Posted by In the mid-19th century, at the convent of Sant’Ambrogio in Rome, Sister Maria Luisa passed herself off as a saint, had relationships with fellow nuns and with her confessor and, according to the charges, poisoned several nuns who threatened to expose her. She was reported to the Inquisition in 1859 by Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and sentenced to 20 years.
Sister Maria Luisa was an Italian nun who, in the mid-1800s, besides having relationships with other nuns and with priests, killed 3 nuns and tried to kill 2 more. This earned her the nickname of “killer nun“. She was stopped thanks to a complaint by Katharina von Hohenzollern.
The murders of Sister Maria Luisa
Maria Luisa was born in 1832 into a humble family. She learned to read and write early and, after meeting Maddalena Salvati, who worked at the Pia Casa di Carità, decided to become a nun. With the help of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary she entered the Convent of Sant’Ambrogio in Rome. There she immediately aroused the envy of the other nuns, taking on prestigious roles at just 25.
Besides envy, perhaps, there was something more. Perhaps the other nuns had already sensed what Sister Maria Luisa was capable of? Or perhaps the killer nun had soon begun her shady dealings in the convent? Either way, in 1857 Sister Maria Costanza expressed her doubts about young Maria Luisa. Strangely, Sister Maria Costanza suddenly fell ill with a lung infection. The logical thing would have been to call the doctor, but Sister Maria Luisa somehow convinced the mother superior that it was not necessary. Sister Maria Costanza died some time later.
The following year it was the turn of the novice Maria Agostina. Her mistake? Having visions and being very popular among the nuns. Sister Maria Luisa had long claimed to receive letters from the Virgin Mary, but the novice’s visions had stolen the show. Maria Agostina too had to die. And so it happened, a few days after the onset of a strange illness with ulcers in her throat and fever. In 1859 it was the turn of Sister Maria Felice, who discovered some dark secrets and was quickly done away with.
The convent’s secrets
But what had Sister Maria Felice discovered? Probably Sister Maria Luisa’s vices: she had sexual relations both with some of her fellow nuns and with her confessor. Hardly behaviour fitting for a nun.
Sister Maria Giacinta too was struck by a strange illness, right after being moved into Sister Maria Luisa’s cell. In the cell she had found a book with obscene drawings of naked men and women. And it was right after finding this book that she fell ill. Unfortunately for Maria Luisa, Maria Giacinta survived: the doctor diagnosed opium poisoning and gave her an antidote that saved her.
At the same time Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1817-1893), born a princess of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst and princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen by marriage, discovered the dark secrets of the Convent of Sant’Ambrogio. She even found a letter from Maria Luisa to a man whose contents could not be misunderstood: the two were having an affair.
She was first isolated by the other nuns, confined to a cell and cut off from any contact with the outside world. Then they tried to poison her. Fearing for her life, in 1859 she miraculously managed to send a letter to her cousin, Archbishop Gustav Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. The archbishop visited her at the convent as soon as he could and found his cousin in a very agitated state. She cried “save me, save me!”, so much so that for a moment the archbishop thought she had gone mad. But when he understood her situation he took action, and the next day Katharina was free. Such a swift “release” was due solely to the fact that the archbishop personally knew Pope Pius IX.
The Inquisition
About a month after escaping from the convent, Katharina appeared before the Holy Office to file a complaint. She reported 4 things. The first was the unauthorised cult of a former nun of the convent, who had been tried for “affected holiness” and whose cult had been banned by the Church. The second was that Maria Luisa was having an affair with a certain Pietro N., known as “the American”. Then she reported that Maria Luisa boasted of being a saint, able to work miracles.
The Inquisition was no stranger to young nuns having relations with men, and could overlook that since the accusation might have been made out of jealousy, but it could certainly not overlook the fact that a woman was being venerated in the convent and that Maria Luisa proclaimed herself a saint. So a trial began.
Sentences
After two years of trial, Maria Luisa admitted to having sexually abused other nuns, claiming that the sexual act was a ritual to purify the genitals. She had also had sexual relations with her confessor, the German Jesuit Joseph Kleutgen (who at the convent went by the name of Father Giuseppe Peters), who was under the spell of her charisma. According to him, the sexual act was a spiritual service.
Maria Luisa was sentenced to 20 years, later reduced to 18. The convent was closed and the confessor sentenced to two years’ confinement in a Jesuit house. Although the penalty for poisoning at the time was death by firing squad, the Church did not want to draw too much attention to what went on in convents. So Maria Luisa was sent to a house of penance. Eight years later she was sent to an asylum and from there sent home. But not even her family wanted her. To this day we do not know where or when she died.
Dark secrets, shady dealings, false sanctity and sexual rituals. Only by chance do we know the story of this killer nun today. How many similar stories have been covered up by the Church?
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