The Vatican Visitation? Roman Catholic sisters and the adaptation of identity

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THE
VATICAN
VISITATION?
ROMAN
CATHOLIC
SISTERS
AND

THE
ADAPTATION
OF
IDENTITY

by

Kara
Lemma

A
Dissertation
Presented
to
the

FACULTY
OF
THE
USC
GRADUATE
SCHOOL

UNIVERSITY
OF
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA

In
Partial
Fulfillment
of
the

Requirements
for
the
Degree

DOCTOR
OF
PHILOSOPHY

(SOCIOLOGY)

August
2013

Copyright
2013

Kara
Lemma

2

Table
of
Contents

CHAPTER
1:
Introduction
.....................................................................................................................
3

CHAPTER
2:
Core
Methodological
Strategy
...............................................................................
31

CHAPTER
3:
Literature
Review
.......................................................................................................
53

CHAPTER
4:
Key
Findings
..................................................................................................................
71

CHAPTER
5:
Conclusion
...................................................................................................................
100

REFERENCES
.........................................................................................................................................
111

3

CHAPTER
1.
Introduction:
Why
is
the
Vatican
Scrutinizing
Women
Religious?

“Catholic
Sisters
have
contributed
in
manifold,
generous
ways
to
building
up
the

Church
in
the
United
States
since
our
nation’s
earliest
days.
With
respect
for
these

good
works
and
genuine
concern
for
the
women
religious
who
perform
them,
the

Vatican’s
Congregation
for
Institutes
of
Consecrated
Life
and
Societies
of
Apostolic
Life

has
sought
an
Apostolic
Visitation
‘in
order
to
look
into
the
quality
of
the
life’
of

women
religious
in
the
United
States.”

-‐-‐Apostolic
Visitation
of
Institutes
of
Women
Religious
in
the
United
States

“About
the
injunction
of
the
Apostle
Paul
that
women
should
keep
silent
in
church?

Don't
go
by
one
text
only.”

-‐-‐
St.
Teresa
of
Avila
(Spanish
nun
1515-‐1582)

THE
APOSTOLIC
VISITATION
OF
WOMEN
RELIGIOUS:

THE
BACKDROP

On
November
22,
2008,
Cardinal
Franc
Rodé
launched
a
massive
campaign
to

assess
whether
or
not
Roman
Catholic
sisters
1

in
the
United
States
are
living
in

fidelity
to
the
Church.
Citing
concerns
that
women
religious
are
not
properly

maintaining
the
customs
and
traditions
of
their
individual
congregations,
the

Vatican
deemed
this
“Visitation”
an
important
precautionary
measure
to
ensure

sisters
are
not
straying
from
church
teaching.

The
Visitation
also
emerged
as
a

response
to
rumors
circulating
that
these
women
support
movements
deemed

controversial
such
as
gay
rights,
women’s
ordination,
nuclear
arms
protests,

married
priests,
and
other
political
and
social
issues
that
the
Church
does
not

support.

The
Roman
Catholic
Church,
fearing
a
loss
of
institutional
control
over
its

large
army
of
social
service
practitioners,
initiated
a
three-‐phase
Visitation
of

1
In
this
paper,
I
use
the
terms
“sister,”
“nun,”
and
“woman
religious”
interchangeably.

The
term

“nun”

refers
to
a
female
member
of
a
cloistered
or
monastic
community.

The
terms
“sister”
and

“woman
religious”
describe
female
members
of
active
religious
orders.

4

women’s
religious
congregations
across
the
United
States,
which
lasted
for
a
period

of
about
three
years.

The
Visitation
officially
ended
on
January
9,
2012
when

Mother
Mary
Clare
Millea,
Superior
General
of
the
Apostles
of
the
Sacred
Heart
of

Jesus
and
Doctor
of
Canon
Law,
submitted
a
final
report
to
Rome
officials.

Per

Vatican
directive,
the
contents
of
the
report
have
remained
confidential.

The
timing
of
the
Apostolic
Visitation
is
unique
because
it
coincides
with

current,
organized
efforts
to
find
answers
about
the
rapidly
declining
membership

in
both
men’s
and
women’s
religious
communities
in
the
United
States
(Center
for

Applied
Research
on
the
Apostolate
2013).

The
Center
for
Applied
Research
on
the

Apostolate
(CARA)
has
tracked
the
number
of
religious
sisters
entering
and
leaving

congregations
across
the
country,
and
according
to
current
statistics,
this
decline
is

dramatic.

Nearly
70
percent
of
the
population
has
diminished
in
size
as
a
result
of

many
women
choosing
to
leave
religious
life,
a
lack
of
new
recruits,
and
the
deaths

of
older
sisters.

This
“decline”
is
the
source
of
confusion
among
religious

communities
because
it
raises
questions
about
impending
labor
shortage
problems

and
the
future
of
religious
life
in
America.

As
a
researcher,
I
was
interested
in
the
Vatican
Visitation
because,
on
the

surface,
it
seemed
strange
that
the
Holy
See
would
take
an
interest
in
the
affairs
of
a

population
that
doesn’t
have
much
of
a
viable
future
in
the
United
States
–
at
least

without
drastic
campaigns
to
increase
the
number
of
vocations
to
religious
life.

Furthermore,
the
Visitation
measure
has
sparked
lively
debates
among
academics

and
practitioners
of
Roman
Catholicism.

Recent
news
reports
have
featured
the

Nuns
on
the
Bus
campaign,
in
which
sisters
have
taken
to
the
streets
to
protest
the

5

recent
Vatican
proclamation
that
these
women
need
to
spend
more
time

evangelizing
and
less
time
serving
the
poor
and
working
for
a
more
just
society.
2

Moreover,
I
was
particularly
interested
in
finding
out
more
about
how
the

Visitation’s
reportedly
unwelcome
intrusion
in
these
women’s
lives
would
cause

them
to
have
to
adapt
their
identities
to
a
religious
insitution
veiling
“concern”
with

“control.”
Based
on
formal
interviews,
informal
conversations,
participation
in

public
rallies,
and
library
research,
I
learned
these
sisters
were
asked
to
turn
over

all
sorts
of
private
information
–
home
addresses
(if
they
lived
outside
of
the

convent),
individual
earnings
statements,
stock
and
bond
holdings,

revenue,
as
well

as
demographic
data.

In
addition,
I
wondered
how
these
women
felt
having
their

lives
–
which
are
public
enough
–
displayed
on
trial
for
the
American
Catholic

community
to
scrutinize?

Were
they
angry
about
this
Visitation
or
contrastingly,

would
this
lengthy
trial
serve
to
solidify
their
commitment
to
their
call
to
religious

life?

Would
some
of
the
sisters
break
their
commitment
to
God,
the
Church,
and

themselves
and
leave
to
pursue
life
as
lay
women?

On
a
larger
level,
did
this

investigation
partially
represent
an
attempt
to
distract
American
Catholics
from
the

sex
abuse
scandal
in
the
early
years
of
the
millennium?

From
a
sociological
perspective,
these
questions
are
important
because
they

address
the
potential
for
radical
changes
within
women’s
religious
communities
and

their
role
in
American
society.

While
I
was
collecting
data
for
this
project,
many

sisters
expressed
discontent
over
what
they
believed
to
be
a
drastic
measure
on
the

2

For
more
information
on
the
Nuns
on
the
Bus
campaign,
see:
http://www.networklobby.org/nuns-‐
bus-‐trip.

6

part
of
the
Church.

They
firmly
believe
that
their
identities
as
sisters
and
as
women

are
being
unjustly
scrutinized
by
Vatican
officials.

THE
APOSTOLIC
VISITATION:

INITIAL
REACTIONS
OF
WOMEN
RELIGIOUS

When
I
began
speaking
with
women
about
the
Vatican
Visitation,
I
prepared

myself
to
be
open
to
a
variety
of
responses
from
sisters,
particularly
since
I
was

planning
to
travel
around
the
country
to
collect
as
many
sisters’
stories
as
possible

in
order
to
get
the
most
accurate
representation
of
their
thoughts
and
feelings.

During
the
pilot
interview,
I
spoke
to
a
short-‐statured,
mild-‐mannered,
salt-‐and-‐
pepper-‐haired
Caucasian
sister
in
her
early
60s,
who
identified
herself
as

“progressively
oriented.”

She
wore
an
oversized,
untucked,
white
button-‐down

shirt,
blue
jeans,
and
a
pair
of
worn
brown
Birkenstock
sandals
with
speckled
blue

socks.

About
halfway
through
our
conversation,
I
wasn’t
particularly
shocked
that

she
was
upset
about
the
investigation
–
naturally
I
figured
many
sisters
would
have

strong
reactions
(whether
for
or
against)
and
I
was
definitely
correct.

This
sister
–

who
had
spent
most
of
her
life
teaching
in
Catholic
schools
–
threw
her
hands
up
in

the
air,
raised
her
voice,
and
emphatically
stated:

.
.
.
the
“Visitation”
[motioning
her
fingers
to
indicate
she
was
sarcastically

quoting]
is
hardly
a
visitation
at
all.

It’s
an
investigation.

No,
it’s
more
than

just
some
investigation,
at
least
that
would
involve
some
sort
of
charges
or

reasons
for
examining
our
lives
so
carefully.

This
thing
should
be
called
the

Inquisition.

I
mean
I
can’t
believe
we
are
being
forced
to
turn
over

documents
and
talk
about
our
private
matters
to
a
delegation
of
strangers.

I

mean
–
I
–
I
really
guess
I
shouldn’t
call
it
an
Inquisition.

I
guess
that’s
too

harsh.

It’s
just,
just
that
it
is
so
wrong
and
so
unjust.

As
we
were
sitting
together
at
a
small,
round
table,
near
the
convent
kitchen,
I
could

feel
my
own
anxiety
rising
with
her
anger.

I
nervously
sipped
my
coffee
and
tried
to

7

maintain
composure
so
that
she
could
feel
as
comfortable
as
possible
with
me.

As

the
conversation
continued,
the
sister
quickly
realized
that
she
had
probably

revealed
too
much
emotion,
and
worked
to
calm
herself
down.

Of
Irish
and
German

descent,
her
peach
colored
skin
flushed
bright
pink
from
her
forehead
down
to
the

base
of
her
neck.

Her
soft
blue
eyes
flashed
with
anger
and
began
to
moisten

beneath
her
silver-‐framed
glasses.

She
managed
to
catch
herself
before
the
tears

started
flowing
and
with
a
very
calm
and
cool
voice,
she
said,
“After
all
I
have
done

for
the
Church
and
its
people,
this
is
how
I
am
being
treated?

Ridiculous.

Just

ridiculous.

I
am
absolutely
appalled.”

In
contrast,
other
sisters
did
not
react
adversely
to
the
Visitation.

One
sister,

who
was
in
her
mid-‐to-‐late
20s
didn’t
appear
to
have
a
problem
with
providing

some
detailed
information
to
the
Vatican’s
Visitation
team.

She
said,
“If
the
Vatican

feels
a
need
to
do
it,
then
they
just
do
it.

The
Holy
Father
always
does
what’s
best

for
his
people
–
he
is
just
like
a
shepherd
herding
his
flock.”
This
woman
–
who
was

one
of
the
youngest
in
the
study
–
described
herself
as
a
member
of
a
traditional

religious
order.

She
lives
a
very
regimented
lifestyle
in
her
community
of
sisters

and
must
observe
a
tight
daily
schedule
of
prayer
and
work.

This
young,
attractive

Caucasian
woman
wore
a
traditional
habit,
a
full
veil
(which
extended
halfway
down

her
back),
and
a
long
set
of
large,
wooden
Rosary
beads
cinched
around
her
waist.

I

caught
a
glimpse
of
her
sandy
blonde
hair
peeking
out
of
her
veil
around
her

forehead.

Unlike
the
previous
woman,
this
sister
remained
calm
and
collected
with
her

hands
politely
crossed
on
the
table,
and
it
took
some
time
for
her
to
open
up
to
me.

8

This
sister
and
I
sat
across
from
each
other
at
a
round
table
in
a
sterile
conference

room
that
was
decorated
with
a
few
choice
items:
a
lithograph
of
Mary
and
the
baby

Jesus,
a
picture
of
Pope
Benedict
the
XVI,
and
a
framed
oil
painting
of
a
saint.

The

fact
that
this
sister
was
at
work
(and
not
in
a
more
casual
setting)
and
we
were

sitting
in
a
stark
conference
room
probably
contributed
to
the
woman
appearing

slightly
uncomfortable.

When
she
finally
relaxed,
she
said,
“I
think
the
Church
is

calling
for
a
visitation
because
some
sisters
don’t
live
in
total
fidelity
to
the
Church.”

When
I
asked
further,
“What
do
you
mean
‘some
sisters
don’t
live
in
fidelity
to
the

Church’?”

she
replied:

Some
sisters
don’t
even
live
with
each
other
in
a
community
convent.

They

have
their
own
apartments
or
whatever.

Of
course
that’s
something
the

church
should
be
concerned
about.
And
some
sisters
call
themselves

“religious”
but
they
aren’t
very
religious
at
all.
The
have
lost
something
that

makes
religious
life
so
beautiful—so
wonderful—so
freeing.

I
can

understand
why
some
communities
don’t
want
to
wear
the
habit,
but
what

better
way
to
show
the
world
that
you
have
faith—to
show
your
witness—

than
to
wear
it?

For
this
woman,
her
identity
as
a
sister
is
deeply
rooted
in
the
connections
she
has

with
other
sisters
and
her
community.

Her
identity
is
also
linked
to
an
inherent

need
to
publicly
communicate
her
commitment
to
Catholicism
in
addition
to
a

profound
sense
of
faith.

A
fairly
large
group
of
women
were
indifferent
about
the
Visitation,
citing

that
there
weren’t
any
real
reasons
to
get
upset
about
it.

I
did
find
this
surprising

considering
how
much
these
women
are
devoted
to
their
work
and
ministries.

These
women
work
long
days
to
provide
wonderful
services
to
Catholics
and
non-‐
Catholics
alike.

One
sister
claimed
that
she
struggles
to
maintain
a
sense
of
focus
at

9

times
because
people
are
constantly
asking
for
help:

This
is
kind
of
a
weird
way
to
describe
how
I
feel
sometimes,
but
a
lot
of
time

I
function
kind
of
like
a
filling-‐station
or,
yeah,
a
gas
station.

People
stop
by

the
pump
whenever
they
need
gas.

They
fill
up
the
tank
and
they
then
get

along
with
their
daily
lives.

I’m
like
the
pump.

Folks
are
always
asking

things
of
me
–
oh
don’t
get
me
wrong,
I’m
very
happy
to
do
it
and
I
don’t
have

any
responsibilities
like
a
family,
but
it
really
does
get
exhausting
at
times.

I

mean,
we
need
breaks
too,
you
know.

As
a
self-‐identified
conservative
sister,
despite
the
fact
that
she
is
constantly
helping

other
people,
this
woman
couldn’t
understand
why
women
religious
are
upset
about

the
Visitation.

She
believed
that
communities
could
glean
something
important
as
a

result
of
this
process:

[The
Visitation]
is
an
opportunity
to
learn
something
new
about
ourselves.

Maybe
it’ll
end
up
actually
being
a
good
thing—something
useful
that
could

teach
us
things
we
didn’t
see
before
because
we
are
so
engrossed
in
our

work-‐ministry-‐prayer
lives.

It’s
always
‘sister
will
you
pray
for
me,’
‘sister
I

need
help
organizing
this,’
‘sister
I
don’t
know
what
to
do.’

Who
knows?

I

guess
we’ll
have
to
wait
and
see
what
happens
when
the
report
is
submitted.

