THOSE 'EMBEZZLING NUNS.'

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 4, 28 January 1904, Page 3

THOSE 'EMBEZZLING NUNS.'

RESULTS OF AN INQUIRY.

Some time ago various New Zealand papers published, under various more or less sensational headings, a story of alleged embezzlement by nuns in Paris. The fact that the story came from the Paris correspondent of the London ' Daily News ' — who is notorious for his envenomed bigotry against Catholic persons and institutions—was sufficient to invest the story with an element of suspicion, apart altogether from its inherent improbability as related by him. We placed ourselves some time ago in communication with persons who are in a position to get to the root of the matter. Our able and valued contemporary, the • Bombay Catholic Examiner,' has done likewise, and, pending a reply to our inquiries, its version of the facts of the case, which we publish hereunder, will be of interest to our readers. The; story, as repeated in the New Zealand secular press, runs as follows :—: — • Paris is now excited about a sensational case of embezzlement by nuns which has just come to light. The nuns were engaged in the private hospital of the famous Paris surgeon, Professor Doyen— a name whteh ranks in modern surgery along with those of Sir Morell Mackenzie, Pean, Bergmann, and Esmark. Professor Doyen had handed over the whole administration of his clinic to the nuns, the cares of his profession leaving him no time to look after his own accounts. Some months ago, says the ' Daily News ' correspondent, the Professor noticed that, although his practice kept increasing every year, his profits kept decreasing* He appointed a professional accountant to go over the books. After a week.'s investigation, the accountant demonstrated that within the last five years- a sum of at. least £12,000 had been embezzled. He satisfied himself, moreover, that a further £12,000 was unaccounted for, but the proof of this could not be established mathematically. Professor Doyen, enraged at the manner in which the nuns had abused his confidence, and still more angry with them possibly for having, shattered some of his fondest beliefs, was about to prosecute them. But he was stopped by the fear of scandal. Some days ago he wrote to the " Mother " Superior of the nuns a curt and peremptory letter declaring that if " within iorty-eight hours the stolen £12,000, about the embezzlement of which no manner of doubt was possible, were not returned he would institute criminal proceedings." Two days later the professor received a registered letter containing a cheque for £8,000, but the nuns had undertaken to pay him the balance as soon' as they can raise the money. The Nuns of the Holy Family are a wealthy Order, their chief establishment being at Bordeaux. They nurse wealthy patients and a few poor ones. The Mother Superior, interviewed, gives an " explanation " which is a confession. She begins by, stating that the nuns left Dr. Doyen's service as poor as they went into it. Their vow of poverty enables nuns to thieve with a clear conscience, since they do it for their Order. 1 Authentic Information. The mailevolence of the ' Daily Mail ' correspondent appears abundantly in the tail, as well as in the body, of his story. The • Bombay Catholic Examiner,' finding that the story was circulated in India, despatched a letter of inquiry to Paris and received the following reply :— 1 Victor Retaux's Book Establishment, ' 82, Rue Bonaparte, Paris, November 18th, 1903. • Rev. Father,— The Doyen affair made little stir in France, and it is through you that I first came to hear it. Before answering your question I made inquiries from several Catholic papers. "La Verite Francaise " —which had just been making the same inquiries as myself in order to inform the Bishop of Norwege (sic) who had also come across the story— told me that I should find the most complete account in "Le Temps," which is a Protestant paper, but one of the best informed. .

