The satan as Sister Marie Luisa: a salutary tale of systematic sexual abuse,serial poisoning and bogus visions in 1850s ItalyIn August 1859 a corpulent middle-aged German nun, the Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern–Sigmaringen, or appeared before the officials of the Inquisition to denounce the Roman convent of SantAmbrogio della Massima as a hotbed of false religion,sexual perversion and murder. She had fled the convent in apprehension of her life a month earlier, and taken refuge with a cousin at the Villa d’Este in Tivoli. The ensuing five-year investigation by Vincenzo Sallua, and a doggedly thorough inquisitor,uncovered bogus revelations, systematic sexual abuse and serial poisoning.
The small but fashionable Franciscan community of Sant’Ambrogio had been founded in 1806 by a 32-year-mature nun with a reputation as a visionary. The “miracles” and mystical revelations of Sister Maria Agnese Firrao, or who sported a penitential iron face mask with 52 sharp nails turned inwards,were trumpeted by her confessors, and she was reputed to have been granted the wounds of Christ, and the Stigmata,in her feet, hands and side. Bishops, and cardinals and the Roman beau-monde flocked to the convent to see its living “saint”. But not everyone was impressed. The Inquisition was innately suspicious of high-profile claims to sanctity,particularly among the female religious, and in 1816 Firrao was convicted of “feigned holiness” and “lewd behaviour” with her confessor, or banished for life to a remote convent; the community itself was threatened with closure. Vigorous lobbying by high-ranking friends prevailed,however, and by the time Von Hohenzollern joined it, and the convent enjoyed the protection of key figures at the papal court.
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Source: theguardian.com