Sister relieved lawsuit is withdrawn

A nun whose "world was turned upside down" by a lawsuit against her was relieved recently when it was voluntarily withdrawn by the man who sued her.

Sister Anne Bryan Smollin, CSJ, had been sued in New York State Supreme Court for allegedly not providing proper counseling to a victim of clergy sexual abuse. She is director of Counseling for the Laity, an Albany diocesan agency.

The plaintiff, Curtis A. Oathout, voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit in the face of a pending motion to dismiss the entire complaint for lack of merit. The withdrawal by the plaintiff was with prejudice and on the merits, meaning that it cannot be re-filed.

Emotions

"There was no truth to the allegations," said Sister Anne. "I am very pleased for myself, my family and my religious community that the lawsuit was dropped."

But those positive feelings come after the months of stress that followed the filing of the lawsuit late last year.

"My world was turned upside down," she told The Evangelist. "I felt all the symptoms of stress: My stomach was uptight; my throat would close; I felt helpless."

Media coverage

Adding to the stress of the lawsuit itself, Sister Anne said, was the coverage it received in the media.

"I would look at the front page of the newspaper every day to see if my name was there," she said. "If I got to the obituaries and didn't see it, I knew I had made it through that day."

Told by her attorney not to talk about the lawsuit, Sister Anne remained silent while the victim's attorney held a press conference about her.

"He implied my credentials were mail-order, that I informed on clients to the Bishop and that I didn't keep any notes of counseling sessions. The lawsuit led to media reports that claimed I lived in a lesbian relationship," she charged. "I would read these things that were not true and feel helpless. I felt I was tried in the media. I knew there was no truth to any piece of it, but you feel like you have a big 'A' on your chest."

When the allegation about lesbianism was repeated by WTEN-TV, she confronted the TV station. It quickly retracted the story and apologized on the air. As for her credentials, Sister Anne earned a bachelor's degree in education from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, a master's degree in counseling from The University at Albany and a doctorate from Walden University in Florida.

Loss of clients

The allegations against Sister Anne, which she said were reported by the media without being checked out, had a harmful effect on her work. In addition to her counseling office, she gives talks as many as four or five times a week throughout the country.

"Counseling for Laity had a significant drop in clients," she reported. "Some talks that were scheduled were canceled. People around the country would read about me on-line and cancel talks. There was a considerable change in my speaking schedule."

In addition, talks she had scheduled to give to members of her religious order who serve in Hawaii and Peru were postponed due to delays in court.

Support system

Throughout her ordeal, Sister Anne said that she had support from "my family, my friends and my community of sisters. They got me through it."

She said that she received hundreds of calls, emails, letters and cards of support, as well as offers to help her pay her legal costs and promises of prayer.

"I got nothing but affirmation," she said. "I would get off a plane at the Albany airport, and strangers would come up to me to say they respected and supported me, and didn't believe what was being said."

Solidarity

To demonstrate their solidarity with her, every religious order in the Diocese sent representatives to a prayer service in May for Sister Anne.

"The statement on TV was against religious life," she said. "It demeaned and slandered us. It hurt women religious and the lifestyle they have lived through centuries. We came together to pray and talk. Our strength as women religious is in each other."

As she walked down the halls of St. Joseph's Provincial House in Latham, she noted, "I would be stopped every few feet by sisters. One said, 'I cry for you every day.'"

Faith amid troubles

Sister Anne said that her faith was "deepened" by the experience she went through.

"Sometimes, I would listen to the Scriptures being read and think they were meant only for me," she noted. "The Beatitude about suffering persecution took on a whole new meaning. I try to live out of the Gospels and care about people, not only through counseling them but also through my talks, which is a ministry for me. Then to be persecuted unjustly...."

Although she remained silent about the lawsuit, Sister Anne did not remain passive. In addition to challenging the TV station, she has filed an ethics complaint against the victim's first lawyer. Partway through the court proceedings, the victim fired that lawyer for what the victim called "unacceptable actions."

Hopes for healing

Although she is angry at the media and the first attorney, Sister Anne said, "I pray every day" for the victim.

"I want most of all for him to be healed," she explained. "I watched him throughout this process being victimized over again. When he fired his lawyer, I thought that gave him some level of control."

In treating the victim, she said, "my only goal was his healing. I conducted myself professionally and correctly. I would repeat what I did. I have nothing to apologize for."

(9/18/03) [[In-content Ad]]