I obtained the issue which will interest you, and enclose the cutting concerning the affair. . . 4 Yours, etc., • VICTOR RETAUX. The cutting forwarded runs as follows :— DOCTOR DOYEN AND THE HOLY FAMILY. (' Le Temps,' Sept. 29.) ' The newspaper •• L' Action " publishes this morning an item of news, according to Dr. Doyen, the wellknown surgeon, has discovered serious irregularities in the accounts relating to the managment of his private hospital in the Rue Piccini. The Sisters in charge of this institution have embezzled no less a sum than 300,000fr. ,(£12,000). ' Dr. Doyen having threatened the Congregation to bring the matter before the Magistrate's Court, the Superior General immediately made good the deficit. ' The Congregation of the Holy Family, whose mother-house is at Bordeaux, is one of the most extensive. It is divided into two branches— one devoted to teaching, the other to nursing the sick. The latter branch has three institutions in Paris ; one is in the Rue de Clichy No. 34 ; another in the Rue Saint Honore No. 104 ; the third on the left bank of the Seine.' So far (says the ' Examiner ')the original story. It seems that the 'Le Temps ' sent round to the nuns and Dr. Doyen to make inquiries. This was the result :—: — What the Nuns Said. 1 The manageress of the first branch, to whom we communicated the article from " L' Action," remarks as follows :— ' The Sisters of the Holy Family, who were employed in Dr. Doyen's Hospital down to June the first, have never received any remuneration. They went into the establishment poor, and they have gone out of it without a halfpenny. They had even to get a new outfit, etc , before they could go elsewhere. ' They had agreed with Dr. Doyen that the payments made by the patients should be divided equally between him and the congregation. Some time ago, on examining the account-books, the doctor thought that he could point out certain inaccuracies in the entries. 'As a matter of fact, however, the whole dispute was about certain perfectly just * majorations ' (perquisites ? extras ?) which appeared in some of the accounts. Thus, if a patient ought to have left on the 15th of the month, the account was closed on the 15th 2 and if he stayed a few days over, this was put down as a ' majoration.' Absolutely nothing else was under dispute. ' Meantime the doctor threatened the Sisters (with an action),. In order to avoid al public litigation—always and under all circumstances disagreeable — the Superioress sent him cash down 200,000fr. But this sum represents the expenses of the maintenance of the staff and the care given by the nuns to the patients. 1 Were the Sisters laicised ? ' Yes. The Congregation asked for authorisation ; but the Superioress General had forgotten to include the group of Sisters employed in the private hospital of the Rue Piccini.' What Dr. Doyen Said. Dr. Doyen on his side told us that : ' I am a stranger to the information published by certain newspapers about the Congregation of the Holy Family. The Sisters have ceased to hold charge of my hospital for some months, and I have not yet settled up the accounts with them.' With this data in hand we (says the ' Examiner ') The Hoax Exposed, conclude as follows :—: — (1) The story started by •L' Action ' was not credited even by the Protestant papers like ' Le Temps,' which reproduced it with a practical refutation of its contents. (2) The accounts excited so little notice in Paris that persons on the spot arid in business connection] "with the Paris journals got their first news about it from Bombay, and from Norway, and had to make severaJl inquiries before discovering the whereabouts of the story. (3) Those parts ol the story which were acknowledged have a simple explanation. Such disputes as to the division of the income in certain detailed cases could easily occur unless the terms of agreement had been arranged to cover all details. The case 'carries with it no imputation against the honesty of the nuns. (4) The account given by the Superioress does not, as was alleged, amount to a confession. In stating tha* the nuns left the hospital as poor as they entered it, she clearly meant to say that they had gained nothing beyond what was expended in their personal mainten-

ance-if so much. The return of the cheque involved the sacrifice even of this. (5) The inference, drawn from this interview to the eject that ' Their vow to poverty enables nuns to thieve with a clear conscience, since they do it for their Order ' was absolutely unjustified by what was said or done. (6) The English account having been derived from the Paris correspondent of the ' Daily News 'we can add this to former instances, eg. the Nancy' and the Tours scandals (as they are called). It provides additional testimony to the character of news which proceeds from that notorious pen. (7) This incident serves to prove once again the maxim which we have found enforced by almost every case we have investigated, viz : 'Be slow in belneving stories discreditable to the Catholic Church, its officials and its institutions. Ten to one they will prove to be either a lilbel or a hoax.'