The criminal nuns known as the Poor Sisters of Nazareth is a religious order based in Hammersmith, London, that ran 6 children’s homes in Scotland including Nazareth House, Cardonald, Glasgow.

Poor Sisters of Nazareth lawsuits There are more than 400 actions against the order pending in the Court of Session, April 2004. [20-30 offenders acknowledged, 8 listed]

(Below is a database of sexual abuse)

Anon case [4 priests and a nun affair] Parish priest (d. c. 1982) of St. Matthew’s in Kilmarnock raped Helen Holland when she was just eight in Nazareth House children’s home while a nun, Sister Kevin, tied a hood over her head and held her down, “I was screaming in pain, distraught and terrified. But the nun kept shouting I was the Devil and that I was evil. While the nun held me down, he raped me.” She endured three years of rape and abuse from that same priest and two others. First happened around 1966 and only ended three years later when the nun realized Holland was pregnant. That was the end of the abuse but the beginning of her life of “torment.” “The parish priest I turned to for help and support turned around and used my fear and vulnerability to abuse me himself” Holland joined Mother Theresa’s order dedicating herself to the care of the destitute. Later she ceased to be a Catholic. “Eventually, I was told the Crown Office had decided not to proceed. Apparently the priest was dead and the nun was too old. I was so angry.” “But I've never blamed God for what happened.”

Sister Alphonso case Marie Docherty (Sister. Alphonso), a nun was found guilty of 4 charges of cruel behavior towards girls in her care at two Nazareth House homes in Midlothian and Aberdeen during the 1960s and 1970s, included in the allegations was forcing children to sleep with the body of dead nun, imprisoning a girl in a cupboard and forcing an epileptic into a cold bath during a fit, October 2000. But she escaped jail after Sheriff Colin Harris decided at Aberdeen Sheriff Court that because of the nun’s age and heart condition a custodial sentence was not appropriate. She immediately went on a three-month holiday to the US for a period of “rest and recovery.”

Sister Kevin Nun at Nazareth House in Kilmarnock, sexually assaulted Helen Holland with a handbarrows and whipped her with a bamboo cane. She tied a hood over 8-year-old Helen Holland’s head and held her down while Anon priest I raped her, 1966. The rapes continued 3 years until Holland was pregnant. The pregnancy was kept secret and ended when Sister Kevin kicked her repeatedly in the stomach to induce a miscarriage. Holland alleged that Sister Kevin put her in an industrial tumble dryer and switched it on, as well as tying her to the metal railings of a fire exit during a lightning storm. Crown Office lawyers decided that, despite 30 witnesses prepared to give evidence against Sister Kevin, the case would not go ahead, as she had moved to Ireland, was in her eighties, and too infirm to stand trial. Sister Kevin denied the allegations.

Sister Norbert affair At Nazareth House, Cardonald, Glasgow, a victim was assaulted and abused by nuns every day from age of five until leaving age 11. “Sister Norbert assaulted her using implements including canes and the belt she wore as part of her habit. She hit her on the hands, legs, bottom, head or any available area. Sister Norbert assaulted her three or four times a day, every day.... At the age of eight she had long hair and the nun cut it off as a punishment for wetting the bed. She and other children were assaulted for talking or coughing in church...those who wet the bed were made to stand on the beach wearing their wet pants or sheets in front of members of the public.” “She was made to take baths in Jeyes fluid which gave her blisters.” “Sister Norbert regularly told her that she was mentally retarded. She told her she would never do any good in her life. She was told that the Devil was in her, and she would not be going to heaven.