed religious men into sin. However, what followed was very different to what we might expect from such a religious and provincial environment: the victims, alongside their families and friends, stood up to the perpetrators and demanded justice. Catholic women challenged their priests after abuse in the confessional, claiming the need to set things right despite the power structures in place. More importantly, other females came forward to corroborate their reports, undermining the common narrative to date of women policing each other’s bodies or competing along networks of enmity in court.
In order to frame female agency and these women’s pursuit of justice, this project asks: why were women so vocal? Was it because they had internalised some of the values of the post-Tridentine Church, understanding the decorum necessary for good spiritual leadership? Was it just because Rome was active in controlling sexuality and clergymen? Was the size and nature of the communities, shaped by small proximity, where gossip emerged easily and assaults could not be dealt with quietly by the authorities? And perhaps the most challenging question: what was the emotional impact of sexual violence on the survivors?
Professor Lauren Kassell is the supervisor of this research project.