I
guess
I’m
also
not
bothered
by
this
visitation
at
all
because
I
know
we
have

absolutely
nothing
to
hide.

The
Vatican
can
look
for
whatever
they
want,
but

they’re
never
going
to
find
anything
scandalous
or
newsworthy.

We
can

thank
the
priests
for
doing
that
for
us.

Although
this
sister
expressed
a
kind
of
exhaustion,
she
made
the
assumption
that

because
the
sisters
don’t
have
any
skeletons
in
their
closets,
they
should
be
immune

from
any
negative
press.

To
a
certain
extent,
the
exposure
of
the
priest
sex
abuse

scandal
in
the
last
decade
gave
the
general
public
a
valid
reason
to
be
skeptical

about
the
identity
and
place
of
Catholicism
within
a
largely
Protestant
country.

It
is
no
secret
that
the
Roman
Catholic
Church
owes
a
debt
of
gratitude
to
the

generation
of
religious
sisters
who
were
responsible
for
building
and
staffing

Catholic
schools,
hospitals,
and
social
service
agencies.
Some
women
activists

10

became
involved
in
early
campaigns
to
reduce
urban
poverty
and
marched
in

support
of
civil
rights
during
the
1960s.
3

In
recent
years,
many
sisters
have
rallied
in

support
of
the
healthcare
reform
bill,
pitting
themselves
directly
against
the
U.S.

Conference
of
Catholic
Bishops,
which
opposed
the
iniative.

In
a
letter
to
Congress,

heads
of
50
women’s
religious
congregations
as
well
as
the
Leadership
Conference

of
Women
Religious,
expressed
their
support
for
the
reform
effort
(Landsberg

2010).

Instead
of
thanking
the
sisters
for
their
devoted
service
to
the
“universal”

church,
Rome
has
instead
decided
to
invoke
the
Visitation.

The
sister
who

compared
herself
to
a
“filling
station,”
wasn’t
too
far
off
the
mark
in
terms
of

describing
how
many
sisters
feel
unappreciated.

During
the
time
I
spent
working
on

this
project
–
talking
to
sisters,
reading
books
and
articles
about
convent
life,
and

collecting
every
bit
of
information
possible,
I
understood
more
clearly
the
implied

reasoning
behind
that
statement.

Since
these
women
have
sacrificed
a
tremendous

amount
of
time
and
energy
to
staff
parishes,
schools,
and
hospitals,
it
is
no
surpise

that
this
issue
has
reached
a
national
audience.

The
Nuns
on
the
Bus
campaign
has

demonstrated
just
how
frustrated
and
upset
many
women
are
about
the
Visitation

and
illustrates
the
depth
of
anger
that
exists.

I
must
admit
that
while
many
sisters

were
troubled
by
the
Vatican
Visitation,
I
did
find
it
fascinating
and
somewhat

beyond
my
comprehension
that
many
women
didn’t
seem
too
bothered
by
this.

3

For
an
in-‐depth
analysis
of
women
religious
active
in
the
social
justice
movements
of
the
1960s,

see:
Koehlinger,
Amy
L.
2007.
The
New
Nuns:
Racial
Justice
and
Religious
Reform
in
the1960s.

Cambridge,
MA:
Harvard
University
Press.

11

THE
APOSTOLIC
VISITATION:

THE
BEGINNING

Formally
called
the
“Apostolic
Review
of
Institutes
of
Women
Religious,”
the

Visitation
caused
quite
a
stir
in
both
the
Catholic
and
secular
media
beginning
in

2009.

After
the
relentless
criticism
of
the
Catholic
bishops’
poor
handling
and

cover-‐up
of
the
sex
abuse
scandal
that
plagued
the
Church,
women
religious
are

being
forced
to
reevaluate
their
communities
and
provide
in-‐depth
answers
to

questions
about
their
collective
and
individual
thoughts,
beliefs,
work
habits,

spiritual
exercises,
and
community
worship.

In
some
ways,
by
shifting
the
attention

away
from
the
clergy
sex
abuse
scandal
to
women
religious,
the
Church
may
have

intentionally
used
this
strategic
move
to
distract
weary
Catholics
away
from
the

shameful
actions
of
defrocked
priests.

The
tagline
that
the
Vatican
used
to
justify
this
investigation
was
that
these

women
“have
strayed
too
far”
from
the
modernization
goals
of
Vatican
Council
II.

In

other
words,
American
sisters
have
interpreted
the
documents
like
Perfectae

Caritatis
(On
the
Decree
and
Adaptation
and
Renewal
of
Religious
Life)
too
liberally,

causing
the
pendulum
to
swing
too
far
to
the
left.

The
purpose
of
Perfectae
Caritatis

was
to
provide
religious
congregations
(both
men’s
and
women’s)
with
the

opportunity
to
adapt
their
somewhat
archaic
lifestyle
to
the
modern
era.

The

updates
allowed
religious
orders
to
modify
and
modernize
their
dress,
reassess

their
mission
statements,
and
reorganize
community
life.
4

While
it
is
true
that
the

vast
majority
of
women’s
congregations
have
changed
dramatically
since
the
close

4

A
more
detailed
analysis
of
the
outcomes
of
Perfectae
Caritatis
appears
in
Chapter
3.

12

of
Vatican
II
in
the
1960s,
communities
such
as
the
Carmelite
Sisters
of
the
Most

Sacred
Heart
of
Los
Angeles
(located
in
Alhambra)
have
remained
largely

unchanged.

Cardinal
Rodé,
a
Slovenian
cleric
and
Prefect
of
the
Congregation
for

Institutes
of
Consecrated
Life
and
Societies
of
Apostolic
Life
orchestrated
the

Vatican
Visitation.
Cardinal
Rodé
called
for
the
investigation
in
a
decree
issued
on

December
22,
2008.
The
Apostolic
Visitation
officially
commenced
with
a
press

release
issued
by
Cardinal
Rodé
on
November
3,
2009
where
he
stated
that
his

dicastery:

.
.
.
had
been
listening
to
concerns
expressed
by
American
Catholics
–

religious,
laity,
clergy
and
hierarchy
–
about
the
welfare
of
religious
women

and
consecrated
life
in
general,
and
had
been
considering
an
Apostolic

Visitation
as
a
means
to
assess
and
constructively
address
these
concerns.

Since
this
announcement,
Mother
Mary
Clare
Millea,
Superior
General
of
the

Apostles
of
the
Sacred
Heart
of
Jesus
and
her
team
were
appointed
to
collect

information
concerning
the
inner-‐workings
of
nearly
400
women’s
religious

communities
in
the
United
States.
5

According
to
the
Apostolic
Visitation
website,

the
goals
of
this
three-‐phase
process
were
to
examine
the
quality
of
sisters’
lives,
to

address
the
ways
in
which
women
religious
have
contributed
to
society,
and
to

assist
the
Church
in
strengthening
these
communities.
Upon
completion
of
the
visits,

Mother
Millea
was
asked
to
submit
a
confidential
document
to
Cardinal
Rodé

detailing
the
findings
based
on
data
collected
from
a
combination
of
questionnaires,

5

For
more
information
about
the
investigation,
see:
http://www.apostolicvisitation.org/.

13

on-‐site
visits,
and
individual
interviews
with
religious
sisters.

The
Vatican
did
not

publicly
release
the
details
of
Mother
Millea’s
findings.

Perhaps
the
Vatican
feels
threatened
by
women
religious
participating
in

these
activities
–
which
many
view
as
“heretical”
and
“contrary”
to
the
Church.

Perhaps
Catholic
women
religious’s
commitment
to
speaking
out
for
change
also

contributed
to
the
initiation
of
the
Visitation.
During
the
process
of
my
research,
I

was
never
able
to
get
the
full
picture
as
to
why
Cardinal
Rodé
and
the
Vatican

decided
to
conduct
such
a
sweeping,
national
investigation
of
American
women

religious,
but
I
was
able
to
use
fragments
of
what
I
had
learned
to
piece
together
a

rough
trajectory
of
events.

Most
news
articles
merely
skimmed
the
surface
and

none
of
the
reporters
had
conducted
any
type
of
in-‐depth
investigative
journalism

on
the
topic
and
I
had
no
luck
finding
any
peer-‐reviewed
scholarly
publications
that

addressed
this
topic.

According
to
most
of
the
sisters
with
whom
I
talked,
a
small
group
of

Catholics
expressed
concern
that
sisters
were
not
living
in
fidelity
to
the
Church
and

gathered
for
a
symposium
at
Stonehill
College
(a
small
Catholic
liberal
arts
school
in

Easton,
Massachusetts).

The
participants
at
the
meeting
believed
it
was
important

to
uncover
the
truth
of
the
matter.
At
the
close
of
the
symposium,
Cardinal
Rodé

(2009)
announced
that
a
Vatican
Visitation
would
take
place
in
the
United
States

(and
not
in
Europe,
Asia,
or
Latin
America).

The
fact
that
the
Visitation
did
not
take

place
in
Latin
America
and
Africa,
where
the
numbers
of
Catholic
sisters
are

growing,
is
unique
because
the
potential
for
rapid
change
and
growth
lies
in
the

Global
South
and
not
in
the
Global
North.

According
to
Cardinal
Rodé
(2009),
the

14

purpose
of
the
Visitation
was
to
“encourage
vocations
and
assure
a
better
life
for

women
religious.”

During
a
radio
interview
originating
from
the
Vatican
radio

news,
Cardinal
Rodé
would
not
release
any
names
of
people
with
whom
he
was

concerned.

He
simply
left
it
as
“an
important
representative
of
the
U.S.
church.”

He

went
on
to
say
there
were
“
.
.
.

irregularities
or
omissions
in
American
religious
life.

Most
of
all,
you
could
say,
it
involves
a
certain
secular
mentality
that
has
spread
in

these
religious
families
and,
perhaps,
also
a
certain
‘feminist’
spirit.”

The
events

taken
place
at
Stonehill
College
set
the
stage
for
the
Vatican
Visitation
of
Women

Religious,
which
caused
a
flurry
of
reactionary
efforts
for
the
past
three
and
a
half

years.

Before
I
delve
deeper
into
the
remaining
concerns
surrounding
this
topic,
it
is

important
to
address
a
few
significant
historical
moments
in
which
women
religious

were
under
the
miroscope
for
some
of
their
work
in
the
Catholic
Church.

PRE-‐APOSTOLIC
VISITATION:

WOMEN
RELIGIOUS
UNDER
FIRE

The
Vatican
Visitation
isn’t
the
first
example
of
sisters
facing
scrutiny
for

their
work.

In
previous
years,
religious
sisters
have
had
to
produce
evidence
that

they’re
fit
to
fulfill
the
role
of
a
religious
sisters
in
their
personal
and
professional

lives.
For
example,
in
Midwives
of
the
Future:
American
Sisters
Tell
Their
Story,
Ann

Patrick
Ware
(1985)
argues
that
religious
sisters
during
the
1980s
were

experiencing
dramatic
shifts
in
membership
and
organization
in
their
communities.

Many
women
were
struggling
to
find
meaning
amid
the
massive
delcine
of
religious

life,
which
was
starting
to
become
much
more
difficult
during
this
time
period.

More
importantly,
sisters
were
forced
to
demonstrate
the
importance
and
relevance

of
their
lives
in
the
Church
and
in
society.
Ware
has
recorded
the
firsthand
accounts

15

of
19
religious
sisters,
many
of
whom
recalled
their
individual
and
collective

struggles
to
redefine
themselves
and
adapt
to
a
constantly
shifting
environment.

In
1983,
the
Sacred
Congregation
for
Religious
and
for
Secular
Institutes

(SCRSI)
issued
a
document,
“Essential
Elements
of
Religious
Life,”
which
reversed

the
process
of
renewal
many
religious
communities
underwent
after
Perfectae

Caritatis
was
issued
in
the
1960s.

During
this
time,
the
Holy
See
appointed
a

commission
of
bishops
to
investigate
religious
communities
in
the
United
States
to

find
out
why
so
few
new
members
were
entering
religious
life.

In
an
unprecedented

and
frightening
action,
an
auxiliary
bishop
of
Brooklyn
personally
carried
a
message

from
the
Pope
to
a
sister
in
Detroit
with
an
ultimatum
demanding
she
either
give
up

the
work
which
her
community
had
authorized
her
to
do
or
that
she
renounce
her

vows
(Associated
Press
1983).

Sister
Anges
Mansour
had
been
working
for
a
state-‐
run
organization
that
provided
subsidies
for
poor
women
to
obtain
abortions.

Because
the
Catholic
Church
has
an
unwavering
stance
on
the
subject
of
abortion,

this
sister
faced
a
great
deal
of
scrutiny
–
she
was
asked
to
resign
from
the
Sisters
of

Mercy,
of
which
she
had
been
a
member
for
thirty
years,
and
she
complied,
quitting

her
job.

Why
would
the
Vatican
decide
to
put
women
religious
under
the
microscope

of
public
opinion,
yet
again?

American
Catholic
sisters
are
no
strangers
to

controversy.

Beginning
in
the
late
1980s
and
continuing
through
the
1990s,
Sister

Jeannine
Gramick
along
with
Father
Robert
Nugent,
faced
public
criticism
for
their

active
ministry
and
movement
advocating
gay
and
lesbian
equality
in
the
Catholic

Church.
Gramick
had
been
known
for
her
progressive
stance
on
gay
and
lesbian

16

issues
and
publicly
advocated
for
their
right
to
be
fully
included
in
all
areas
of

pastoral
ministry,
sacraments,
and
liturgical
worship.

Gramick
has
coauthored
and

edited
three
books
on
the
topic
and
argues
from
a
theological
and
historical
point
of

view
that
gay
and
lesbian
people
deserve
equal
treatment
and
argues
that
their

status
as
second-‐class
citizens
should
not
be
tolerated.

In
1999,
former
Cardinal
Joseph
Ratzinger
who
served
the
Vatican
as
the

Prefect
for
the
Congregation
of
the
Doctrine
of
the
Faith
publicly
admonished
Sr.

Gramick
along
with
Fr.
Robert
Nugent,
who
cofounded
New
Ways
Ministry,
an

organization
that
encourages
equality
for
gay
and
lesbian

people
in
the
Church
and

in
society.

Gramick
and
Nugent
found
themselves
in
the
middle
of
a
storm
when

two
of
their
coauthored
publications
reached
the
Vatican.

According
to
the
Roman

Curia
and
the
Congregation
for
the
Doctrine
of
the
Faith
(1999),
in
a
document

entitled
“Notification
Regarding
Sister
Jeannine
Gramick,
SSND
and
Father
Robert

Nugent,
SDS,”
the
Church
argued
that
they
“demonstrated
a
clear
conceptual

understanding
of
the
Church's
teaching
on
homosexuality,
but
refrained
from

professing
any
adherence
to
that
teaching.”

In
other
words,
the
Congregation
of
the

Doctrine
of
the
Faith
alleged
that
both
Gramick
and
Nugent
directly
challenged
the

Church’s
teaching
on
homosexuality
because
they
ultimately
called
into
question
the

nature
of
homosexuality
by
calling
it
natural.

They
also
discussed
having
a
moral

conscience
when
making
decisions
about
“homogenital”
contact
(Gramick
and

Nugent
1992).

The
basic
interpretation
is
that
the
Church
should
not
dictate
private
matters

of
sexual
expression
concerning
gay
and
lesbian
couples.

In
essence,
gay
and

17

lesbian
Catholics
should
use
their
own
ethical
and
moral
compass
to
determine
the

nature
of
their
actions
with
one
another.

The
“primacy
of
conscience”
is
the
term

most
associated
with
these
types
of
issues
when
it
comes
to
the
Catholic
Church.

