The Nun's Testimony

Sister Ugbome is not believed

There was a time when the word of a nun was a step away from the word of God Himself. Those days, clearly, are over.

Sister Ugbome claimed that she had been rear-ended by another driver one fine morning as she was driving home from her job at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown. Minding her own business, and then, boom, someone crashed into her. The Sister suffered injuries to her neck and shoulder and back, likely whiplash caused by the force of the impact.

Ms. Edel Macklin says she never hit the nun's car. In fact, she was just sitting in her car waiting for the traffic light to change when Sr. Ugbome approached her and asked for her particulars because there'd been a collision. Ms. Macklin may have thought that the nun was a bit deranged, but she did give out the information so that she could get on her way and put some distance between herself and the addled nun. There had not been any sort of collision, Ms. Macklin said. Not the slightest tap, not at all.

Back in the days of the industrial schools, nuns often testified in court when the children were on trial, making claims that would see the child in the dock removed from its home and brought to one of their facilities for re-training. For decades, nuns swore that children were begging when they had done no such thing, but the word of the nun was good enough to tear families apart. In time, the victims found the courage to speak out and the truth was exposed. These days, the word of a nun is far from sacrosanct and more likely to be questioned. They lied back then, the thinking goes, so what's to stop them from lying now?

Rather than accept Sr. Ubgome at her word, the judge heard evidence that the sister had called at a garage a month prior to the alleged collision with Ms. Macklin's vehicle, to get an estimate on repairs to the rear end of her car.

Putting things in a most diplomatic fashion, Judge Jacqueline Linnane decreed that she "preferred" Ms. Macklin's testimony. Well, there's still that glimmer of respect for the clergy out there, isn't there? The judge couldn't just state that Sr. Ugbome was flat out lying, now, could she?

Possibly Judge Linnane took into consideration the fact that Sr. Ugbome is from Nigiera, which is over-run with former government ministers and deposed royalty seeking the world's help in removing millions of euro from various banks accounts if only the person receiving their e-mail could send them a bank account number and varioius identification requirements and then all can share in the vast wealth. What can you expect from a native of a country that has made the scam such a fine art?

But what does it say about the Holy Family Sisters of the Needy that one of their own can't seem to remember the commandment against bearing false witness?