Priest’s arrest for exorcism death sparks outrage

THE arrest of a Romanian Orthodox priest after a 23-year-old nun was apparently chained to a cross, gagged with a towel and left for three days before she died, has caused uproar.

A monk and four nuns were arrested on Thursday and have been charged with murder in the case which has focused attention on the secretive convents and monasteries that dot Romania’s impoverished northeast.

Maricica Irina Cornici was said to be possessed by devils. She died last week in the Holy Trinity convent outside the remote village of Tanacu.