The
core
principle
behind
this
teaching
is
that
despite
the
Catholic
decree
against

homosexual
activity,
individuals
should
make
the
right,
ethical
choices
about
a
given

situation
provided
that
they
have
carefully
and
consciouslly
considered
the
context

of
their
choices.

The
Church
has
often
struggled
with
maintaining
the
appropriate
balance

between
the
what
is
commonly
referred
to
as
the
“letter
of
law”
with
the
“spirit
of

the
law.”
For
example,
with
respect
to
the
primacy
of
conscience,
the
example
that
is

most
often
cited
is
the
use
of
birth
control
methods
among
married
couple.

For

instance,
if
a
married
couple
with
several
children
carefully
weighed
the
pros
and

cons
of
a
form
of
artifical
contraception
(condoms,
for
example)
and
chose
to
use

birth
control
because
they
could
not
afford
to
financially
support
another
child
and

wanted
to
prevent
another
child
from
being
deprived
of
a
happy
life,
this
measure
is

often
thought
permissble.

In
relation
to
the
issue
of
homosexuality,
a
couple
committed
to
the
moral

tenets
of
Catholicism
could
theoretically
reject
the
Church’s
teaching
against

homogenital
contact
because
the
primacy
of
the
couple’s
moral
conscience
would

prevail.

However,
in
response
to
Gramick
and
Nugent,
the
Congregation
believed

that
both
authors
were
in
error
because
they
did
not
fully
accept
the
Church’s

rendering
of
homosexuality
as
an
anomaly
of
human
life,
and
instead
expressed
that

18

homosexuality
is
considered
natural
from
a
interdisciplinary
social
science

approach.

In
a
2001
documentary
by
Barbara
Rick,
titled
In
Good
Conscience,
Gramick

argued
that
the
Catholic
Church
needed
to
stop
promoting
what
she
called
a
“be,
but

not
do”
theology.

In
other
words,
she
is
adamantly
opposed
to
the
concept
that
the

Catholic
Church
teaches
that
“being”
gay
or
lesbian

is
not
a
problem
but
that
same-‐
sex
sexual
activity
is
a
problem.

In
addition
to
actively
working
to
create
change

within
the
Church,
other
sisters
have
taken
similar
risks
by
openly
supporting
what

the
Church
considers
“radical”
or
“splinter”
movements.

Despite
a
national
movement
toward
full
inclusion
of
gay
and
lesbian

Catholics
in
the
Church,
there
are
few
scholarly
sources
written
on
this
topic.

In

addition
to
Gramick
and
Nugent’s
prolific
writings
critiquing
the
current
position
of

the
Church
on
matters
related
to
homosexuality,
Rosemary
Curb
and
Nancy

Manahan
(1985)
have
written
about
the
struggles
that
lesbian
and
bisexual
woman

encounter
living
in
convents.

This
book
details
the
psychological
struggles
of
sisters

who
have
to
negotiate
their
lesbian
identity
with
their
desire
to
remain
celibate
and

true
to
their
religious
calling.

The
authors
eloquently
point
out
that
the
fear
of

homosexuality
during
the
middle
of
the
twentieth
century
caused
many
women
in

leadership
position
to
develop
strict
policies
that
prohibited
sisters
from
developing

“particular
friendships”
in
their
congregations.

These
platonic
couplings
were

thought
to
make
it
easier
for
women
to
enter
into
exclusive
emotional
and
sexual

relationships.

Kathleen
J.
Waites
in
Particular
Friendships:
A
Convent
Memoir

(2006),
details
her
struggle
to
adapt
to
the
life
of
a
woman
religious
while
still

19

maintaining
the
appropriate
sexual
and
emotional
boundaries
with
her
fellow

sisters.

Some
sisters
have
strongly
supported
splinter
groups
whose
main
goals
are

to
build
a
more
inclusive
church
–
one
that
is
open
to
all
people
regardless
of

gender,
sexual
orientation,
and
marital
status.

Some
of
the
groups
these
women

support
are
Roman
Catholic
Woman
Priests,
the
American
Catholic
Church,
Call
to

Action,
Catholic
Action
Network,
and
the
Women’s
Ordination
Conference.

As
a

result
of
these
“progressive”
or
“inclusive”
groups,
it
is
not
surprising
that
Rome
has

issued
another
controversial
statement
in
response
that
has
incensed
religious

sisters
and
their
lay
supporters.

I
spoke
with
one
sister
who
quietly
supported
a

group
committed
to
the
ideals
of
full
inclusion
of
all
people.

This
woman
believed

that
the
progressive
splinter
groups
were
heading
in
the
right
direction
with
their

theological
politics,
but
she
had
to
be
careful
about
talking
about
her
affiliation
with

one
of
these
progressive
groups
because
she
was
afraid
it
could
jeopardize
her

religious
order.

STATEMENT
OF
THE
PROBLEM
AND
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS

The
Vatican
Visitation
of
Women
Religious
has
directly
impacted
the
lives
of

individual
and
collective
groups
of
Catholic
Sisters
in
the
United
States.

In
this

dissertation
I
argue
that
the
media
reports
(including
the
reactionary
measures
of

people
objecting
to
the
Nuns
on
the
Bus
campaign),
the
current
decline
in
the

number
of
religious
sisters,
and
the
introduction
of
a
new
communities
of

traditional
sisters
has
caused
a
rising
tension
in
American
women’s
religious

communities
forcing
sisters
to
question
their
identities
as
women
religious.

As
such,

20

religious
sisters
struggle
to
derive
meaning
during
a
time
of
crisis.

The
following

questions,
which
are
based
on
qualitative,
in-‐depth
interviews
of
55
participants,

have
guided
my
research
process:

• How
are
sisters
negotiating
their
identities
as
conservative,
progressive,
or

traditional
religious
sisters
in
the
wake
of
Vatican
scrutiny?

• How
do
sisters
reimagine
religious
life
through
their
respective
conservative,

progressive,
or
traditional
orientations,
despite
rising
tension
between
and

among
these
groups?

• What
are
the
larger
sociological
implications
related
to
women’s
struggles
as

members
of
the
Catholic
Church?

SUMMARY
OF
ARGUMENTS:

A
FRAGMENTED
AND
DECLINING
SISTERHOOD,

REIMAGINING
RELIGIOUS
LIFE,
AND
SOCIOLOGICAL
SIGNIFICANCE

The
current
spectrum
of
religious
life
ranges
from
traditional
to
progressive,

with
a
conservative
group
situated
in
the
middle
of
the
two.

Traditional
sisters
tend

to
wear
the
habit,
observe
a
strict
horarium,
live
in
community,
and
exhibit
signs
of

submission
and
obedience
to
papal
authority.

Progressive
sisters,
defined
by
their

lack
of
a
religious
habit,
are
often
outspoken
about
issues
related
to
papal
authority,

and
may
live
in
community
or
independent
of
their
congregation.

Conservatives

seem
to
maintain
characteristics
from
both
traditionalists
and
progressives.

For

example,
I
visited
one
community
of
self-‐described
conservative
sisters
and
noticed

that
some
sisters
wore
a
modified
habit,
while
others
chose
not
to
wear
a
habit
at

all.

In
this
dissertation,
I
address
how
this
variety
of
religious
expression
serves
as
a

point
of
division
for
many
religious
sisters,
especially
with
respect
to
the
Vatican

Visitation.

21

When
I
was
a
Catholic
elementary
school
student
in
the
1980s
to
1990s,
I

never
experienced
being
in
the
classroom
with
a
religious
sister.

The
only
two

sisters
who
were
involved
at
any
level
left
in
1991,
leaving
the
parish
and
the
school

with
no
other
recourse
but
to
hire
a
lay
teacher
to
serve
as
principal
and
head
of
the

administration.

The
order,
called
the
Sisters
of
Notre
Dame
de
Namur,
played
an

important
role
in
establishing
this
“new”
Catholic
school
in
1983.

The
sisters
were

forced
to
exit
the
school
because
they
simply
couldn’t
keep
up
with
the
demands
of

their
own
members
as
well
as
with
their
other
ministries.

The
exodus
of
sisters

from
Catholic
schools
continued
into
the
2000s,
with
the
first
decade
having
already

passed.

While
some
orders
have
maintained
their
strong
presence
in
Catholic

schools
or
have
made
a
concerted
effort
to
staff
schools
where
sisters
have
not
been,

many
schools
simply
do
not
have
any
religious
sisters
at
all.

The
trend
of
a
“declining”
population
of
religious
sisters
in
Catholic
schools

mirrors
what
is
occurring
on
a
global
scale,
but
particularly
in
the
United
States,
the

numbers
have
shifted
far
more
dramatically.

According
to
CARA
(2010),
the

number
of
sisters
in
the
United
States
reached
an
all-‐time
historical
high
of
179,954

in
1965,
and
yet
only
57,544
are
currently
still
alive.
6

These
statistics
suggest
a
62

percent
decrease
in
the
number
of
sisters
over
the
past
45
years.

This
is
a
result
of

women
dying
or
choosing
to
leave
their
religious
community.

In
terms
of
a
global

perspective,
the
number
of
sisters
has
decreased
from
1,004,304
in
1970
to
739,068

6

This
decline
in
numbers
indicates
a
percent
change
of
49
percent.

22

in
2008.

These
statistics
denote
a
26
percent
change
in
the
number
of
women
in

religious
orders
over
the
past
38
years.

According
to
the
women
I
interviewed
for
this
project
and
to
scholars,
the

reasons
for
such
bleak
numbers
rest
on
several
factors:
1)
there
are
more

opportunities
for
women
in
society,
2)
America’s
preoccupation
with
sex
has
made

it
difficult
to
encourage
women
to
devote
their
lives
to
service
in
a
religious
order,

3)
our
society
does
not
encourage
commitment
and
devotion
to
spiritual
matters,

and
4)
the
expansion
of
roles
for
the
laity
has
allowed
women
to
do
similar
types
of

work
that
sisters
do
without
forcing
them
give
up
intimate
relationships,
the
desire

for
some
form
of
monetary
gain,
and
childbearing
(Ebaugh
1993b).

While
a
declining
population
of
religious
sisters
is
a
current
problem
in
the

Church,
it
is
important
to
address
the
origins
of
this
trend.

All
sources
point
to
the

1960s
and
to
the
closing
of
the
historic
Vatican
Council
II
and
the
rise
of

modernization
as
the
beginning
of
this
unprecented
shift
in
women’s
religious

communities.

The
decline
of
religious
life
is
likely
causally
related
to
the
outcomes

of
the
modernization
efforts
that
occurred
during
the
Roman
Catholic
Church’s

historic
Vatican
Council
II.

Without
the
reforms
of
the
council,
religious
sisters

would
not
have
experienced
a
massive
overhaul
of
their
communities.

Armed
with

the
document
Perfectae
Caritatis,
congregations
began
the
difficult
task
of
updating

their
congregations
after
centuries
of
having
remained
stagnant.

During
the
Roman
Catholic
Church’s
historic
Vatican
Council
II
in
the
1960s,

the
guiding
principle
of
aggiornamento,
or
the
process
by
which
the
institution
of

Catholicism
was
brought
up
to
date
disrupted
the
ways
in
which
people
in
the

23

Church
celebrated
and
practiced
their
faith.

And
despite
all
of
the
positive
effects

the
council
had
on
millions
of
people
worldwide,
it
seems
as
though
the
Catholic

Church
has
always
engaged
in
struggles
with
women
religious.

The
church

hierarchy
seems
to
think
it
has
the
power
to
determine
what
is
in
the
best
interest

of
these
women
and/or
to
criticize
“feminist
concerns”
that
result
in
women

religious
engaging
in
radical
political
protests
and
speaking
out
in
favor
of
women’s

issues
in
society.
I
especially
want
to
address
the
fact
that
entering
religious
life
has

lost
its
special
defining
characteristics
and
the
visibility
of
religious
sisters
is
much

less
than
ever
before.
Women
in
society
have
far
more
options
than
their
older

counterparts,
which
many
older
women
know.

The
more
progressive
sisters
seem

to
doubt
that
religious
life
as
we
know
it
–
in
its
current
state
–
will
continue
as
a

viable
option
for
young
women.

Reimagining
religious
life
in
the
modern
world
proved
to
be
a
difficult,
but

necessary
task
for
sisters
particularly
in
progressive
communities.

Most
of
the

sisters
in
progressive
communities
didn’t
seem
to
think
there
was
much
hope
in
the

future
of
their
congregations
in
the
United
States,
but
were
proud
of
the
fact
that
the

spirit
of
religious
life
has
caught
on
like
wildfire
in
places
like
Africa
and
Latin

America.

However,
sisters
in
traditional
communities
had
a
differing
viewpoint
–

they
believed
with
enough
enthusiasm
and
a
little
effort,
American
women
would

begin
to
see
the
J.O.Y.
or
“Jesus
Over
You,”
that
religious
communities
offer.

Finally,

conservative
communities
didn’t
seem
to
have
a
clear
adaptive
strategy
to
the
future

of
religious
life.

In
speaking
to
women
in
these
communities,
there
was
a
clear

24

struggle
between
acceptance
of
an
impending
decline
and
hoping
that
this
lifestyle

would
continue
in
the
United
States.

The
sociological
significance
of
women
religious
attempting
to
adapt
to
this

changing
landscape
within
the
context
of
the
Vatican
Visitation,
brought
issues
of

feminism
and
race
and
ethnicity
to
the
surface.

While
it
is
difficult
to
say
with

certainty
how
women
religious
view
themselves
within
the
context
of
the
feminist

movement,
I
did
encounter
a
vast
array
of
opinions
on
the
subject.

Additionally,

while
the
majority
of
women
in
my
study
were
western
European
and
white,
the

changing
face
of
tomorrow’s
sister
(related
to
a
growth
in
vocations
to
Africa
and

Latin
America)
raises
broader
questions
about
adjustments
given
this
shift.
THEORETICAL
ORIENTATION

French
philosopher
Danièle
Hervieu-‐Léger’s
(2000)
writings
address
the
role

of
religion
as
a
social
force
that
unites
the
past,
present,
and
future,
and
serves
as

the
theoretical
foundation
for
understanding
why
religious
sisters
are
experiencing

a
dramatic
shift
in
their
identity
as
a
result
of
the
Vatican
Visitation.
This
historical

connection
creates
an
unbroken
“chain
of
memory”
that
links
believers
from
all

points
in
history:
past,
present,
and
future.

Some
religious
communities
operate

under
the
guise
of
this
unbroken
chain,
choosing
to
preserve
their
traditions
from

centuries
past.

Other
congregations
seek
to
break
this
“chain
of
memory”
in
an

effort
to
disrupt
the
cultural
and
structural
frames
that
have
served
to
oppress

them.

Sisters
in
progressive
communities
have
sought
to
actively
break
some
of
the

traditions
of
their
respective
orders
as
a
means
of
changing
with
the
times
and

25

keeping
with
modernity
while
other
groups
seek
to
reinstate
the
balance
and

connection
to
their
past.

Hervieu-‐Léger
argues
that
secularization
has
served
as
the
preeminent

thematic
concern
of
sociologists
of
religion
and,
as
a
result,
has
made
it
difficult
to

pursue
research
in
the
field.

She
also
addresses
the
issue
that
“tradition”
with

respect
to
religion
has
maintained
a
grip
on
the
present.

For
example,
“this

imaginative
force
for
action
imples
that
the
past
can
be
read
as
the
exclusive
source

of
the
present”
(p.
86).

While
I
was
collecting
the
data
for
this
dissertation,
I
did
find

that
the
tensions
between
traditionalist
sisters
and
progressive
sisters
gave
way
to

fascinating
conversations
about
the
role
of
traditional
forms
of
Catholicism.

Perhaps
the
“chain
of
memory”
in
relation
to
the
Catholic
Church
was

disrupted
for
the
first
time
in
the
modern
era
during
Vatican
Council
II?

