Dear Parishioners,

“American Catholic Nuns” - What comes to your memory or imagination when you hear the phrase “American Catholic nuns”? If you’ve been paying close attention here at Christ the King, Sr. Maureen Viani, intrepid Yankee fan and awesome Religious Ed Director comes to mind along with Sr. Joanne Gallagher effective pastoral associate, compassionate grief minister and absolute magician with volunteers. If you’re of an older
generation, like your pastor, it may be Ingrid Bergman (“Bells of St. Mary’s) and Audrey Hepburn (“The Nun’s Story”) that you recall. Now if you haven’t been paying
attention at all, it could be heavily habited figures, always traveling in twos and mostly teaching children in school rooms; but this would be sadly out of date and inadequate to any generation.

A more faithful picture of “American Catholic nuns” would have to include pioneer sisters who made their way across dangerous and lonely seas from Europe, who also headed West in covered wagons to serve the needs of poor and marginalized of their era; it would include nurses who staffed army camps and navy medical ships during the Civil War and who won the heart of San Franciscans during the ’06 Quake and Fire; there would be those who established and directed this country’s largest private school system, some of its largest health care corporations and presided over Catholic colleges when “men only” was the standard for all other public and private universities. It would include the post-war explosion of vocations in numbers never approached before or since in the history of religious life. It would count over 350 communities that responded faithfully to the Vatican II directives to update constitutions and conduct to return to the values of their founders and to develop ways to apply those values to current times. It would include the generous response to the Vatican call that each community share 10% of it members to serve the poor of Latin America.

In the past four decades the number of women religious in the U.S. has declined 66% from a record high of 180,000 to 59,000, with 90% now over the age of 60, with a median age over 70 and only a few hundred in their 30’s. These sisters are still doing considerable “heavy lifting” in parish ministry, religious education, health care, demonstrations for peace, for human life, for just immigration, and for the well being of women and dependent children. They continue to witness to Catholic life and values and are unafraid to discuss or listen to issues about which much of the Church leadership remains silent. While traditional habits and convent life are less common, these sisters
recently raised seven million dollars to support the work of their colleagues in the aftermath of Katrina; in the last 20 years at least nine of these sisters suffered violent
deaths for peace and justice abroad. In an age of declining mass attendance, closure of parishes, clergy sex abuse and episcopal coverups, without claiming perfection, “the American Catholic nuns” today and yesterday certainly give us something to be thankful for and to be proud about.

Now you may find this difficult to believe, especially given a Church with enough public scandals to deal with, but the Vatican has recently decided to launch two separate investigations into the lives and conduct of these women who continue to make us look
good! The first is called an “Apostolic Visitation” to “assess the quality of religious life” of the 59,000 women in religious communities in the U.S. The second investigation is underway to look specifically at the L.C.W.R. (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) an association of the leadership of 95% of the religious communities in the U.S. “to assist them to collaborate on behalf of the Gospel”. While the first assessment about the “quality of religious life” asks questions like “are daily Eucharist celebrations according to approved liturgical norms”, and how does your community “deal
with sisters who dissent publicly from authoritative teaching”, the second investigation of the LCWR calls for a “doctrinal assessment” concerning views on homosexuality, ordination of women and Jesus as the unique and only way to salvation”.

All very strange! Next week I’ll try to explore the why (motivation), the way (process) and the how much (funding) of these studies.

Your Pastor,
Brian T. Joyce