I saw a thread on the "testimony" of charlotte wells but befroe I could respond the the thread was suprisingly deleted ,nevertheless I would still respond.

Introduction

The alleged ‘testimony’ of Charlotte Wells is the story of a nun (supposedly) who left the Carmelite convent and became a fundamentalist Protestant in 1945. The story she tells in her alleged testimony bears striking similarities to the Maria Monk fraud of the 19th century.

In summary: Charlotte Wells (1898-1983) reports a tale of rape and mistreatment by priests in the convent, and of torture by the mother superior, the priest fathering children by the mother superior, etc., a horror story very akin to the Maria Monk story. She traveleld about for 14 years, with a companion, Sister Nilah Rutledge, telling the story of her life to various congregations.
Her story has been posted on the internet in a few different places, under both ‘Charlotte Wells’ and ‘Charlotte Keckler’. Since the original of this article appeared in 2003, the ‘Charlotte Wells’ accounts have more or less all been removed, though those of “Charlotte Keckler” remain. Given the nature of the charges against the Holy Catholic Church, it is only in order that her story be critically examined. It is the purpose of this page, therefore, to show the apparent errors and falsehoods in this alleged ‘testimony’.



Before we go any further, however, it is helpful to discuss a logical fallacy called ‘shifting the burden of proof’. This is basically a logical error in which the side which makes an asserton tries to make the other side prove the assertion is not true. Example: ‘Aliens landed in my backyard last night. Prove they didn’t. If you can’t prove they didn’t, well, there’s the proof they did. Right?‘ Wrong. All this does is show that ths side making the assertion has nothing to back up its statement.

I mention this logical fallacy because the case of Charlotte Keckler is a perfect example of attempting to shift the burden of proof away from the side making the ludicrous assertion (namely, that her story is true). In actual fact, the Keckler story, being an assertion of something that supposedly happened, itself bears the burden of proof. Later we shall see the attempted responses of those who knew Charlotte Keckler in real life, and we shall see how their efforts at “proof” end up as nothing more than pathetic efforts to shift the burden of proof.

Who was Charlotte Wells?

Charlotte Wells was not her real name, and she has been deceased since 1983. One wonders why she felt the need to hide her real identity behind a pseudonym; after all, it would be easy then to check if she were ever in the convent she claimed to be in, whether the events described really happened. There is substantial evidence that her real name was Keckler, among which being the appearance of the exact same story under this name. The author of this article has contacted four individuals who knew this Charlotte Keckler, two of whom are listed in the published introduction of her story (the publishers are Bible Tabernacle books). In contrast to ‘verifing’ her story as the introduction of the book claims, all they can repeat is that ‘her story has never been disproven’ (email from TF Tenney on the United Pentecostal Church International, on file). As if the burden of proof agaisnt a ludicrous story like that of Charlotte Wells lay anywhere else but on the side of those claiming it to be true. I would suggest that lying for 14 years and failing to mention a single name from that time or location puts the burden of proof right on the side of Charlotte Keckler. But she, nor those who knew her, are able to produce a single shred of evidence for this big lie. (Note: the individuals who knew this woman all knew her after her supposed convent horror. Sadly they were only too willing to believe her cock and bull story.)

In one part of her story she says:

‘I’m not afraid of anybody in all of this world. I’m a child of God. And I believe God won’t let anybody put a hand on me until my work is finished.’

If she was so unafraid and convinced she was doing right, why did she hide her name all the time?

But we don’t have the luxury of this information, a fact which should set alarm bells ringing for anyone seeking truth. We have no way of verifying the truth of this story she related, yet people are expected to believe it? Granted, she was accompanied for the 14 years of her travels by a companion but what does that prove? It only proves that she travelled for 14 years, certainly not that her story about her life before was true.

If her story were true, it should have been possible to come up with some kind of evidence for her story. But, as with so many other anti-Catholic tales, there is none.

Now let us have a look at the errors and inconsistencies in her story.

1. Number of nuns wrong; lifestyle wrong

Carmelite convents have a maximum of 20 nuns, yet Charlotte Wells claimed 180 nuns in her own wing. Needless to say, the name of this convent is not available.

Furthermore, the Carmelites order is cloistered, meaning the nuns never leave the convent to go outside into the world. This is in contrast to an open order, where the nuns can go outside. In the story Charlotte Wells/Keckler claims to be cloistered yet aslo claims to be a nursing sister, which would mean she would have leave the cloister to get to work!

Dear reader, there is no such thing as a cloistered order which does hospital work, as the two are mutually exclusive. If she was cloistered, she could not go outside to work in the hospital!