As
a
result

of
modernization
and
the
overhaul
of
archaic
liturgical
and
apostolic
practices,

Catholics
lost
sight
of
the
binding
institutional
memory
that
is
preserved
when

religion
is
left
intact.

I
am
not,
in
any
way,
arguing
that
this
disruption
was
negative

–
rather
I
am
suggesting
that
the
council
simply
sped
up
the
process
of
unraveling

the
ties
that
bound
women
to
the
past.

As
many
Catholics
have
developed
new

narratives
and
formulated
a
deeper
understanding
to
mitigate
their
faith
in
an
ever-‐
changing
world,
American
sisters
essentially
represent
last
link
to
an
old
chain
of

memory.

Until
new
narratives
and
collectives
begin
to
emerge,
sisters
will
still

remain
caught
between
two
worlds.

Hervieu-‐Léger’s
work
serves
as
an
important

backdrop
to
this
study.

26

THE
APOSTOLIC
VISITATION:

CONTROVERSY
AND
AFTERMATH

With
Hervieu-‐Léger’s
theoretical
framework
in
mind,
let
us
return
to
a

discussion
of
controversty
and
aftermath
of
the
Apostolic
Visitation.

In
January

2011,
National
Catholic
Reporter
writer
Tom
Fox
wrote
a
scathing
article

questioning
the
purpose
of
the
Visitation
because
the
investigation
had
gone
on
for

780
days.

He
wrote,

First
was
the
notion
of
investigating
women
when
clergy
sex
abuse
was
the

story
of
the
decade,
if
not
the
century.
Next
was
the
idea
that
the

investigation
was
hatched
in
private,
entirely
by
men,
without
the
knowledge

of
the
U.S.
women
religious
leadership,
who
had
sought
open
dialogue

annually
by
traveling
to
Rome
to
meet
with
Vatican
officials.

The
women

were
left
out
of
the
process.
They
were
told
they
would
not
be
able
to
even

view
the
results
of
the
findings
or
respond
to
them
before
they
reached
the

desks
of
the
men
who
would
act
upon
them.

Cardinal
Rodé
is
not
the
only
Vatican
official
interested
in
what
Catholic

sisters
are
doing.

At
a
Vatican
news
conference
on
July
15,
2010,
Monsignor
Charles

J.
Scicluna
(the
Church’s
internal
sex
abuse
prosecutor)
made
this
announcement:

Sexual
abuse
and
pornography
are
more
grave
[transgressions]
than
they
are

an
egregious
violation
of
moral
law
.
.
.
Attempted
ordination
of
women
is

grave,
but
on
another
level,
it
is
a
wound
that
is
an
attempt
against
the

Catholic
faith
on
the
sacramental
orders.
(quoted
in
Donadio
2010)

Placing
the
issue
of
the
ordination
of
women
on
the
same
level
as
pedophilia
has

angered
sisters
across
the
nation.

Many
progressively-‐oriented
women
religious

view
this
recent
announcement,
coupled
with
the
Visitation,
and
the
demands
that

their
communities
turn
over
private
information
as
a
“slap
in
the
face,”
as
they

struggle
with
the
task
of
defending
their
existence.

Both
Cardinal
Rodé’s
and

Scicluna’s
public
distrust
of
women
religious
beg
these
questions:
Are
American

sisters
flirting
with
danger
by
getting
involved
in
seriously
charged
political
and

27

theological
issues?
Why
didn’t
the
Vatican
choose
to
look
at
both
women’s
and

men’s
religious
communities
on
other
continents?

When
I
first
began
scheduling
interviews
with
women
religious
in
the
fall
of

2010
in
Los
Angeles,
I
received
a
phone
call
from
an
individual
who
told
me
to
come

to
Portland
as
quickly
as
possible.

This
person
was
eager
to
get
me
to
Oregon

because
a
group
called
One
Spirit,
One
Call,
based
in
St.
Andrew’s
Catholic
Church

was
working
quickly
to
organize
a
rally
in
downtown
Portland
in
support
of

women’s
contributions
to
the
Church.

Responding
to
the
urgent
request
of
an
80-‐year-‐old
Irish
woman
by
the
name

of
Jennifer
Sleeman
who
resides
in
Clonakilty,
Cork,
this
group
responded
to
her
call

to
boycott
mass
for
a
day
in
an
effort
to
demonstrate
a
service
honoring
women’s

contributions
to
the
Catholic
Church.

Jennifer
Sleeman
(2010)
called
Catholics
to

respond
to
the
cover-‐up
of
instances
of
clerical
abuse
of
children,
and
called

attention
to
the
important
work
women
do
for
the
Church:
“whatever
change
you

long
for,
recognition,
ordination,
the
end
of
celibacy,
which
is
another
means
of

keeping
women
out,
join
with
your
sisters
and
let
the
hierarchy
know
by
your

absence
that
the
days
of
an
exclusively
male-‐dominated
church
are
over.”
Intended

to
bring
attention
to
the
importance
of
women
in
the
Church,
the
service
was
a
way

in
which
this
group
could
show
the
world
that
the
Church
would
be
unable
to

function
without
their
women
religious.

As
my
contact
and
I
huddled
under
an
umbrella
trying
to
stay
dry
on
a
rainy

afternoon,
we
listened
to
Sarah
Granger,
a
mother
of
two
and
faithful
and
devoted

member
of
St.
Andrew
parish,
who
spoke
about
the
need
for
equal
footing
in
an

28

unequal
institution.

At
the
One
Spirit,
One
Call
gathering
she
said:
“It
is
time.
It
is

time
to
break
the
silence
and
to
raise
our
voices
in
public
about
the
fact
that
women

are
not
being
treated
with
equality
and
dignity
in
our
Catholic
Church”

My
contact
and
I
stood
there
hearing
the
testimonies
of
the
Catholic
women,

we
made
the
rounds
and
she
introduced
me
to
about
a
dozen
or
so
women
religious,

all
of
whom
had
attended
the
rally
in
support
of
the
mission
of
the
organization
and

Jennifer
Seaman’s
request.

While
progressive
sisters
are
usually
spotted
attending

and
supporting
rallies
such
as
the
one
organized
by
One
Spirit,
One
Call

they
are
not

likely
to
be
as
visible
as
traditionally-‐oriented
sisters
because
most
progressive

sisters
do
not
wear
the
habit.

The
Sisters
of
Life
was
founded
by
Cardinal
John

Joseph
O’Connor
(who
served
as
the
Archbishop
of
New
York
from
1984-‐2000)
on

June
1,
1991,
and
according
to
the
account
given
by
the
Sisters
of
Life
(2012),

Cardinal
O’Connor
was
known
for
his
views
on
protecting
life,
which
the
Catholic

Church
believes
begins
at
the
moment
of
conception.

In
their
account,
the
Sisters

describe
him
as
the
primary
spiritual
leader:

.
.
.
the
leading
voice
for
life
within
the
Church,
he
prayed
to
understand
why

the
efforts
of
the
pro-‐life
movement
were
not
gleaning
the
results
expected.

His
eyes
fell
upon
the
passage
from
Scripture,
‘This
kind
of
demon
can
only

be
cast
out
by
prayer
and
fasting,’
and
another,
life-‐transforming,
grace
was

his.

This
time,
though,
the
grace
was
not
just
a
personal
one,
but
one
for
the

whole
church;
it
was
the
grace
that
gave
birth
to
a
new
charism,
a
new

religious
community
in
the
Church.

In
an
effort
to
recruit
women
to
this
newly
formed
religious
order,
Cardinal

O’Connor
posted
the
following
advertisement
in
the
weekly
newspaper.

The
Sisters

of
Life

evangelize
by
calling
attention
to
what
they
believe
as
the
right
to
life
of

unborn
fetuses.

However,
their
work
differs
from
other
pro-‐life
groups
because

29

they
do
not
ostracize
or
admonish
women
who
have
made
a
decision
to
exercise

their
legal
right
to
have
an
abortion.

Rather
,
they
provide
resources
and
support

through
the
Visitation
Mission,
which
provides
support
for
women
considering

having
an
abortion
and
provide
aftercare
for
women
who
have
made
that
choice.

The
sisters
operate
a
toll
free
hotline,
provide
an
online
form
that
women
can
fill
out

if
they
need
assistance,
and
operate
two
“Visitation
Missions,”
one
in
New
York
and

one
in
Toronto,
which
offer
tangible
support
for
women
in
crisis.
7

ORGANIZATION
OF
ANALYSIS

The
following
chapters
of
this
dissertation
offer
an
analysis
of
Roman

Catholic
Sisters
and
their
collective
journey
from
Vatican
II
through
the
present.

In

this
first
chapter,
I
have
addressed
how
sisters
have
reacted
to
the
Vatican
Visitation

and
how
the
current
cultural
climate
of
the
Church
has
influenced
the
ways
in
which

women
are
able
to
live
out
their
call
to
religious
life.

In
Chapter
Two
I
examine
the

grounded
theoretical
methodological
framework

used
to
capture
the
experiences

and
voices
of
these
women
interviewed.

I
address
how
I
collected
data
for
this

project
by
conducting
in-‐depth
interviews
and
using
participant-‐observation.

I
also

outline
some
of
the
research-‐related
problems
I
encountered
while
conducting

fieldwork
in
seven
states
across
the
United
States.

In
Chapter
Three,
I
offer
a

7

It
is
important
that
I
clarify
the
term
“Visitation.”

“Visitation”
as
it
is
used
within
the
context
of

gathering
information
from
religious
sisters
about
their
lives,
“Visitation,”
is
likely
used
as
a

reference
to
the
“Visitation”
of
Mary,
Mother
of
Jesus
to
Elizabeth,
who
was
possibly
a
relative
of

hers.

The
“Visitation”
followed
the
“Annunciation”
from
the
Angel
Gabriel
that
Mary
was
to
give
birth

to
Jesus.

30

systematic
overview
of
the
current
patterns
in
research
and
writing
on
women

religious.

Since
very
few
sociologists
have
studied
the
topic
of
women
religious

from
a
sociological
perspective,
I
offer
some
important
historical
trends
to

contextualize
as
well
as
summarize
the
literature.

In
Chapter
Four,
I
discuss

findings
based
on
in-‐depth
interviews
and
participant
observation.

In
Chapter
Five,

I
offer
a
summary
of
findings
and
provide
direction
for
future
research
on
relgious

congregations.

31

CHAPTER
2.
Core
Methodological
Strategy:
Coffee,
Conversation
and
Total

Immersion

“To
have
courage
for
whatever
comes
in
life
-‐
everything
lies
in
that.”

-‐-‐St.
Teresa
of
Avila

In
an
effort
to
capture
the
rich,
textured
narratives
of
religious
sisters’

thoughts
and
opinions
about
my
research
question,
I
conducted
a
qualitative
study

using
in-‐depth,
semi-‐structured
interviews
as
the
central
analytic
tool.

During
the

early
stages
of
my
PhD
education,
I
was
exposed
to
a
series
of
classes
in
sociological

methodology
and
found
Clifford
Geertz’s
(1973)
seminal
work,
The
Interpretation
of

Cultures
,
particularly
compelling
for
my
own
research
interests.

Although
my
goal

was
not
to
complete
a
true
ethnography,
I
did
make
a
concerted
effort
to

incorporate
elements
of
Geertz’s
ethnographic
concept
of
“thick
description”
during

the
research
process.

This
strategy
afforded
me
the
opportunity
to
focus
on
being

sensitive
to
intricacies
of
these
women’s
lives.

At
the
same
time,
I
had
the
chance
to

take
a
step
back
and
familiarize
myself
with
the
larger
trends
in
the
data
as
a
whole.

This
methodological
frame
was
particularly
useful
when
I
was
given
the

opportunity
to
incorporate
some
participant
observation
methodologies
while
in

the
field.

One
order
of
contemplative
sisters
personally
invited
me
to
spend
two

nights
and
three
days
at
their
convent
after
having
had
only
a
couple
of
short
phone

conversations
with
me
over
a
period
of
about
a
week.

During
one
of
my
daily
web

searches,
I
had
stumbled
across
this
particular
religious
order’s
website
and
noticed

that
the
congregation
was
advertising
a
“Come
and
See”
weekend
at
their
retreat

house.

“Come
and
See”
weekends
are
designed
to
help
women
(both
young
and
old)

32

decide
whether
or
not
they
have
a
true
calling
to
religious
life.

These
weekends,

which
double
as
open
houses,
allow
women
to
have
full
access
to
what
life
is
like
as

a
member
of
a
religious
congregation.

Women
have
the
opportunity
to
shadow

other
sisters,
learn
about
the
sacrifices
and
joys
of
religious
life,
as
well
as
get
a

“feel”
for
the
daily
routine
in
the
convent.

Intrigued
upon
seeing
advertisement
on
the
website,
I
picked
up
the
phone

simply
to
inquire
as
to
whether
or
not
someone
from
the
order
would
be
willing
to

do
an
in-‐person
or
phone
interview
with
me.

Since
the
order
was
located
out
of

state
and
I
was
operating
on
a
very
tight
budget,
I
wasn’t
sure
I
could
organize

another
research
trip
that
involved
plane
travel.

Much
to
my
surprise,
the
Mother

Superior
promptly
returned
my
phone
call
the
next
day
and
after
roughly
a
twenty

minute
conversation,
she
enthusiastically
invited
me
to
the
retreat
center
to

participate
in
the
upcoming
“Come
and
See”
weekend
the
following
month.
8

I

eagerly
accepted
her
offer
and
booked
a
flight
that
afternoon.

When
I
arrived
at
the
convent
about
a
month
later,
I
attended
a
host
of

expertly
organized
presentations,
panel
sessions,
and
reflection
groups
with
all
of

the
“Come
and
See”
participants.

I
was
also
exposed
to
the
daily
schedule
of

religious
life
which
involved
rising
promptly
at
6
a.m.
for
mass
and
communal

8

I
want
to
stress
that
I
was
extremely
upfront
and
honest
about
my
status
as
a
married
person

during
my
conversation
with
Mother
Superior
and
with
nearly
all
of
the
women
in
the
study.

I
don’t

usually
disclose
my
marital
status
because
it
isn’t
usually
relevant
to
my
research
agenda,
but
in
the

case
of
Roman
Catholic
sisters,
I
wanted
to
avoid
unintentionally
misleading
anyone
about
my

motives.

33

prayer,
preparing
and
sharing
meals
together
as
a
community,
completing
daily

chores,
and
meditating
and
praying
individually.

While
I
was
participating
in
this

event,
the
Mother
Superior
of
the
community
allowed
me
to
roam
freely
through
the

convent
and
interview
as
many
sisters
as
time
permitted.

Another
congregation
of
semi-‐contemplative
sisters
offered
me
full
access
to

shadow
three
of
their
members
while
they
taught
high
school
religion,
prayed

together,
and
hosted
an
engaging
group-‐meeting
of
young
women
focusing
on

learning
more
ways
to
pray
and
an
enhance
their
spiritual
relationship
with
God.

Five
other
congregations
of
women
invited
me
to
their
convents
to
share
a
meal

with
them.

During
these
largely
informal
gatherings,
I
had
the
chance
to
tour
the

convent,
sift
through
materials
in
the
archives,
meditate
in
the
chapel,
and
wander

around
the
grounds.

I
chose
not
to
record
any
conversations
taken
place
at
the

dinner
or
lunch
table
because
I
wanted
to
be
respectful
of
the
trust
that
these

women
had
given
me.

These
sessions
were
immensely
helpful,
as
I
tested
out

research
questions
and
explored
topics
in
a
conversational
and
relaxed
manner.

