Psychologist abused by a priest, nun hopes new Pope will continue Francis’ work

A psychologist, who worked closely with the late Pope Francis in a task force to end clerical abuse, hoped for a new pope that will continue the former pontiff's work.

According to a "24 Oras" report by Vicky Morales on Wednesday, Dr. Theresa Tolmie-McGrane acted as the voice of children abused by priests during Francis’ tenure as the Pope.

Tolmie-McGrane herself had gone through clerical abuse at the Catholic orphanage Smyllum Park since she was 8 years of age, and worked her way to college to study Psychology and escape the abuse for the next 10 years of her life.

“When I went to my first day at school, I told my teacher my uncle was doing things to me and I was removed from the school, and taken straight to the orphanage and it was a terrible experience. It was even worse,” she shared.

“A nun walked in when [a priest] was abusing me and saw it. She called me a whore, and pulled me out of his lap. My left arm was broken [because she] threw me against the wall. I have a scar right here. It was awful. She thought it was my fault,” she added.

Tolmie-McGrane had kept quiet about her experiences until a documentary was released decades later, and she was able to put her abusers in jail.

“They’re not representative of the Church. There are many good people in the Church and I’ve met them as an adult… Just because a few people who are nasty doesn’t mean that I can’t be Catholic and forgive and move on,” McGrane shared.

In 2018, she was personally contacted by Pope Francis to join his Vatican Task Force to eradicate abuse in the Church.

Tolmie-McGrane assisted the pope in drafting guidelines to change the Church culture that silenced victims of abuse.

“A lot of Catholics, they keep quiet to protect the Church… and I would say to that little boy or girl, you’re not protecting the church by doing that. The Church can tackle you saying you’ve been abused. Things are different now. Pope Francis changed that,” she said.

She voiced hoped the new Pope would continue Francis’ work, and said that he believed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was a “Francis 2.0.”

“[I hope the new Pope will be] a pope who will continue Francis’ work… A pope who will dare to be different and progressive and who will include everyone,” she said.

“I love Cardinal Tagle. I think he’s super. I think he’s Francis 2.0, and he’s one of my favorites to become Pope,” she added. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News