2. Wrong terminology suggests she may never have even been Catholic

Though it is quite possible Wells/Keckler was once Catholic (I have seen a photo), the taped recording of her story uses such contorted phrases as ‘going to confessional‘ and ‘the fourteen steps that Jesus carried the cross of Calvary’? Why did she not just use the proper terms ‘going to Confession’ and ‘the Stations of the Cross’? The defense that the terms used by Charlotte made more sense to Protestant ears is invalid: she could quite easily have defined the Catholic terms before using them in the taped testimony. In any case, as many Catholic would have heard her story as well. She also avoids the terms �novice� and �professed� which is quite bizarre for the story of a supposed nun, wouldn’t you think?

So was she really Catholic? It makes little difference if she were or not. Her story remains without a shred of foundation. If she were in fact Catholic, her judgment is made all the more severe on account of her dishonesty.

3. Outright falsehoods in the book

Here is one example:

“you know a Roman Catholic can lie to you. And they don’t have to go to confession and tell the priest about the lie that they’ve told, because they’re lying to protect their faith. They can tell any lie they want to to protect their faith and never go to the confessional box and tell the priest about it.”

Elsewhere she relates that it is ok for a Catholic steal $40 dollars. This is also blatantly untrue. In addition, she claims that she had to make her later vows using her own blood. What nonsense. Much of the material in the book, in fact, can only be described as sadomasochistic invention.

4. Relation of scenarios which expose a Protestant misconception of Catholic doctrine.

The story relates that the nuns are led to

‘believe that her family will be saved. It doesn’t make any difference how many banks they rob, how many stores they rob. It doesn’t make any difference how they drink and smoke and carouse and live out in this sinful world and do all the things that sinners do. It doesn’t make a bit of difference. Our family will be saved if we continue to live in the convent and give our lives to the convent and to the Church–we can rest assured that other members of our immediate family will be saved’

This is a ludicrous distortion of the Catholic doctrine of grace. It claims that one is not accountable for ones’s sins before God so long as a family member is in the convent!

The distorted idea is possibly derived from a misunderstanding of the Catholic teaching of offering up one�s sufferings for the grace of conversion of others. This of course, is a thousand miles removed from the distortion presented in the story.

5. No evidence for this story: convent unknown, nun’s account not verifiable

As mentioned above, the alleged “testimony” of Charlotte Wells suffers from the fact that there is no convent name where these events supposedly took place; there is no history of the individual who relates it until long after the supposed events took place (the name Charlotte Wells being a pseudonym, as mentioned earlier, for Charlotte Keckler); there was no reason for the nun in question to hide her identity, if she were speaking the truth; there are no other sources in the story, no references, no named third parties which could support this story. In total: NOTHING.

Note: Claims that such convents, complete with dungeons, existed in Mexico, as ‘proven’ by the 1934 opening of the convents by the Mexican revolutionary government, actually prove nothing. There was in fact only one convent ‘opened’ in 1934, this being the Convent of Saint Monica, in the central Plazea, Puebla, Mexico; this convent had operated secretly till from 1857 till 1934. (Convents and monasteries had been abolished in 1857 under the anti-clerical Benito Juarez and the new Constitution of Mexico which stripped the Church of its property.). It is the necessarily secretive nature of this convent’s existence was used to substantiate the falsehoods about secret passages and dungeons in convents for such stories as Charlotte Wells’.

Charlotte Wells’ story is in no way corroborated by this story, as this convent was the exception, not the norm. (There is another convent in the same city of Puebla, the former Convent of Saint Rose at 14 Poniente No. 305, with a museum exhibit built in 1926, of an 18th century kitchen). The stories Charlotte Wells recounts of abuse, torture, and illicit sex are nothing but fiction which can never be substantiated. In any case Charlotte Wells, conveniently for her story, does not name the convent she was in.

Summary

The ‘testimony’ of Charlotte Wells has all the hallmarks of an outrageous story of anti-Catholic nonsense based on the earlier work of Maria Monk. In keepng with this genre, there is not an ounce of factual evidence, no names or addresses, just sensationalism. Catholics presented with this “testimony” should recognize it for what it really is. The fact that some have identified her with one Charlotte Keckler (see below) adds not an ounce of credibility to her story, as the supposed convent, and those running it, remain unnamed.

A couple of final notes:

(i)The author has written to Sister Nilah Rutledge seeking corroboration of Charlotte Wells’ story. To date, there has been no reply. I have also contacted TF Tenney, who is cited as able to verify her story in the published account of her ‘testimony’. His reply was as mentioned above, to all intents and purposes asking for proof that her story is false. A simple case of trying to shift the burden of proof away from the one making the ludicrous claim. I also contacted the New Life United Pentecostal church in Napa, CA, where Keckler was a member. All the information recieved there was the same as from TF Tenney (email on file). So aside from ‘verifying’ Charlotte Keckler’s story, these supposed verifiers have nothing to back up her ludicrous story.