Several
sisters
at
one
of
the
convents
on
the
East
Coast
enjoyed
our

conversation
so
much
that
they
invited
me
to
stay
longer
and
relax
with
them
in

their
recreation
room
for
a
couple
of
hours
after

dinner.

From
the
perspective
of
a

researcher,
I
found
these
interactions
to
be
extremely
valuable
because
the
sisters

and
I
broke
down
barriers
together.

Throughout
the
entire
process
of
completing

fieldwork,
I
was
amazed
by
how
many
of
these
women
truly
wanted
to
find
answers

to
the
questions
I
posed.

34

I
also
participated
in
a
public
rally
called
“One
Spirit,
One
Call”
in
Portland,

Oregon,
which
took
place
on
September
26,
2010.

In
this
demonstration,
Catholics

gathered
in
support
of
women’s
greater
participation
in
the
Catholic
Church.

At
this

public
gathering,
I
had
an
opportunity
to
hear
women
religious
as
well
as
laywomen

speak
about
the
importance
of
creating
change
with
regard
to
the
existing
injustices

in
the
Church.

In
these
instances,
I
recorded
public
speeches,
quickly
wrote
jotted

notes,
and
collected
any
and
all
printed
materials
(such
as
programs,
leaflets,

literature
about
religious
congregations,
photos,
books,
and
magazines).

From
these
jotted
notes
and
materials
I
wrote
extensive
field
notes

immediately
after
departing
from
the
site
visits
and/or
public
events.

One
trick
that

I
found
particularly
useful
was
to
record
my
individual
thoughts,
feelings,
and
notes

on
my
recording
device
while
driving
home
or
in
between
appointments.

This
gave

me
the
freedom
to
collect
more
substantive
information
from
in-‐depth
interviews

and
in
the
instances
in
which
I
was
a
participant-‐observer.

This
form
of
dictation

also
afforded
me
the
time
to
“think
through”
concepts
as
well
at
same
time

processing
my
own
reactions
to
some
of
the
challenges
when
engaging
with
the

research
process.

Generally
speaking,
I
used
the
recorded
notes
to
describe
in
detail
the

“scene”
in
which
I
was
participating
or
visiting.

For
instance,
I
found
it
difficult
to

digest
key
descriptors
like
the
weather,
number
of
people
at
any
given
event,
layout

of
a
convent
or
school,
defining
elements
of
a
convent
or
congregation,
and
food

served
at
private
meals.
I
found
it
challenging
to
process
both
the
critical
hard
data

35

to
which
I
was
being
exposed
as
well
as
the
softer
or
more
“artistic”
features
that

would
allow
a
reading
audience
to
transport
itself
into
another
dimension.

Dictation
also
proved
to
be
an
asset
because
I
was
able
to
employ
“thick

description”
in
a
more
strategic
and
efficient
fashion.

Finally,
using
the
digital
voice

recorder
in
this
way
directly
increased
my
“research
output.”

By
this,
I
mean
that
I

was
able
to
manage
more
tasks
in
a
shorter
amount
of
time
and
with
more
focus.

While
both
the
jotted
and
dictated
notes
were
critical
to
successful
fieldwork,
so
too

was
the
work
I
put
into
crafting
more
detailed
field
notes
and
research
memos
after

having
completed
an
interview
or
having
been
active
as
a
participant-‐observer.

I

relied
heavily
on
Emerson,
Fretz
and
Shaw’s
(1995)
Writing
Ethnographic

Fieldnotes,
specifically
with
respect
to
the
concept
of
“total
immersion.”

Some
sociologists
adhere
to
the
paradigm
that
“total
objectivity”
is
the

desired
outcome
of
any
rigorous
study.

In
The
Rules
of
the
Sociological
Method,

Èmile
Durkheim
([1895]
1982)
wrote
about
the
components
of
the
sociological

method,
and
stressed
the
importance
of
researcher/subject
objectivity.

I
disagreed

with
this
perspective
and
allowed
my
background,
influences,
and
educational

training
to
seep
into
the
research
process.

Rather,
I
was
drawn
to
Pollner
and

Emerson’s
(1988)
notion
that
empirical
neutrality
is
not
only
impossible,
but
also,
is

to
be
avoided.

I
was
also
heavily
influenced
by
Emerson
et
al.’s
(1995)
argument

that

“
.
.
.
fieldnotes
.
.
.
provid[e]
the
primary
means
for
deeper
appreciation
of
how

field
researchers
come
to
grasp
and
interpret
the
actions
and
concerns
of
others
.
.
.

[and]
offer
subtle
and
complex
understandings
of
these
others’
lives,
routines
and

meanings”
(p.
13).

36

Although
I
did
use
a
loosely-‐crafted
research
question
to
guide
my
analysis,
I

closely
followed
Glaser
and
Strauss’s
(1967)
approach
to
research
using
grounded

theory.
After
careful
consideration,
I
relied
heavily
upon
the
Glaserian
grounded

theoretical
approach
to
inform
some
core
strategies
for
the
research
process.

For

example,
I
did
not
simply
“go
into
the
field”
and
collect
data
blindly
without
a

research
question
and/or
some
general
topics
of
interest.

I
did,
however,
make
a

concerted
effort
to
pursue
data
collection
with
an
open
mind.

Durkheim
([1912]

2001)
also
promotes
the
importance
of
“
.
.
.
systematically
discarding
all

preconceptions
.
.
.
it
is
the
basis
of
all
scientific
method”
(p.
72).

The
fact
that
I
grew

up
with
a
lot
of
exposure
to
and
contact
with
Roman
Catholic
sisters
at
church
and

at
school
made
it
imperative
for
me
to
constantly
work
to
keep
my
preconceived

notions
in
check.

In
some
ways,
it
was
a
test
of
will
and
strength
to
do
so.

Glaser
and
Strauss
(1967)
warn
against
reviewing
relevant
literature
prior
to

research
because
the
possibility
of
forming
opinions
before
data
collection
has
the

potential
to
create
bias
in
the
researcher’s
mind.

I
intentionally
violated
this

principle
by
reading
as
many
books
about
religious
sisters
and
by
collecting
relevant

data
on
the
Internet
before,
during
the
course
of,
and
after
the
project.

I
was

compelled
to
do
this
because
I
wanted
to
ensure
that
I
had
a
solid
“working

knowledge”
of
the
history,
culture,
and
traditions
of
Roman
Catholic
women

religious
from
a
socio-‐historical
perspective.

Additionally,
I
wrote
an
empirical

paper
on
the
topic
of
Roman
Catholic
nuns
and
the
symbolism
of
the
Holy
Habit.

In

this
paper,
I
completed
an
extensive
literature
review
focused
on
the
evolution
and

controversy
surrounding
this
article
of
clothing,
which
is
laden
with
cultural
and

37

religious
meaning.

As
a
result,
I
had
already
exposed
myself
to
a
fairly
extensive

body
of
literature
on
the
topic
of
women
religious.

NUMBER
OF
PARTICIPANTS/GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBUTION

I
interviewed
a
total
of
55
women
–
broken
down
into
the
following

categories:

• 51
women
were
active
members
of
either
diocesan
or
pontifical

religious
orders

• 2
sisters
lived
a
cloistered,
monastic
life

• 1
identified
as
a
member
of
a
progressive,
noncanonical
lay

association

• 1
identified
as
a
member
of
a
traditional,
noncanonical
lay
association

With
the
help
of
a
$1,000
grant
from
the
Department
of
Sociology
at
the
University

of
Southern
California,
I
began
my
research
journey
in
the
City
of
Los
Angeles,
and

then
traveled
to
the
following
locations:

• Los
Angeles,
CA
(including
Los
Angeles,
Orange,
Ventura,
and
Santa

Barbara
counties)

• Sacramento,
CA

• Baltimore,
MD

• Jersey
City,
NJ

• Olympia,
WA

• Portland,
OR

• New
York
City,
NY

• Washington,
D.C.

The
cultural
landscape
of
the
United
States
is
extremely
diverse
and
so
is
the

expression
of
Catholic
religious
orders.

I
traveled
to
each
of
the
above
locales

because
it
is
important
to
capture
the
rich
traditions
of
each
geographic
area
as
well

to
highlight
the

diverse
array
of
perspectives.

Qualitative
sociologists
usually
find
it

difficult
to
find
a
representative
sample
because
of
the
logistical
challenges.

In
other

38

words,
finding
the
“exact”
or
“right”
cultural,
ethnic,
and
age
balance
of
research

participants
is
almost
an
empirical
impossibility.

The
research
participants
in
this
study
actually
present
an
important

methodological
contrast
to
the
near-‐impossibility
of
a
establishing
a
representative

sample.

While
I
am
not
claiming
to
have
a
“true”
representative
sample,
I
believe

that
I
am
relatively
close
because
most
women
religious
(in
my
study
and
according

to
statistics)
fit
the
following
demographic
criteria:

• Hover
around
the
median
age
for
women
religious,
which
is
close
to

70
(Support
Our
Aging
Religious
N.d.),
are
a
mixture
of
western

European
ethnicities
(or
are
originally
from
Belgium,
Ireland,
and

Germany)

• Have
high
levels
of
education
–
with
the
majority
holding
master’s

degrees,
currently
work
or
have
worked
in
the
fields
of
education,

social
services,
or
medicine
(as
nurses
or
hospital
administrators)

• Consider
themselves
and
their
communities
“active”
or
“semi-‐
contemplative”

• Live
as
a
community
of
women
either
in
a
convent
located
on

property
owned
or
operated
by
a
religious
community,
or
in
an

apartment
or
house
owned
or
rented
by
the
congregation

SELECTION
CRITERIA:
AGE,
ETHNICITY/RACE,
GEOGRAPHY,
AND
SOCIOECONOMIC

CLASS
STATUS

The
selection
criteria
for
the
sample
of
interviewees
rested
on
the
premise

that
I
wanted
to
capture
a
clear
“snapshot”
of
religious
life
in
the
United
States.

I

noted
earlier
that
I
traveled
to
six
states,
the
District
of
Columbia,
and
spoke
to
two

women
over
the
phone
in
an
effort
to
include
a
geographically
diverse
sample.

I
also

noted
previously
that
my
sample
is
arguably
“representative”
because
of
the

homogenous
nature
of
women’s
religious
communities
in
the
United
States.

Despite

39

the
fact
that
many
women
were
of
western
European
descent,
I
interviewed
two

women
who
identified
as
Latina,
one
as
Black,
two
as
Asian,
and
two
as
South
Asian.

In
addition
to
cultural,
ethnic
and
racial
diversity,
I
worked
hard
to
include

women
from
wide-‐ranging
socioeconomic
class
statuses.

For
religious
sisters
to

adequately
qualify
to
participate
in
the
study,
the
sisters
met
the
following
criteria:

active
membership
in
good
standing
in
a
pontifical
or
diocesan
religious
order,

successful
passing
out
of
the
candidacy
or
postulancy
stage,
a
minimum
age
of
at

least
21
years
old.

The
expression
of
religious
life
varies
greatly
from
congregation
to

congregation.

For
some
communities,
the
habit
is
a
defining
characteristic
of
their

commitment
to
their
religious
vows
and
symbolizes
their
fidelity
to
the
Church

teaching
and
to
traditional
values.

For
other
communities,
the
habit
is
an
outdated

symbol
of
the
Church
as
it
was
before
Vatican
Council
II.

Still
others,
take
a
middle-‐
of
-‐the-‐road
approach
and
believe
that
it
is
up
to
the
individual
woman
to
decide

whether
she
will
choose
to
wear
the
habit
or
not.

Still
others
think
that
they
should

display
some
visible
marker
of
their
religious
commitment.

I
borrowed
Ebaugh’s

(1977)
classification
scheme,
which
categorizes
women
religious
as
members
of

“traditional,”
“progressive,”
or
“conservative”
communities.
For
the
purposes
of
this

study,
I
used
the
following
criteria
to
determine
a
community’s
orientation:

• Traditional—presence
of
the
habit
(either
modified
or
traditional),

strict
observance
of
the
daily
horarium,
and
a
highly
regimented

communal
lifestyle

• Conservative—modified
or
optional
habit,
moderate
observance
of
a

prayer
schedule,
and
a
communal
lifestyle

40

• Progressive—lack
of
a
habit,
lack
of
regimented
prayer
schedule
or
a

severely
modified
one,
a
semi-‐structured
or
unstructured
community

life,
and
openness
to
a
variety
of
forms
of
worship
and
prayer

The
most
important
aspect
of
interviewee
recruitment
was
that
the
sisters

identified
their
membership
in
one
of
the
three
orientations
I
used
as
a
gauge
to

categorically
determine
some
basic
viewpoints
and
theological
leanings.
I
found
it

incredibly
difficlt
to
figure
out
how
to
systematically
create
the
above
discrete

categories,
so
relying
on
Ebaugh’s
schema
proved
to
be
particularly
helpful.

Additionally,
during
each
of
the
interviews,
I
asked
the
sisters
to
describe
the

orientation
of
their
respective
orders
and
most
of
them
used
this
system
to
explain

their
collective
identity.

I
had
initially
set
out
to
interview
15
traditional
sisters,
15

progressive
sisters,
and
15
conservative
sisters,
but
found
out
relatively
early
on
in

the
recruitment
process
that
it
was
far
easier
to
interview
anyone
willing
to
say

“yes,”
rather
than
stick
to
a
rigid
system
of
numbers.

For
more
detailed
information

about
the
sample,
see
Table
1.

41

Table
1.
Interview
Participants

Note: Asterisks

(***)
indicate
nondisclosure
to
protect
individual’s
identity.

SNOWBALL
SAMPLING,
COLD
CALLS,
E-‐MAILS
AND
CATHOLIC
NETWORKS

Most
qualitative
researchers
concur
that
recruiting
participants
for
a

research
study
is
no
easy
task.

As
a
result,
“snowball
sampling,”
also
known
as

“respondent
driven”
sampling
is
perhaps
the
most
effective
and
reliable
technique

42

for
finding
willing
subjects.
9

This
technique
relies
on
networking
skills
and
personal

relationships
to
generate
a
comprehensive
list
of
participants.
I
began
the
snowball

sampling
process
by
contacting
former
teachers
from
my
Catholic
all-‐girls
convent

high
school.

These
former
teachers
gave
me
the
names
and
contact
information
of

their
acquaintances,
often
called
on
my
behalf
to
vouch
for
me,
and
even
went
the

extra
mile
and
set
up
appointments
for
me.

Since
my
father
is
the
President
of
a

Catholic
fundraising
and
consulting
firm,
I
was
able
to
tap
into
his
personal

networks
to
meet
willing
participants.

My
father
reached
out
to
many
sisters
on
my

behalf,
and
because
of
his
solid
reputation
as
an
honest
businessman,
I
successfully

recruited
women
from
diverse
populations.

Cold
calling
proved
to
be
surprisingly
effective
in
my
research
strategy.

Despite
the
fact
that
most
people
are
wary
of
phone
solicitations,
I
was
shocked
at

the
number
of
women
who
emphatically
agreed
to
an
interview
simply
based
on
a

short
phone
conversation.

I
maintained
a
very
strict
schedule
of
contacting

convents,
churches,
and
schools
for
a
period
of
two
months.

Each
day,
usually

between
the
hours
of
3
to
5
p.m.,
I
attached
my
headset
to
my
cell
phone
and
dialed

phone
numbers
I
gathered
from
the
following
sources:
The
Diocesan
and

Archdiocesan
Catholic
Directories,
the
Official
Catholic
Directory,
VISION
Vocation

Network
Discernment
Guidebooks,
the
National
Religious
Vocation
Conference

(NRVC),
CARA,
the
Leadership
Conference
of
Women
Religious
(LCWR),
and
the

9

For
more
information
on
respondent
driven
sampling
see:
Heckathorn,
Douglas
D.
1997.

