Nun embroiled in orphanage abuse case dies

Mother Superior for the Dominican nuns Carmelita Borg who faced allegations of abuse at the Lourdes Home orphanage in Gozo has died.

The announcement was made by the Santwarju Madonna ta’ Pompej Facebook page on Wednesday morning.

Borg who was responsible for the Lourdes Home orphanage during the 1970s and 1980s, with victims having accused her of turning a blind eye to the abuse they suffered.

In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, victims Carmen Muscat and Roseanne Saliba, explained how the abuse happened at the hands of the nuns. 

The abuse ranged from sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy, physical beatings on children as young as five, to hurling of insults. 

At the time of the abuse, Sister Josephine Anne Sultana was tasked with caring for one of the orphanage’s wings where the children were being housed.  

She was described as a “dictator” by one of the victims who spoke to this newspaper. The nun patrolled the home’s halls handing out unrealistic chores to the young residents and punishing them in demeaning ways. 

Muscat recounted how the young children were forced to “eat their own vomit” as punishment. 

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“I did not like to eat when I was a young girl, and I remember the food being so bad that I had to throw up. When I threw up, she would force me to put the vomit back onto the plate and eat it again,” she says. “It would happen weekly, and I sometimes threw up for four, five times, only to be forced to eat it again.” 

Carmen explained how before dinner time, she would pick an apron which had a pocket on the front, so that she could put a small plastic bag in it where she would secretly stash the vomit. “Obviously I would do it without her knowing, or else… I would get beaten again.” 

Sister Dorothy Mizzi was tasked with caring for another group of children housed in a separate wing at the orphanage. Mizzi also faces allegations of wrongdoing, with the victims explaining how she used similar disciplinary tactics like Sultana.  

“She also used to see Sister Josephine beating us, abusing us and harassing us, and not once did she speak up,” one of the victims said.