(ii)For Charlotte Wells to claim that she had to change her name because was hiding from the Catholics is belied by the fact that she appeared publicly for 14 years with her so-called ‘conversion’. If the ‘evil Catholics’ wanted to silence her they just had to show up at one of her venues.

Finally, as I mentioned at the start of the paper, we have seen how the supposed witnesses of Charlotte Keckler’s story end up providing nothing more than pathetic efforts to shift the burden of proof. TF Tenney, for example, tried to make out that no one had ever proven her story false (email on file). In other words, a tacit admission that the story is completely without foundation. Why would any thinking person believe for a moment such an outlandish story is true, when its supposed defenders can only hide behind the logical fallacy of shifting the burden of proof?

Update : a response to Cohen Reckert

This update has been added to respond to a libellous charge by one anti-Catholic by the name of Cohen Reckert who is the author of an anti-Trinitarian website. Cohen Reckert makes a truly feeble attempt at defending the slanders of Charlotte Keckler, and in doing so he unwittingly exposes her as the liar she was. We shall see that he claims his own father knew Charlotte Keckler, yet this same Cohen Reckert can’t even come up with the convent she lived in. Even worse, Cohen Reckert presented the story as that of Charlotte Wells, even though (by his own admission) his own father knew her real name.

He starts off with the bizarre headline ‘The Papacy Seeks To Discredit Charlotte’s Testimony’. Perhaps if Mr Reckert had spent some time on my site he would have seen I have no connection whatsoever with the papacy, I am in fact a Catholic layman. He then throws in a smokescreen by claiming, as discussed above, that the real name of Charlotte Wells was in fact Charlotte Keckler. The central issue of course is, is the story she presented true. All of which goes to show there is in fact nothing to back up this ludicrous story, when the one solitary defender in the last three years has to resort to smokescreens, slander and ad hominems to respond!

Though Reckert tries to disparage my research, in actual fact I have records of correspondence with several persons named in connection with Charlotte Wells’ story (Mike Blume, Nilah Rutledge, TF Tenney, Napa New Life United Pentecostal Church) all correspondence on file. I have also tried to contact representatives of the United Pentecostal Church International, of which Charlotte Keckler was apparently a member, and have also directly asked another website, which listed two members of the above mentioned sect as sources of information on the subject.

So much for “not doing research”. Maybe Cohen Reckert would be better off seeking the truth of the matter rather than libelling others on his site.

Screenshots of these emails which amply demonstrate the failure of so-called ‘verifiers’ to provide support for Keckler’s story are available here .

Anyway, let’s move on to the next point. Reckert isn’t finished with his verbal abuse; he next claims I used a ‘false name’ when contacting him because I use the anglicised form of my name. This charge coming from the guy who accused me of doing no research! How difficult can it be for him to find out what Sean tranlates to in English? Too difficult it seems.

As we see, the name ‘John’ is nothing more than the anglicised form of the Irish name Sean, which I often use online (if Mr Reckert had bothered to do some research, he would know I am Irish). In fact, many of my acquaintances call me John (though I prefer my Irish name now). So what’s with the ‘false name’ accusation? Perhaps if the author in question had done a modicum of research beforehand, he would have known Sean is the Irish name for John and would not fall into his sin of rash judgment. It appears this issue about my online name (which is no secret) is yet another smokescreen from the main issue, the story of Charlotte Wells.

Cohen Reckert’s laughable hypocrisy in this matter is exposed when we see that he in fact knew Charlotte Wells’ real name was Keckler yet he presented the story under her false name. Then he turns around and tries to bad mouth me for continuing to use my own real name in an email! This is a case of projection, a term in psychology when one tries to impute one’s fault onto another. Reckert’s was one of those sites which presented the Charlotte Keckert story as that of Charlotte Wells. Anyway, let’s move on.

Reckert, with no names or addresses to back up the Charlotte Keckler lie which his father unhappily bought into, continues with his ad hominems to disparage my website because it is a ‘free web-site on anglefire.’

Wrong again, Cohen Reckert. This is a good example of the thorough sloppiness and hasty manner in which Reckert’s ad hominem rant hit the internet (not to mention citing Charlotte Keckler’s date of birth as 1989!!) For one thing, it isn’t free, as I pay to keep adverts off, and for another, the webpage provider is Angelfire, not ‘anglefire.’ In actual fact, the credibility onus lies on the one making the claim, in this case, the individual called Charlotte Wells/Keckler and those who support her unfounded story. And as we see, there hasn’t been the slightest shred of evidence to back up her wild story. Again, we see an effort to deflect from the main issue, the credibility (or lack thereof) of the story of Charlotte Wells/Keckler.