“Respondent-‐Driven
Sampling:
A
New
Approach
to
the
Study
of
Hidden
Populations.”
Social
Problems

44(2):
174–199.

43

Council
of
Major
Superiors
of
Women
(CMSW),
as
well
as
Catholic
church
and
school

websites.

Most
of
the
time,
I
directed
my
phone
calls
at
women
in
leadership
positions

because
they
tend
to
have
larger
networks
of
sisters
and
have
higher
statuses
in

their
respective
organizations.

When
making
phone
calls,
I
usually
made
use
of
a

loose
script
I
had
generated
to
ensure
that
I
hit
all
of
the
critical
selling
points
of
the

study.

Although
making
these
calls
was
sometimes
discouraging
because
I

encountered
disconnected
phone
numbers,
linguistic
difficulties
(I
had
to
rely
on
my

basic
Italian
language
skills
to
communicate
with
one
sister),
and
endured
leaving

countless
messages
of
which
I
never
received
a
return
call.

While
I
cannot
explain

why
I
was
able
to
pin
down
about
fifteen
interviews
as
a
result
of
this
strategy,
I
did

make
a
point
to
ask
each
sister
at
the
end
of
each
interview
why
she
decided
to
say

“yes”
to
stranger
over
the
phone,
almost
everyone
responded
by
stating
they
had
a

“good
feeling”
or
believed
my
interest
in
talking
to
them
was
“genuine.”

Although

not
necessarily
scientific
data,
I
think
my
eagerness
along
with
my
willingness
to

travel
proved
beneficial.

In
addition
to
making
cold
calls,
I
found
e-‐mail
contact
extremely
helpful.

Of

the
55
women
I
interviewed,
three
sisters
have
national
reputations
as
famous

lecturers,
speakers,
and
authors.

I
was
shocked
that
I
had
such
success
with
this

technique.

For
most
of
the
e-‐mails
I
sent,
I
highlighted
my
Catholic
upbringing,
the

fact
that
I
received
the
sacrament
of
marriage,
and
my
academic
interests
in

studying
religious
life
as
well
as
the
intersections
of
sociology,
culture,
religion,
and

gender
(See
appendix
for
sample
e-‐mail).

I
encountered
only
one
sister
who
was
a

44

bit
suspicious
of
my
motives
and
proceeded
to
conduct
a
full
background
check
on

me
to
assess
whether
or
not
she
would
participate
in
an
interview.
10

INTERVIEW
STRATEGIES/TECHNIQUES

Before
setting
up
the
initial
appointment
with
a
sister,
I
made
a
point
to

provide
plenty
of
information
about
my
Catholic
upbringing,
my
interest
in

exploring
the
status
of
women
religious
in
the
United
States,
and
I
stressed
that
I

was
committed
to
interviewing
women
in
places
where
they
were
most
at
ease,

which
meant
that
I
made
sure
that
these
sisters
had
the
freedom
to
dictate
the
terms

of
our
meeting.

The
basic
goal
for
setting
up
a
comfortable
session
rested
on
a

commitment
to
speaking
to
women
“on
their
turf”
which
yielded
deeper,
more

meaningful
and
thorough
interviews.

With
the
exception
of
a
few
meetings
(largely

due
to
time
constraints
for
the
participant),
most
of
the
in-‐depth
interviews
lasted

for
a
minimum
of
an
hour
and
a
half.

After
I
had
spoken
to
a
handful
of
women
in
their
convents
or
in
their

apartments,
I
began
to
notice
that
despite
the
fact
that
my
digital
voice
recorder
was

10

This
sister
contacted
the
principal
of
the
convent
high
school
from
which
I
graduated
in
1997.

Although
the
principal
who
served
during
my
time
had
moved
into
the
role
of
President,
the
current

principal
has
known
me
since
I
was
in
grammar
school
(I
attended
Catholic
grammar
school
with
her

children)
and
she
had
previously
served
as
the
Assistant
Principal.

I
did
not
learn
that
the

interviewee
had
checked
up
on
me
until
I
was
getting
ready
to
start
our
session.

Just
as
I
was
about

to
hit
the
record
button,
this
sister
mentioned
that
she
had
done
a
thorough
background
check
by

conducting
an
extensive
Google
search.

My
face
flushed
with
embarrassment,
but
I
was
relieved
to

hear
her
say
that
she
was
satisfied
with
my
reputation.

45

compact
and
did
not
appear
to
be
obtrusive,
most
of
the
sisters
seemed
to
regularly

glance
at
the
device.

As
a
result,
I
think
some
of
the
women
answered
questions

more
cautiously
because
of
this
distraction.

This
was
sometimes
exacerbated
by
the

fact
that
I
had
wired
some
women
with
a
microphone
so
I
would
have
a
clearer

sounding
audio
file.

As
a
result
of
these
challenges,
I
reassessed
my
interview
strategy
and

weighed
the
pros
and
cons
of
meeting
sisters
in
a
more
casual,
public
setting
such
as

at
a
restaurant
or
coffee
house.

I
was
torn
because
I
was
concerned
about
the

distracting
nature
of
eating
establishments,
taking
on
the
financial
burden
of
paying

for
the
bill,
and
having
a
reduction
in
sound
as
a
consequence
of
poor
acoustics
and

competing
conversations.

Ultimately,
I
decided
to
offer
sisters
the
opportunity
to

meet
with
me
at
the
restaurant
of
their
choice.

I
was
pleasantly
surprised
to

discover
that
adjusting
my
technique
in
such
a
way
yielded
such
incredible
results.

I

noticed
a
remarkable
improvement
in
the
sisters’
comfort
level,
an
increased
level
of

trust
in
me
as
a
student
researcher,
and
more
interest
in
connecting
me
with
other

sisters
who
might
be
willing
to
complete
an
interview.

Almost
all
of
the
sisters

seemed
to
forget
I
was
recording
the
session
and
since
I
could
not
juggle
eating
my

meal
with
asking
questions,
listening
to
these
women’s
stories,
and
taking
notes,
I

also
memorized
my
interview
guide
which
made
the
session
appear
more
organic

and
natural.

I
think
the
fact
that
I
was
not
eagerly
writing
down
every
sentence
was

yet
another
reason
sisters
enjoyed
a
higher
level
of
comfort
with
me.

After
I

completed
an
interview
with
a
religious
sister,
I
always
made
a
point
to
ask
her
to

recommend
other
women
with
whom
I
could
speak
about
my
research
project.

46

CONFIDENTIALITY

All
conversations
remained
anonymous
and
I
assigned
pseudonyms
to
each

woman
in
an
effort
to
protect
her
entire
identity
(name,
religious
order,
and
specific

geographic
region).

Upon
completion
of
each
recording,
I
uploaded
each
audio
file

on
to
my
password-‐protected
computer.

I
listened
to
each
audio
file
and
personally

transcribed
each
interview.

Once
the
interview
was
transcribed,
I
deleted
all
of
the

information
from
both
the
recording
device
and
the
computer.

STUDY
LIMITATIONS

Based
on
my
previous
work
on
religious
sisters,
I
did
encounter
some

difficulty
finding
access
to
sisters
whom
I
consider
to
be
“traditional”
in
their

communal
orientation.

Despite
assuring
the
religious
sisters
that
I
would
maintain

complete
confidentiality
(including
pseudonyms,
storing
tapes
in
a
locked
cabinet
in

my
apartment,
and
destroying
the
interview
tapes
upon
transcription,)
and

throughout
the
interview
process
and
period
of
data
collection,
two
of
the
sisters
in

my
sample
refused
to
allow
me
to
record
our
session.

As
a
result,
I
was
forced
to

transcribe
the
interview
by
hand,
which
made
the
interview
more
difficult
and
less

thorough
because
I
did
not
have
the
opportunity
to
ask
more
detailed
questions.

Another
limitation
of
my
research
is
that
I
am
focusing
on
the
lived
experiences
of

religious
sisters
on
both
the
East
and
West
Coasts,
leaving
out
the
voices
of

midwestern
and
southern
women.

Due
to
budget
constraints,
it
was
simply
not
possible
for
me
to
travel
to

midwestern
southern
states.

I
desperately
attempted
to
set
up
some
interviews

while
traveling
to
Dallas,
Texas,
but
despite
my
endless
phone
calls
and
e-‐mails,
I

47

turned
up
short.

A
couple
of
days
before
I
departed,
I
talked
to
woman
who
worked

at
the
diocesan
offices
in
Dallas.

She
confirmed
my
suspicion
that
the
population
of

Sisters
in
Dallas
is
probably
too
small
from
which
to
draw
and
that
I
should
think

about
heading
over
to
San
Antonio.

San
Antonio
was
at
least
four
hours
and
thirty

minutes
from
where
I
was
in
Dallas.

As
a
result
of
these
challenges,
I
resorted
to

conducting
two
phone
interviews:
one
with
a
sister
in
San
Antonio
and
one
with
a

sister
in
Chicago.

In
some
ways,
my
marital
status
may
have
prevented
me
from
getting
to

closer
to
the
realities
of
religious
life
because
there
was,
in
essence,
no
chance
I

could
be
recruited
to
be
a
part
of
a
religious
congregation.

I
always
did
my
best
to

explain
(when
appropriate)
my
marital
status
to
the
sisters
because
I
didn’t
want
to

mislead
them
in
any
way.

At
times,
if
the
fact
that
I
am
married
didn’t
come
up

beforehand,
I
did
see
an-‐ever-‐so-‐slight
look
of
disappointment
on
the
sisters’
faces

when
they
learned
this.

During
one
interview
(for
which
I
traveled
many
miles
to

do),
the
sister
immediately
admitted
that
she
couldn’t
really
understand
why
I

would
choose
to
study
the
topic
of
sisters
in
the
United
States
if
I
wasn’t
at
all

interested
in
being
religious
myself.

Although,
I
couldn’t
really
answer
the
why
part
of
the
question
from
a

personal
perspective
as
well
as
I
would
have
liked,
I
was
able
to
answer
her
inquiry

from
a
sociological
and
academic
point
of
view.

This
sister,
whose
community
is

severely
dwindling,
had
brought
a
stack
of
literature
for
me
to
read
because
she

presumed
that
there
was
some
part
of
me
that
was
interested
in
becoming
a
sister

myself.

She
admitted
her
own
disappointment
but
still
participated
in
the
interview

48

with
gusto
and
was
a
really
animated
conversationalist.

Although
being
married

didn’t
allow
me
to
have
the
same
kind
of
access
to
information
that
I
would
have
had

if
I
had
been
a
single
woman,
overall,
it
did
alleviate
(for
them)
some
false
hope
of

me
“joining
up.”

Also,
it
may
have
allowed
sisters
to
feel
more
comfortable
with

sharing
their
true
feelings
with
me
because
they
weren’t
trying
to
put
up
a
good

front
to
hide
any
of
their
personal
or
organizational
flaws.

On
three
occasions
I
arrived
at
the
scheduled
time
for
an
interview
and

discovered,
much
to
my
surprise,
that
the
sister
had
invited
another
woman
to

participate
in
our
conversation.

Although
this
didn’t
present
an
ideal
situation
for

me,
I
–
in
the
words
of
the
famous
fashion
designer,
Tim
Gunn
–
had
to
“make
it

work.”

I
can’t
really
speculate
as
to
why
these
sisters
asked
others
to
join
them,

other
than
the
fact
that
these
women
may
have
done
so
as
a
means
of
self-‐
protection.

I
did
the
best
I
could
when
presented
with
these
challenges
and

ultimately
enjoyed
these
spontaneous
focus
groups.

I
made
some
wonderful

contacts
with
these
sisters
and
they
always
provided
me
with
lists
of
their
friends

from
other
communities
with
whom
I
might
meet.

I
had
the
pleasure
of
meeting
face-‐to-‐face
with
several
high
profile
sisters,

which
was
an
exciting,
wonderful,
and
at
times
–
intimidating
–
experience.

Almost

all
of
these
women
gave
me
an
unlimited
amount
of
time,
allowed
me
to
ask

challenging
questions,
and
were
amazingly
accommodating
when
I
requested
to

keep
in
touch.

One
such
sister
–
Sr.
Sheila
actually
cleared
her
schedule
for
the

entire
afternoon
because
she
was
so
interested
in
the
study.

As
we
were
sitting

across
from
each
other
in
this
woman’s
very
tiny
metropolitan
apartment
which

49

overlooked
a
very
busy
intersection,
she
exuded

excitement
that
I
had
contacted

her
about
the
study,
“I
can’t
tell
you
how
–
I’m
just
thrilled
and
excited
that
finally

someone
is
interested
in
exploring
our
history,
our
life,
our
culture
from
a

sociological
point
of
view.

I
mean
–
it’s,
it’s
just
so
great!”

When
I
asked
politely

how
much
time
she
had
to
spend
with
me
she
replied,
“This
is
such
interesting
and

important
work.

You
can
take
as
much
time
as
you
need.

I’ve
cleared
the
rest
of
the

day
for
you.”
I
was
eternally
grateful
for
her
enthusiasm
and
hospitality,
and
even

more
grateful
that
she
really
allowed
me
to
ask
challenging
questions
and
explore

concepts
that
I
found
difficult
to
grasp.

While
Sr.
Sheila
and
many
of
the
high-‐profile
women
I
met
were
more
than

generous
with
their
time,
I
did
interview
two
high-‐profile
sisters
that
had
very

demanding
professional
responsibilities.

These
women
didn’t
have
much
time
to

devote
to
many
outside
activities.

Because
these
women
are
probably
interviewed

on
a
regular
basis
by
the
media,
I
was
only
able
to
talk
to
Sr.
Monica
for
45
minutes

and
Sr.
Joelle
for
just
under
an
hour.

Since
both
of
these
conversations
took
place

right
in
their
offices,
the
setting
was
less-‐than-‐ideal
to
reach
the
level
of
disclosure

and
intimacy
that
I
gleaned
from
other
conversations.

I
also
had
to
handle
a

constant
flow
of
interruptions
–
coworkers
coming
in
an
out
of
the
office,
phones

constantly
ringing,
and
other
office-‐related
distractions.

The
last,
and
most
frustrating
limitation
I
encountered
was
that
I
missed
the

“Women
and
Spirit:
Catholic
Sisters
in
America”
exhibit
organized
by
the
Leadership

Conference
of
Women
Religious.

Fortunately,
the
exhibit
is
on
DVD
and
I
was
able

50

to
view
it,
but
it
would
have
been
wonderful
to
have
had
the
opportunity
to
interact

with
some
of
the
sisters
and
people
present.

ARCHIVAL
AND
HISTORICAL
RESEARCH

Although
interview
data
and
participant
observation
comprise
the
backbone

of
this
project,
I
also
believed
in
supporting
the
research
with
archival
and
historical

data.

As
such,
I
spent
many
days
in
the
library
at
the
Sisters
of
St.
Joseph
of
Orange,

in
the
City
of
Orange
in
California.

The
collection
of
books,
although
not
exclusively

devoted
to
religious
life,
contained
monographs
about
women
religious
that
I
could

not
find
elsewhere.

I
found
an
impressive
collection
of
sources:
microfiche,
books,

CDs,
and
pamphlets
that
proved
extremely
useful
for
collecting
data
pertinent
to
this

project.

One
of
the
wonderful
features
of
women’s
religious
orders
is
that
the

members
keep
a
careful
record
of
their
accomplishments,
artifacts,
and
history,
and

so
it
was
very
easy
to
find
useful
information.

And
because
the
history
of
each

religious
order
is
taught
to
candidates
during
their
formative
years,
some
orders

have
published
books
detailing
their
own
unique
history.

I
spent
hours
upon
hours

admiring
the
archival
materials
in
each
congregation
and
reading
through
the
books

on
the
orders’
history.