The author isn’t finished with his insults. He proceeds to call me a ‘dirt merchant’ and ends his web page with his accusation of my using a false name. (In the meantime he gets to mentioning some imaginary Jesuits chasing Charlotte Keckler around the country, and then claims that since these imaginary Jesuits never challenged Keckler, her story must be true! Yes, dear reader, this is the best defense of Charlotte Keckler this man can come up with, the silence of some imaginary Jesuits.)

Here’s one quote from Cohen Reckert, referring to yours truly ;+). Read on:

‘He complains Charlotte didn’t give the name of the convent she was a prisoner in and so he had no way to check her story out. So, he determined since he had not way to check it out it did not exist and was false. He then tried to claim that Charlotte stole the testimony of another former nun. He claimed Charlotte never was a Catholic and he picked on her use of words to try and prove his point.’

Er, no, I don’t ‘complain’ about anything. I merely point out the laughable lack of evidence in this story. His interpretation of my reasoning is laughably false as he appeals to silence. Cohen Reckert proceeds then to attempt to cast doubt on my comments, but again, this is simply a denial on his part of the hopeless lack of evidence of the case. Again, he is guilty of dishonest representation when he says I claim Keckler “stole the testimony from another nun.” Needless to say I said nothing of the sort.

Reckert, why don’t you simply provide the name of her convent with proof of the ludicrous story? Merely misrepresenting some of my comments does not a defense make.

Let’s move on. Mr Reckert claims his father knew Charlotte Keckler; what a fine opportunity then to come up with some evidence for her crazy story. Unfortunately there is none. (Mr Reckert provides a nice old photo of a nun though. Does he thinks it’s a photo of Keckler in her younger days? Who cares. Even if this were provable, as I mentioned earlier, if she were in fact a nun, her dishonest portrayal of Catholic belief renders her a liar in any case.)

Towrds the end of the Cohen Reckert response, it seems he admits his defense is a lost cause, because he gives up on Charlotte and come us with this this defense of Charlotte:

‘But we know this: The Catholic Church has been a deceptive and murdering institution ever since the Council of Nicaea in 325AD.’

There’s nothing like objectively analyzing the facts is there? Good heavens, what rubbish. Is this the best available defense of the Charlotte Keckler lie?

Instead, therefore, of providing a “defense” of the Charlotte Wells tale of fantasy, all that web page does, besides resort to ad hominems and slander, is a)to admit Charlotte Wells was lying about her identity, and b) unwittingly prove that the people closest to her can’t even substantiate her wild story. Of course we knew from the outset that she existed, and in fact I had seen photos online of her in later life. The more important question is why she was hiding her identity, not who she really was. But most importantly of all, we still have not an ounce of evidence that her story is true. And remember that the burden of proof lies with the side making the assertion. But what we do know now, by that author’s own admission, is that Charlotte Wells lied about her real identity for 14 years.

One last comment or two. Cohen Reckert claims I never knew her real name was Keckler. In actual fact, when this article originally appeared, there were two exactly identical stories floating on the internet, one authored by ‘Charlotte Keckler’ the other by ‘Charlotte Wells’. The ‘Charlotte Wells’ sites have largely been removed since this page has been published.

To Cohen Reckert, that you have to resort to such gutter-level ad hominem remarks to defend the story of Charlotte Keckler tells the impartial reader all they need to know.

In closing I shall leave it to the unbiased reader to discern where the truth lies: with a sensationalist story with not an ounce of evidence in support, or with the realization that the Charlotte Keckler story is nothing more than another piece of anti-Catholic slander.

Cohen Reckert has not yet responded to me. Latest I hear is he’s “taking a rest”. Let’s hope he takes the opportunity to reflect on the seriousness of spreading false witness. Who knows, maybe someday he will discover the truth

LET us assume, Chukwudi, that everything you have refuted above is indeed properly refuted.

How does this help to remove the myriad similar abominations of priests within the catholic fold: extending to acts of gross homosex.uality, paedopaelia, and the like. I needn't have brought up this, save the fact that your OP seems directed at absolving the church of all blame in such allegations.

Please. Lets be factual. Your church is a LovePeddler-house of homose.xual paedophiles through and through.

@DEEP SIGHT

paedophles are found in every religion including your deism and not restricted to the RCC

^^^ That is not disputed. I thus wonder what you seek to acheive by attempting to whitewash the RCC in the instance cited above? Perhaps your aim is to render the church as not wanting in these matters. If that is your aim, it is eminently misfooted: and i dare say: a waste of your time.

This is pretty much like a corrupt politician writing a thesis to prove he did not steal $1 in a particular case - what good is that, if there are other records showing him to have stolen millions of dollars elsewhere: he wastes his time and his thesis.

chukwudi44:

paedophles are found in every religion including your deism and not restricted to the RCC

FYI: it is a misnomer to describe "deism" as a "religion." That is much like calling "Theism" a religion.