The
archives
in
many
of
these
orders
are
absolutely

spectacular,
and
some
of
the
artifacts
look
like
they
could
be
at
the
Smithsonian.

Finally,
I
combed
and
scoured
the
Internet
to
look
for
sources
that
would

point
to
the
origins
of
the
Vatican
Vistiation
because
this
information
was
not
easily

accessed
through
my
interviews.

Many
of
the
sisters
whom
I
interviewed
had

difficulting
understanding
how
the
Vatican
Visitation
came
into
existence.

Over
the

51

course
of
nearly
a
year
I
was
able
to
trace
the
origins
of
the
Visitation
to
a

symposium
containing
a
group
of
prominent
figures
who
had
gathered
together
to

discuss
topics
related
to
religious
life
at
Stonehill
College.

I
uncovered
this

information
by
collecting
small
newspaper
reports,
by
staying
up-‐to-‐date
with

Visitation
website,
and
by
following
leads
given
to
me
by
my
interviewees.

DATA
ANALYSIS
AND
CODING
STRATEGY

For
the
purposes
of
this
project,
I
developed
a
hybrid
coding
technique
which

incorporated
hand
coding
with
computer
coding
in
Microsoft
Word.
11

The
first
step

in
this
process
involved
printing
out
hard
copies
of
each
transcript
and
carefully

reading
through
each
one.

I
then
used
a
series
of
colored
pens
and
highlighters
to

write
notes
in
the
margins
and
broad
codes
to
analyze
the
data.

During
this
process,

I
continued
to
use
an
inductively
grounded
theoretical
approach
to
create
codes.

From
these
“broadly
coded”
transcripts,
I
turned
my
attention
to
my
computer
and

formulated
condensed
transcripts
that
included
more
specific
data.

From
there,
I

developed
a
multi-‐level/multi-‐tiered
coding
system
that
included
what
Glaser
and

Strauss
(1967)
calls
“coding
families”
by
using
the
highlighter
feature
on
Microsoft

Word.

Since
MS
Word
still
has
limitations
with
respect
to
formatting,
I
printed
out

this
new
set
of
transcripts
and
wrote
more
notes
in
the
margins.

At
the
end
of
this

process,
I
had
a
wonderful
library
of
complex
codes
as
well
as
a
final
transcript
that

contained
specific
quotes
that
reflected
the
analytic
themes
that
emerged
from

coding.

11

Although
I
have
extensive
knowledge
of
the
qualitative
coding
software
Atlas
ti.,
I
elected
to
forego

using
the
program
due
to
the
“artistic”
limitations
associated
with
it.

52

The
coding
strategy
I
developed
produced
valuable
qualitative
data
I
needed

to
inductively
search
for
themes,
formulate
arguments,
and
appropriately
process

the
thematic
ideas
that
surfaced.

In
summary,
using
a
grounded
theoretical

approach
to
the
research
process
included
a
commitment
to
participant-‐
observation,
which
yielded
short
jottings,
lengthy
field
notes,
dictated
notes,
and

short
memos
as
tools
to
analyze
the
data.

However,
the
bulk
of
the
project
hinged

upon
in-‐depth
interviews,
which
produced
lengthy
transcripts
that
were
interpreted

using
a
multi-‐level,
inductively-‐based
coding
schema.

53

CHAPTER
3.
Literature
Review:
A
Brief
Sketch
of
Scholarship
on
Religious
Life

“You
walk
TOGETHER
and
you
won’t
get
weary.
You
might
get
tired,
but
you
won’t
get

weary.”

–Sr.
Thea
Bowman

There
is
a
significant
body
of
literature
on
the
role
of
religious
sisters
within

the
context
of
the
Roman
Catholic
Church,
but
most
of
these
scholarly
sources
focus

on
the
historical
beginnings
and
evolution
of
religious
life
over
the
course
of
history.

Moreover,
few
studies
have
attempted
to
apply
a
sociological
lens
to
sisters’

contributions
to
society,
their
struggles
to
adapt
to
an
ever-‐changing
church,
and

ultimately,
how
they
have
fared
over
the
centuries.

Religious
sisters
are
an

extremely
important
and
often
understudied
segment
of
American
culture
because

according
to
Ebaugh
(1993b),
they
have
operated
schools,
hospitals,
and
social

service
organizations
in
both
the
public
and
private
realm.
And
yet,
there
is
virtually

no
information
that
investigates
the
relationship
sisters
have
to
modernity.

The
following
literature
review
addresses
the
factors
that
have
contributed

to
the
loss
of
individual
and
collective
identity
in
relation
to
the
Vatican
Visitation.

In
sum,
the
modernization
efforts
of
Vatican
II,
while
useful
in
terms
of
providing

sisters
with
many
opportunities
to
reimagine
themselves
within
modern
society,

has
unintentionally
lengthened
the
rate
at
which
sisters
can
appropriately
adapt.

This
“adaptive
struggle,”
especially
among
progressive
and
conservative
branches
of

religious
life,
has
paved
the
wave
for
a
the
rise
of
traditional
religious
orders,
which

is
quickly
becoming
the
new
face
of
the
American
Catholic
Sisterhood.

Additionally,

the
overall
decline
of
religious
life
has
further
contributed
to
the
confusion
of

54

women
religious
because
the
future
of
these
communities
rests
on
constantly

finding
new
vocations
to
replace
dying
sisters.

Finally,
the
Apostolic
Visitation
is
an

unprecented
marker
of
the
Church’s
struggle
to
distance
itself
from
the
important

innovations
that
resulted
from
Vatican
II.
Perhaps
some
of
these
factors
may

contribute
to
a
world-‐wide
disciplining
of
Catholics
worldwide?

THE
BEGINNINGS
OF
CHRISTIAN
RELIGIOUS
LIFE

In
order
to
understand
the
emergence
of
the
congregations
of
Catholic

sisters,
it
is
important
to
provide
a
historical
context
for
understanding
how
these

communities
emerged.

Scholars
offer
compelling
analyses
and
historical
accounts
of

the
birth,
maintenance
and
change
of
monastic
orders
,
as
well
as
the
role
of

women’s
prayer
and
devotional
life
to
the
sisterhood
(Venarde
1997;
Ranft
1996;

Weisner-‐Hanks
1996;
Clear
1988
in
Scaraffia
and
Zarri
1999;).

The
foundations
of

religious
life
began
when
some
women
formed
loose
communal
associations
while

they
wandered
through
the
desert.

While
little
is
known
about
these
wandering

ascetics,
religious
historians
suggest
that
women
are
somehow
spiritually
drawn
to

this
lifestyle.

However,
the
application
of
a
sociological
lens
might
suggest

otherwise.

For
example,
many
women
likely
wandered
through
desert
terrain
as
a

means
of
escaping
the
patriarhal
authority
of
their
husbands,
misogyny,
and
to

avoid
having
to
birth
and
care
for
mutiple
children.

While
searching
for
a
spiritual

union
with
Christ
is
certainly
plausible,
it
also
likely
that
many
of
these
women
were

drawn
to
early
communal
associations
of
women
because
they
stood
the
chance
of

gaining
some
freedoms
from
societal
pressure.

55

The
fact
that
religious
congregations
evolved
over
time
and
remained
fairly

constant
over
the
centuries
until
the
1960s
is
startling.
Roman
Catholic
sisters
aided

in
the
Catholic
counter-‐Reformation
movements,
traveled
internationally
to

complete
missionary
projects,
and
played
a
major
role
in
the
establishment
of

Catholic
schools
–
the
largest
private
school
system
in
the
United
States
(NCEA

2011).

IMPACT
OF
VATICAN
II:

MODERNIZATION
AND
CONTROVERSY
SURROUNDING

THE
HABIT

In
terms
of
better
understanding
American
nuns,
Vatican
II
profoundly

impacted
the
role
of
these
women
particularly
within
the
United
States.

Under
the

guiding
principles
of
the
Council’s
call
for
aggiornamento

and
Perfectae
Caritatis,

religious
communities
began
to
reevaluate
important
facets
of
their
lives
such
as
the

habit,
communal
living,
and
charism.

Religious
communities
along
with
the
Church

hierarchy
noticed
that
Catholic
school
children
were
suffering
in
the
classrooms

because
many
sisters
did
not
have
adequate
teacher
preparation.

The
church

responded
to
this
need
by
creating
what
became
known
as
“Sister
Formation

Colleges.”

SFCs
were
places
where
sisters
could
get
the
training
they
needed
to

successfully
teach
children
in
the
growing
Catholic
school
system
in
the
United

States
(Ebaugh
1993b).
12

Although
the
various
components
of
religious
life
were
suddenly
open
for

reinterpretation,
the
habit
received
a
large
degree
of
attention
and
has
been
a

12

A
quick
perusal
of
the
internet
suggests
most
(if
not
all)
of
the
Sister
Formation
Colleges
have

closed.

56

source
of
fascination
for
many
scholars.
Elizabeth
Kuhn’s
(2003)
work
on
the

historical
development
and
theological
interpretations
offers
insight
into
the

mystical
world
of
life
in
a
“Holy
Habit.”

Other
scholars
such
as
Michelman
(1999),

Rubinstein
(2001),
and
Arthur
(2000
and
1999)
analyze
the
meanings
and
messages

communicated
by
wearing
a
habit.

Arguably,
the
modernization
of
the
habit
was
the
central
symbolic
form
that

signaled
a
reevaluation
of
religious
traditionalism.

Despite
the
Vatican
permitting

the
alteration
of
religious
dress,
communities
came
under
scrutiny
when
they
began

drastically
to
alter
their
types
of
dress.

Immediately
following
the
council
and
in
the

Archdiocese
of
Los
Angeles
the
Sisters
of
the
Immaculate
Heart
of
Mary
(IHM)

quickly
began
to
discuss
measures
taken
from
Perfectae
Caritatis
to
begin
to
slowly

introduce
lay
clothing
in
many
religious
communities.

Not
unlike
the
scrutiny
that
religious
sisters
recently
faced
vis-‐à-‐vis
the

Vatican,
Archbishop
Cardinal
James
Francis
McIntyre
sternly
criticized
the
sisters

when
he
received
word
of
their
plan
to
transition
into
a
modified
habit
that
included

a
simple
veil.

He
did
so
because
the
IHM
community
was
not
a
pontifical
religious

community
–it
was
a
diocesan
congregation
and
so
according
to
Church
law,
the

sisters
were
subjected
to
his
rules.

Cardinal
McIntyre
threatened
to
fire
them
from

their
teaching
posts
in
the
Archdiocesan
Catholic
schools
if
they
followed
through

with
their
efforts
(Caspary
2003).

He
also
pointedly
made
an
example
out
of
the

IHM
sisters
to
discourage
other
communities
from
following
suit,
arguing
that

religious
communities
must
first
seek
approval
from
Rome
before
making
such

drastic
decisions
with
regard
to
dress
(Quiñonez
and
Turner
1992).

According
to

57

Michelman
(1999),
“[IHM]
women
religious
negotiated
some
social
control
issues

with
the
Church
symbolically
by
discarding
the
habit
for
secular
dress”
(p.
136).
In

their
resistance
efforts,
the
IHM
community
most
certainly
addressed
issues
of

social
control
within
the
Church
as
a
result
of
their
battle
over
the
habit.

In
my
previous
research,
many
sisters
lamented
the
daily
discomfort
they

endured
by
having
to
wear
the
habit.

According
to
Maureen
Fiedler
(1984):

The
habit
had
been
an
early
object
of
fascination
and
romanticizing.

But

living

inside
it
was
another
story.

Not
only
was
it
sometimes
highly

impractical,
it
projected
an
image
.
.
.
Nuns
were
expected
to
be
quiet,

prayerful
in
traditional
ways,
good
with
children,
or
even
much
like
children

themselves.

They
were
not
commonly
regarded
as
persons
with
whom
to

discuss
‘real
problems,
and
–God
help
us
–
they
knew
nothing
about
sexuality

.
.
.
I
found
myself
in
an
identity
crisis
with
the
nun
image.

I
began
to
see
that

that
image
would
severely
hinder
anyone
who
tried
to
be
an
agent
of
social

change.
(quoted
in
Ware
1985:
42)

I
noted
in
my
earlier
work
that
sort
of
“soft
tension”
exists
between
younger,
more

traditional
sisters
and
older,
more
liberal
sisters.

For
instance,
younger,
traditional

sisters
view
the
habit
as
an
essential
component
to
religious
life,
arguing
that
the

garment
offers
an
outward,
visible
form
of
“witness”
to
society.

These
public
displays
of
religiosity
give
people
(even
with
those
who
do
not

identify
as
Catholic)
the
opportunity
to
solicit
spiritually
or
religiously
centered

conversations
with
sisters.

These
sisters
viewed
the
habit
as,
in
the
words
of
one

young
woman,
“a
vehicle
through
which
we
can
evangelize
on
a
daily
basis.”

For

instance,
it
is
not
uncommon
for
people
to
approach
a
habit-‐wearing
sister
with
an

on-‐the-‐spot
request
to
pray
in
public.

Another
young
sister
described
a
situation
in
which
she
was
approached
by
a

stranger
with
a
request
pray
in
public.

The
sister
told
me
that
her
mother
superior

58

had
sent
her
to
the
market
to
pick
up
some
much
needed
groceries,
so
and
while
in

the
bread
aisle,
a
woman
approached
her,
cried
out
that
her
son
was
on
trial
for

selling
illegal
drugs
and
was
most
likely
going
to
have
to
serve
time
in
prison
for
his

crime.

The
sister,
who,
despite
being
under
tremendous
pressure
to
get
back
to
the

convent,
pushed
the
grocery
carts
to
the
side,
grabbed
both
of
the
woman’s
hands

and
prayed
for
the
Lord
to
intervene.

According
to
the
sister,
“public
prayer
isn’t
my

speciality
.
.
.
I
find
it
uniquely
challenging
to
just
drop
everything
to
come
up
with

the
right
words
–
words
that
will
comfort
the
person
while
at
the
same
time
get

God’s
attention.”

When
I
asked
her
if
it
was
awkward
to
do
something
like
this
in

public,
she
said
“no,
not
at
all
–
In
fact
–
it’s
in
those
moments
that
I
realize
just
how

important
wearing
the
habit
is.

Think
about
when
someone
is
in
need
of
help,
they

would
look
for
a
police
officer,
right?

And
just
think
–
what
we
would
do
if
our

police
officers
or
firemen
didn’t
wear
uniforms?

We
wouldn’t
be
able
to
spot
them
–

and
then
what?”

When
I
asked
the
sister
what
she
felt
like
she
had
accomplished,
she
stressed

that
the
woman
received
immediate
support
in
a
time
of
crisis,
that
because
of
her

“uniform”
she
engaged
in
a
public
form
of
evangelism
which
could
impact
any
“lost

souls”
by
giving
them
an
opportunity
to
see
Christ’s
message
in
action,
and
it
gave

her
both
personal
and
spiritual
fulfillment
that
she
had
the
ability
to
respond
to
a

situation
in
a
time
of
serious
need.

Older,
progressive
sisters
–
those
that
were
directly
affected
by
the
changes

of
Vatican
II
–
often
lamented
the
role
of
the
habit
in
daily
lives.

While
many
of

these
women
did
admit
that
they
were
often
approached
to
pray
in
public
settings,

59

most
of
them
felt
held
back
by
the
cumbersome
garb
and
found
it
stressful
to
go

about
their
business
without
the
constant
reminder
that
they
were
a
sister.

For

example,
one
sister
told
me
that
people
(both
Catholics
and
non-‐Catholics),
would

anonymously
pick
up
the
bill
for
them
at
restaurants,
offered
up
their
seats
on
the

bus,
and
usually
praised
them
publicly
for
their
work.