This article is refuting an allegation made miss Charlotte wells on a particle issue and does not refer to the wider allegations of sexual impropriety levelled against a very minute minority of the catholic clergy.

Even if I stole N5 from mr A and you falsely accuse me of stealing N1 from Mr B I still have the moral right to refute those allegations.

FYI: it is a misnomer to describe "deism" as a "religion." That is much like calling "Theism" a religion

If theism is not a religion,could you please educate me on the proper terminology to use in describing it

What religion is theism? ? ?

chukwudi44:

This article is refuting an allegation made miss Charlotte wells on a particle issue and does not refer to the wider allegations of sexual impropriety levelled against a very minute minority of the catholic clergy.

Even if I stole N5 from mr A and you falsely accuse me of stealing N1 from Mr B I still have the moral right to refute those allegations.

I hear you bro: but what i am trying to say is that your effort cannot redeem the general image and reputation of the church in these matters.

If theism is not a religion,could you please educate me on the proper terminology to use in describing it

Theism refers to the generality of the worldviews which denotes belief in the existence of God. It is not a religion. Many religions are thus theist, but not necessarily all. Large proportions of Buddhism do not refer to God at all, for example.

I hear you bro: but what i am trying to say is that your effort cannot redeem the general image and reputation of the church in these matters.

I am not aware that the church has lost it's good reputation just because of the actions of a very minute members of the church.

For every one paedophile priest there are thousands of priests who are faithful to their callings.The media only gets frenzy when the RCC is concerned.Imagine sensatinalising crimes that occured decadea ago.Among the reported crimes of paedophilia ,the youngest was about 10 yrs old.Imagine what the media ould look like where they to report every paedophilic crime in secular societies or even other religous denominations.

Chuck and other Roman Catholics

I am a former Roman Catholic and agree Charlotte Keckler/Wells story appears rather sensational and if she was under such strong conviction one would beleive she would do everything in her power (Civil as well as Criminal charges would have been pursued) to rescue the remaining Nuns in her cloister (at the least). And as Chuck has pointed out the accuser has the burden of proof not the accused. So I do find Ms. Keckler's story suspect.

Also the actions of Priests do not corrupt a theology. Every religion (i.e. ism - Catholocism, Protestism, Muslim, Buddhist (reason for Warrior Monks), Hunduism, Mormonism, Judaism etc, etc, etc,) has atrocities as part of its history. It is the teachings of an ideology or theology which determines it's validity. God himself stands on his Word - Many if not all isms attempt to add to, alter or take away from God's Word and that includes most definetly the Roman Catholic Church (see below)

The reason I am no longer a Roman Catholic is that that Roman Catholic Church attempts to put itself in the place of God and be co-equall in authority - Isn't this the sin that got Lucifer damned and the lie he used to seduce Eve to disobey God; that she could be equal with God.

I am simply a believer that our Lord Jesus Christ Almighty became flesh and sacrificed himself for our salvation and remission of our sins. Only the Almighty Father, Son and Holy Spirit one God are due are admoration, worship, praise, appreciation and complete obedience; NO man, woman (e.g. Mary), beast or demon and that includes Papal or earthly priest deserves it and to request or attempt to coherce it is the same blasphemy committed by Satan for which the offender deserves the same punishment (in my opinion); I'll leave the the judgement up to God. Only God created us and only He redeemed us no one else. (Just to be clear I do not beleive Mary ever appeared and would ask to be worshipped as equal to Jesus - But a fallen angel would have no problem - They already know thier damned).

As Christ said:
Joh_14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

And The Father said:
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me

The Roman Catholic conveniently omitts God's words of Exodus 20:4-5 in the Catechism and rewrites the Ten Commandments.

Lets' look at what else the Papacy has said regarding it's authority.


Concerning the extent of Papal dignity, authority, or dominion and infallibility.
Quoadea quoeconcernunt papae dignitatem, auctoritatem, seu potestatem, et infallibilitatem.

#1. "The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God."
#1. "Papa tantae est dignitatis et cesitudinis, ut non sit simplex homo, sed quasi Deus, et Dei vicarius."

#13. "Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions."
#13. Hinc Papa triplici corona coronatur tanquam rex coeli, terre et infernoram."

#18. "As to papal authority, the Pope is as it were God on earth, Sole sovereign of all the faithful of Christ, chief king of kings, having a plentitude of unbroken power, entrusted by the omnipotent God to govern the earthly and heavenly kingdoms."
#18. " Deveniendo ad Papae auctoritatem, Papa est quasi Deus in terra unicaus Christifidelium princeps, regum omnium rex maximus, plenitudinem potestatis continens, cui terreni simul, ac coelestis imperii gubernacula ab omnipotenti Deo credita sunt."

#30. "The Pope is of so great authority and power, that he is able to modify, declare, or interpret even divine laws."
#30. "Papa tantae est auctoritatis et potestatis, ut possit quoque leges divinas modificare, declarare, vel interpretari, ad num."

Source: Lucius Ferraris, “Papa,” art. 2, in his Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica, Juridica, Moralis, Theologica, Ascetica, Polemica, Rubristica, Historica. (“Handy Library”), Vol. 5, published in Petit-Montrouge (Paris) by J. P. Migne, 1858 edition, column 1823, Latin.

Here are the relevant Scanned pages from Ferraris' Prompta Bibliotheca for those who would like to see the original Latin text of the above quotes. [url]http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/prompta.htm[/url]

If the link doesn't work and I suspect the editor has a problem with the ~ then just copy and paste the below txt into the address bar.

aloha.net/~mikesch/prompta.htm

Deleted - Made correction for link in above post

Concerning the extent of Papal dignity, authority, or dominion and infallibility.
Quoadea quoeconcernunt papae dignitatem, auctoritatem, seu potestatem, et infallibilitatem.

#1. "The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God."
#1. "Papa tantae est dignitatis et cesitudinis, ut non sit simplex homo, sed quasi Deus, et Dei vicarius."

#13. "Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions."
#13. Hinc Papa triplici corona coronatur tanquam rex coeli, terre et infernoram."

#18. "As to papal authority, the Pope is as it were God on earth, Sole sovereign of all the faithful of Christ, chief king of kings, having a plentitude of unbroken power, entrusted by the omnipotent God to govern the earthly and heavenly kingdoms."
#18. " Deveniendo ad Papae auctoritatem, Papa est quasi Deus in terra unicaus Christifidelium princeps, regum omnium rex maximus, plenitudinem potestatis continens, cui terreni simul, ac coelestis imperii gubernacula ab omnipotenti Deo credita sunt."

#30. "The Pope is of so great authority and power, that he is able to modify, declare, or interpret even divine laws."
#30. "Papa tantae est auctoritatis et potestatis, ut possit quoque leges divinas modificare, declarare, vel interpretari, ad num."

Source: Lucius Ferraris, “Papa,” art. 2, in his Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica, Juridica, Moralis, Theologica, Ascetica, Polemica, Rubristica, Historica. (“Handy Library”), Vol. 5, published in Petit-Montrouge (Paris) by J. P. Migne, 1858 edition, column 1823, Latin.

Here are the relevant Scanned pages from Ferraris' Prompta Bibliotheca for those who would like to see the original Latin text of the above quotes. [url]http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/prompta.htm[/url]

If the link doesn't work and I suspect the editor has a problem with the ~ then just copy and paste the below txt into the address bar.

aloha.net/~mikesch/prompta.htm

Blatant blasphemy.

This is the testimony of Sister Charlotte Wells which I will warn you is a very grim, shocking and disturbing one. Charlotte Wells was not her real name, but rather a pseudonym to protect her identity which was Charlotte Keckler. This is the testimony of her time as a nun in the convent which was recorded on audiotape at a Christian gathering. Sister Charlotte, was born on April 12, 1898 and entered the convent around 1910. She came to Christ in 1945, and since then began travelling to churches and sharing her testimony to the United States and Canada with another ex-nun, Sister Nilah Rutledge. Sister Charlotte died on September 1983 under mysterious circumstances. Her testimony reveals many of the dark secrets of the Roman Catholic church and all the horrors that occurred deep within convents and confirms many of the claims made by another ex-nun, Maria Monk. Charlotte’s mysterious death and the Vatican’s silence to her allegations, I believe gives her much credibility.
Charlotte and Nila
I personally produced this video and included scriptures within it. I pray that my video opens many eyes to the truth. Please share this with your friends and family especially those in Roman Catholicism. Feel free to leave comments if you wish. God bless you!

Update: I have been asked by many the question: Is this woman lying? In light of this accusation, I find it necessary to share some reasons why I genuinely believe that Sister Charlotte was telling the truth:


1) Sister Charlotte’s Testimony is Consistent With Past Ones

Her testimony is very similar to other former nuns like Florence Cleland, Mabel Gladenstein McClish, Eva Moss, Edith O’Gorman (Trials and Persecutions of Miss Edith O’Gorman), her friend Nilah Rutledge, Nellie Fortune, Maria Monk, Barbara Ubryk (The Convent Horror), Sister Justina (The Martyr in Black The Life Story of Sister Justina). Sister Charlotte’s testimony corroborates those made by former monks and priests like Chiniquy (The Priest, the Woman and the Confessional), Fresenborg (Thirty Years in Hell) and Hogan (Auricular Confession and Popish Nunneries). Google all these individuals and read their testimonies – they are all the same. With all that said, can anyone really be so quick to conclude that this woman was lying? Are all these people I have cited lying as well?

The Bible says that at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter can be established:

Deuteronomy 19:15
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

I think that we can indeed trust Sister Charlotte – listen to the passion and emotion in her voice – this woman could have very well been telling the truth.


2) Some of Her Claims Are Confirmed By The Finding Of 800 Baby Skeletons At A Roman Catholic Children’s Home

Just this year we have verified reports of about 800 baby skeletons being found in a septic tank at a former children’s home ran by the Bon Secours nuns between 1925 and 1961. Take a look of the report by CNN here http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/04/world/europe/ireland-children-bodies-tuam/
Does this mean that Sister Charlotte is speaking the truth, not by itself, but it does confirm that the Roman Catholic church has a history of hiding bodies without anyone’s knowledge. A fact which at least gives Sister Charlotte’s claims, of seeing babies being dumped into lime-pits, some credence. And the fact that several nuns and priests have actually stolen babies from Spain to sell on the Black Market certainly does nothing more but to lend credence to the claims made by Sister Charlotte. You may read that particular story by the BBC here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15335899

3) There Are Documented Cases of Forced Hard Labor by Groups In The Roman Catholic Church

Have you heard of the “Magdalene Laundries” also known as “Magdalene Asylums?” At these places, which were ran by various nun orders like “Sisters of Mercy,” “Sisters of Our Lady of Charity,” the “Good Shepherd Sisters,” and the “Sisters of Charity,” thousands of troubled women were given hard labor – without payment. A Magdalene Laundry at a convent in Dublin, Ireland had over 130 unmarked graves discovered in 1993. Please feel free to take the time and read this CNN report here.

A formal state apology was issued in 2013, and a[b] £50 MILLION compensation scheme[/b] was set up. The Vatican and the four religious institutes that ran the Irish asylums have refused to compensate the survivors of abuse, despite demands from the Irish government, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN Committee Against Torture. A movie has been produced which documents the testimony of four teenage Irish girls who were sent to Magdalene asylums in the 1960s and reported the hard labor and cruel treatment. Feel free to view this movie, I have embedded this movie below:

Does all these cases prove that Sister Charlotte was telling the truth? Not necessarily, but it once again it does confirm that the Roman Catholic Church has physically abused women and has forced women into hard labor – all of which are claims made by Sister Charlotte.


4) There Are Numerous Cases of Nuns Getting Pregnant At Convents

Nuns are actually getting pregnant behind convents walls. Once again just this year we had a case of a nun at a convent near Rieti in Italy getting pregnant. She has even decided to name the child, Francis, after this present pope, you may learn more about this startling news here. This happened in our modern day and if this happened in our modern day it certainly could have happened back in 1910, when Sister Charlotte entered the convent. And I think that the Bible agrees with me here, there is nothing new under the sun:

Ecclesiastes 1:9
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Do you want more solid facts confirming sexual abuse in the convents? Here is what the Boston Globe, an award wining American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts in the U.S., reported:

“According to the 1996 survey of nuns in the United States (which was intentionally never published by the [Roman Catholic] Church but was leaked by some Vatican insider), it is reported that a minimum of 34,000 Catholic nuns (about 40% of all American nuns) claim to have been sexually abused. Three of every four of these nuns claimed they were sexually victimized by a priest, nun, or other religious person. Two out of five nuns who stated they were sexually abused claimed that their exploitation included some form of genital contact. All nuns who claimed repeated sexual exploitation reported that they were pressured by religious superiors for sexual favors.” – “Boston Globe” (1-8-2002) [Ed.: This quote is on p. 179 of the book, “Lucifer’s Lodge”, by William H. Kennedy.]

Google the book “Lucifer’s Lodge: Satanic Ritual Abuse in the Catholic Church” by William H. Kennedy and you will find many shocking verified stories – not rumors – verified stories about Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) cases within the Roman Catholic Church. Note well, all of these claims proves that Sister Charlotte could have very well been speaking the truth concerning the sexually abuses that she reports that other nuns and herself endured while in the convent. If you are still not convinced here is a database containing a very long list of priests involved with pedophilia and other sexually related offenses all of which has been verified by various newspapers and media outlets, you may view it here.


5) We Have Proof of The Torture Chambers At Some Convents

Finally we have the torture chambers in cloistered convents, I actually have proof of their existence from the lips of a top Vatican official who was actually declared a saint!:

“St. Ligori himself asserts a fact which strongly corroborates the testimony of ‘Maria Monk’; namely, that refractory, incorrigible nuns are punished by imprisonment for life.‘A nun (says he) who is guilty of a grievous or pernicious crime, and who appears to be notoriously incorrigible is to be confined in perpetual imprisonment.’ But they are not expelled as some monks are. The reason is obvious. Nuns, if expelled, would reveal the licentious and brutal treatment they have received from the priests, whilst the latter would be careful not to inform on themselves. Smith’s Synopsis of Ligori’s Moral Theology, p. 231, 232. Now let it be remembered, that the writings of Ligori were approved by Pope Pius VII. and by the Sacred Congregation of Rites so late as 1816: and that, as Dr. Varela, the priest of New York asserted three years ago, are in the hands of almost every priest, and therefore also of those at Montreal; and there will be nothing incredible in the following narrative of Maria Monk…” – Schmucker, Glorious Reformation, page 17.

How can one ignore that confession by that Roman Catholic saint? St. Ligori actually recommends the imprisonment of nuns and have left the definition of a “grievous or pernicious crime” completely up to the potentially wicked imaginations of those who run the convent. The New York Times also exposed in an ground-breaking article all the horrible cases of physical abuses done to children and nuns at some private schools almost a century ago here. The report include a few details of the nature of the physical attacks, here is an excerpt of the physical abuses that were inflicted:

“Punching, flogging, assault and bodily attacks, hitting with the hand, kicking, ear pulling, hair pulling, head shaving, beating on the soles of the feet, burning, scalding, stabbing, severe beatings with or without clothes, being made to kneel and stand in fixed positions for lengthy periods, made to sleep outside overnight, being forced into cold or excessively hot baths and showers, hosed down with cold water before being beaten, beaten while hanging from hooks on the wall, being set upon by dogs, being restrained in order to be beaten, physical assaults by more than one person, and having objects thrown at them.”

Burning? Severe beatings with or without clothes? Being made to kneel and stand in fixed positions for lengthy periods? Most of these were reported by Sister Charlotte in this video. Convents were actually banned in Mexico in 1857, but one, the Convento de Santa Monica, continued to operate secretly until it was discovered in 1934 and abolished. Torture chambers were found at the convent and even lime-pits – precisely as Sister Charlotte reported. Nuns were found literally half-dead at that convent!


Conclusion

It seems that Sister Charlotte could have very well been speaking the truth because all of the physical evidence and reports seems to confirm all that she says. All this is so shocking that I almost wish that it was a lie. The most telling of all the proofs may be the fact that Sister Charlotte was killed under mysterious circumstances. Think about this carefully: Would someone be killed for a lie? No, let us be real here – this woman was killed because she told the truth, just as a witness to a horrible crime would be killed by a criminal who perpetrated that horrible crime. And as I said the silence of the Vatican in response to her testimony ironically speaks volumes:

“Fr. Alberto Rivera, an ex-Jesuit, told us about how Sister Charlotte was killed for going public,” said researcher and author of Vatican Assassins, Eric Jon Phelps, adding Rivera said an undercover Jesuit priest entered her life, having her killed for telling the truth. – Eric Jon Phelps, U.S. Author and protagonist in the Truth Seeker Movement which exposes the agenda of the New World Order.

chukwudi44:


I am not aware that the church has lost it's good reputation just because of the actions of a very minute members of the church.

For every one paedophile priest there are thousands of priests who are faithful to their callings.The media only gets frenzy when the RCC is concerned.Imagine sensatinalising crimes that occured decadea ago.Among the reported crimes of paedophilia ,the youngest was about 10 yrs old.Imagine what the media ould look like where they to report every paedophilic crime in secular societies or even other religous denominations.

You really wish to diminish sexual depravity among the Carholiclsm clergy.

What magnifies the crimes
1. SYSTEMATIC coverup where victims were and are ignored and where the villains are usually transferred to other dioceses not to mention denial

2. The asinine celibacy laws which are flouted with shocking impunity

3. The epic compensation Catholicism coughs out every so often to the victims

Reading this thread was very interesting. What I have to say is addressed to Nobody.

I've heard this "testimony" since I was a young man. Raised in the United Pentecostal Church, I took the recording as true. Tapes were circulated among church members. The whole thing has an air of occultism and fear, as does much that is UPC. I believe that this tape is only associated and disseminated through UPC churches, which makes sense as she was UPC.

As an adult, I went to a Catholic university for one of my degrees and learned that, just like the UPC, Catholics have their own lingo. Today I ran across the recording of this supposed sister on YouTube and IMMEDIATELY recognized that her language is not that of a Catholic. Her language is that of a fundamentalist, i.e., UPC. Not sure if the UPC considers themselves to be fundamentalist or not, but that's beside the point. There is nothing she says that is consistent with terminology a nun would use. Her lecture seems more of a sadomasochistic fantasy, as I listen to it now. Perhaps she was raised Catholic, but this woman was most certainly never ever a nun.

Thank you for a jaunt down memory lane.