Constantly
living
in
the
“fish

bowl”
had
it
challenges,
and
most
of
the
women
with
whom
I
spoke
had
no
desire
to,

in
the
words
of
one
sister,
“reoppress”
herself.

The
eventual
alteration
of
the
habit

offered
women
more
freedom
to
reach
people
in
other
ways,
many
of
which
actually

proved
to
be
more
powerful
in
nature
and
scope.

The
period
following
the
Vatican
II
is
historically
significant
because

religious
orders
began
to
experiment
with
modernization
by
altering
their
habits,

opening
their
convent
doors
to
those
they
served,
and
permitting
sisters
to
have

closer
relationships
with
family
and
friends.
The
other
noteworthy
modernization

effort
concerned
encouraging
women
to
take
on
other
vocational
roles
in
lieu
of
the

more
common
“sister-‐teacher,”
“sister-‐nurse,”
and
“sister-‐social
worker.”

Although

women
embraced
these
changes,
with
the
close
of
Vatican
II
and
the
end
of
the

1960s
communities
could
not
ward
off
the
impending
threat
of
what
Ebaugh

(1993b)
calls
“The
Decline.”

POST
VATICAN
II:

THE
DECLINE
OF
RELIGIOUS
LIFE

Earlier
in
this
dissertation,
I
noted
this
decline
and
reported
that
the
number

of
sisters
has
decreased
dramatically
since
the
1960s.

According
to
Wittberg

(2006),
this
indicates
a
massive
“loss”
of
women
religiou
in
what
are
typically

known
as
classically
“Catholic”
institutions
–
parishes,
hospitals,
and
schools.

60

CARA’s
statistics
also
suggest
that
the
number
of
women
entering
religious
life
did

not
show
any
signs
of
a
rebound
until
the
year
2000
–
four
years
after
Pope
John

Paul
II
created
a
public
campaign
entitled
a
“Call
for
Evangelization.”

At
the
same

time,
and
perhaps
as
a
response
to
the
Decline
in
religious
life,
the
Pope
also

sponsored
“World
Youth
Days”
for
teens
and
young
adults
in
major
urban
cities

around
the
world.

These
“World
Youth
Days”
which
drew
audiences
in
the

hundreds
of
thousands
were
part
of
the
Pope’s
strategy
to
inspire
and
spark
a
firm

commitment
to
Catholicism
among
young
people.

The
Pope
also
used
his
influence

to
encourage
young
people
to
think
more
seriously
about
religious
life
as
viable

alternatives
to
marriage
and
single
life.

Currently,
few
scholars
have
addressed
this
important
issue
of
the
“decline”

of
women’s
religious
life.

Sociologist
and
former
sister
Helen
Ebaugh
has
focused
on

the
problem
in
two
ways:
first,
by
looking
at
the
women
who
have
been
“exiting”

religious
life
and
second,
by
examining
the
state
of
women
religious
as
they
were

experiencing
this
“decline”
in
the
mid-‐1990s
in
an
organizational
framework.

In
her

first
book
Out
of
the
Cloister:
A
Study
of
Organization
Dilemmas,
she
addressed
the

issue
of
a
“mass
exodus”
of
women
from
religious
orders
in
1977.

Using
an

organizational
framework
of
changing
institutions,
Ebaugh
distributed
a
mail
survey

to
every
religious
order
of
women
in
the
United
States,
completed
case
studies
of

three
congregations
during
various
stages
in
the
“process
of
change,”
and
conducted

individual
interviews
with
women
in
two
camps

called
“leavers”
(those
who
had

left)
and
“stayers”
(those
who
had
chosen
to
stay).

61

Combining
these
three
methods
of
data
collection
allowed
Ebaugh
to
unpack

the
complexities
of
the
effects
of
the
decline
on
women’s
religious
communities
by

offering
a
multi-‐level
analysis.

According
to
Ebaugh’s
findings,
the
most
common

reasons
women
left
convents
had
little
to
do
with
receiving
higher
levels
of

education
or
wanting
to
marry,
but
were
due
to
a
multitude
of
reasons:
1)
personal

dissatisfaction
that
the
updates
associated
with
Vatican
II
were
not
occurring
fast

enough,
2)
individual
questioning
of
oneself,
and
3)
resignation
to
leave
their
order

as
a
result
of
the
congregation’s
“conservative”
or
“rigid”
position.

As
women
in
these
communities
continue
to
age
without
a
sufficient
number

of
women
to
replace
them,
it
is
no
surprise
that
part
of
the
decline
of
religious
life

has
to
do
with
aging.
In
Ebaugh’s
(1993b)
second
book
Women
in
the
Vanishing

Cloister:
Organizational
Decline
in
Catholic
Religious
Orders
in
the
United
States

examines
the
state
of
women’s
religious
orders
during
this
decline.

Weaving

together
historical
research
with
interview
data,
Ebaugh
addresses
the
issue
of

delivering
the
“bad
news”—that
women’s
Catholic
religious
orders
are
not
only

facing
a
serious
decline—but
also
is
on
the
verge
institutional
death—after
having

served
the
Church
for
nearly
16
centuries.

This
impending
organizational
death
is
related
to
to
several
large
cultural

factors,
some
of
which
include
a
changing
communal
structure,
increasing

opportunities
for
women
in
society,
the
influence
of
feminism,
the
lack
of
a

“definition
of
a
mission,”
and
the
exit
of
sisters
from
American
Catholic
Schools.

Ebaugh
calls
this
a
loss
of
an
“environmental
niche.”

She
also
does
give
credence
to

the
idea
that
as
the
habit
became
less
apparent
within
Catholic
cultural
norms,
the

62

visibility
of
sisters
stagnated
over
time.

This
“lack
of
visibility”
may
have

contributed
to
a
loss
of
their
status
in
society.

Koehlinger
(2007),
a
professor
of
religious
history,
examined
the
vital
role
of

religious
sisters
in
racial
justice
movements
during
the
1960s
and
reaffirms

Ebaugh’s
argument
that
the
loss
of
the
habit—although
creating
a
“wall
of

separation”
between
religious
sisters
and
those
they
served—contributed
to
a

“dilemma
of
visibility.”
Believing
that
sisters
were
no
longer
wearing
habits
in
plain

view,
she
argues
that
they

cannot
be
easily
identified
as
members
of
religious

orders.

Ebaugh
argues
that
before
second
wave
feminism
developed,
Catholic
sisters

were
viewed
as
role
models
in
Catholic
schools
especially
within
immigrant

communities;
professional
women
successful
in
various
career
settings
and
single

women
have
alternatives
to
marriage
and
family
in
a
society
where
the
gender
roles

to
be
a
wife
and
mother
are
dictated
by
normative
expectations.

As
Ebaugh
points

out,
women
now
have
more
diverse
opportunities
to
pursue
careers,
whether
they

are
single
or
married.

These
women
are
also
able
to
engage
in
social
service
and

activist
movements
whether
motivated
by
humanitarian
or
religious
values,
without

having
to
take
religious
vows.

Quiñonez
and
Turner
(1992)
point
out
in
their
case

study
of
the
Leadership
Conference
of
Women
Religious
that
since
spiritual
meaning

is
no
longer
derived
solely
from
external
authority
and
the
sacramental

interpretations
of
superiors,
women
can

use
their
own
personal
experience
as
a

source
of
legitimate
knowledge
and
authority.

63

Although
women’s
religious
orders
represent
a
unique
organizational
form

that
has
provided
many
women
with
opportunities
for
education,
work
and

leadership
within
the
Catholic
Church,
there
is
little
work
analyzing
these
distinct

types
of
religious
members
of
Catholic
women.

Much
of
the
empirical
literature
on

women’s
congregation
in
the
United
States
focuses
on
declining
vocation
through

the
framework
of
organizational
decline
(Ebaugh
1993b;
Wittberg
1994).

POST
VATICAN
II:

ADAPTATION
OF
RELIGIOUS
LIFE
TO
MODERNITY

Sisters
Lora
Ann
Quiñonez
and
Mary
Daniel
Turner
(1992)
have
written

extensively
on
the
organizational
shifts
among
American
Catholic
sisters
from
a

sociological
perspective.

They
argue
that
women’s
religious
communities
are

experiencing
a
rapid
change,
one
that
is
redefining
how
sisters
see
themselves
as

individuals
and
how
they
view
themselves
in
relation
to
modernity.

According
to

them,
“we
characterize
the
changing
of
American
sisters
as
a
transformation
of

religious
life,
a
veritable
redefining
of
its
properties
and
a
re-‐identifying
of
the

women
who
live
it.

We
believe
the
transformation
.
.
.
is
altering
not
only
experience

but
epistemology
–
worldview,
concepts
and
categories,
language,
ways
of
knowing,

and
meaning”
(p.
143).

In
a
different
argument,
Sr.
Sandra
Schneiders,
I.H.M.
(1986;
2000;
2001),
a

prolific
writer,
scholar,
and
theologian
argues
that
religious
life
in
its
current
state

must
be
“re-‐imagined”
within
the
context
of
the
modern
world.

By
“re-‐imagination”

of
religious
life,
Schneiders
is
challenging
the
Church
to
allow
communities
to

experiment
with
the
possibility
of
a
complete
overhaul
of
theology,
ritual,
and

practice.

Perhaps
this
might
be
interpreted
to
mean
allowing
married
persons
to

64

live
in
community,
the
inclusion
of
openly
lesbian
and
bisexual
women,
and
a
drastic

reinterpretation
of
what
it
means
to
have
a
vocation.

In
the
wake
of
the
Apostolic

Visitation
and
with
the
current
increase
young
women’s
interest
in
traditional

religious
congregations,
this
is
particularly
relevant
because
it
challenges
the

Church’s
true
commitment
to
nurturing
various
expressions
of
religious
life.

Furthermore,
Schneiders
examines
the
role
of
culture,
modernity,
and
the
“global”

to
re-‐position
religious
life
in
its
current
form.

This
is
consistent
with
my
findings,

as
many
of
the
women
I
interviewed
for
this
project
did
not
necessarily
lament
the

decline
of
religious
life,
but
rather,
took
time
to
reflect
on
the
chance
to
derive
new

meaning
in
their
lives.

Sociologist
and
religious
sister,
Patricia
Wittberg
(1994)
has
written
about

Catholic
religious
orders
and
addresses
the
waxing
and
waning
of
communities
over

the
course
of
history.

Wittberg’s
theoretical
intervention
is
that
she
incorporates

religious
virtuosity—or
the
degree
to
which
members
of
“religion-‐based
cultural

systems”
vary
in
their
achievement
and
articulation
of
individual,
lived
religious

practice.

Drawing
on
frame
alignment
theories
from
social
movement
literature,

Wittberg
argues
that
sacred
and
collective
ideologies,
rituals,
stories,
and
narratives

play
an
important
role
in
the
examination
of
Catholic
religious
orders
over
time.

She

uses
this
framework
to
argue
that
communities
have
experienced
patterns
of
rapid

growth
and
decline.

According
to
Wittberg,
with
every
surge
in
the
numbers
of
new
communities,

a
an
inevitable
collapse
follows.

She
argues
that
the
present
decline
of
religious

communities
is
“
.
.
.
at
least
as
important
for
the
Church’s
future
as
is
its
priest

65

shortage,
even
if
the
latter
has
received
far
more
attention”
(p.
268).
She
also

challenges
scholars
to
consider
more
seriously
the
virtuosi
of
Protestant

evangelicalism,
traditional
Catholic
virtuosi
orders
such
as
Opus
Dei
and

Communion
and
Liberation,
and
new
communities
that
espouse
or
replicate
the

traditional
model
of
religious
life.

While
both
Protestant
evangelicalism
and

traditional
Catholicism
offer
insight
into
the
rise
and
fall
of
religious
life,
so
too
does

the
move
toward
theologically
and
socially
liberal
forms
of
communal
living.

For

example,
new
communities
of
vowed
celibate
men
and
women
as
well
as
a
greater

number
of
lay
groups
incorporating
married
couples
have
started
to
flourish.

POST
VATICAN
II:

VOCATIONS
TO
RELIGIOUS
LIFE
IN
AMERICA
AND
ABROAD

In
recent
years,
researchers
are
now
focusing
on
the
numbers
of
women

entering
religious
life.

Again,
the
difficulty
is
that
there
is
very
little
data
on
this

topic.

However,
according
the
Catholic
VISION
Vocation
Network’s
(2009)
findings,

the
percentage
of
women
pursuing
or
contemplating
religious
life
(not
to
be

confused
with
entering
religious
life)
has
increased
by
19
percent
from
2004
to

2007.

Additionally,
orders
such
as
the
Dominican
Sisters
of
Mary,
Mother
of
the

Eucharist
of
Ann
Arbor,
Michigan
demonstrate
tremendous
growth
as
their

organization
has
increased
from
four
sisters
in
1997
to
over
110
in
2012

(Dominican
Sisters
of
Mary,
Mother
of
the
Eucharist
2012).

Many
of
today’s
young
American
women
are
choosing
traditional
religious

orders
in
lieu
of
the
more
progressively
oriented
Vatican
II
era
communities.

Although,
Bendyna
and
Gautier
(2009)
find,
in
their
NRV/CARA
report
Recent

Vocations
to
Religious
Life,
that
while
94
percent
of
all
women
religious
are

66

Caucasian,
there
has
been
some
substantial
growth
in
vocations
to
the
sisterhood

among
Asian
and
Latin
American
women.

For
example,
among
women
who
are
in

the
initial
stages
of
religious
formation,
58
percent
are
Caucasian,
21
percent
are
of

Latin
American
descent,
14
percent
are
of
Asian/Pacific
Islander
descent,
and
6

percent
are
of
African
American,
black,
or
African
descent.

The
racial
and
ethnic

shifts
in
religious
congregations
is
evident
in
Los
Angeles
with
the
Lovers
of
the

Holy
Cross
(LHC).

The
LHC’s
history
dates
back
to
seventeenth-‐century
France,
and

yet
the
current
membership
is
predominantly
made
of
up
Vietnamese
women.
The

LHC
serve
the
needs
Vietnamese
families
living
in
Orange
and
Los
Angeles
Counties.

Similarly,
the
Sisters,
Servants
of
Mary,
Ministers
to
the
Sick
is
a
multiethnic

congregation
with
a
motherhouse
in
Oxnard,
California
and
attracts
Mexican

immigrant
and
Latin
American
women
whose
ministerial
passion
is
in
the
field
of

nursing.
13

According
to
the
National
Black
Catholic
Congress,
while
most
African

Americans
are
Protestant
Christians,
about
3
percent
are
Roman
Catholic.

Unfortunately,
there
are
no
recent
statistics
as
to
the
current
number
of
black

Roman
Catholic
Sisters
in
the
United
States.

However,
the
National
Black
Catholic

Congress
(NBCC)
reports
that
in
1999
there
were
300
black
sisters.
14

The
Oblate

Sisters
of
Providence
based
in
Baltimore,
Maryland
boast
the
largest
community
of

13

Information
based
on
personal
communication
with
the
Vocation
Director.

The
Sisters,
Servants
of

Mary,
Ministers
to
the
Sick
community
does
not
currently
have
a
website.

14

The
NBCC
reported
this
number
based
on
a
CARA
document
in
1999.

I
did
a
comprehensive
search

of
both
CARA
and
NBC
websites
and
could
not
find
the
origin
of
this
figure.

67

African
American
women
religious
in
the
United
States,
with
80
members.
15

The

Sisters
of
the
Holy
Family
in
New
Orleans,
Louisiana
is
another
pontifical
religious

community
of
black
women
whose
ministry
is
serving
underprivileged
youth,
caring

for
the
elderly
and
the
sick,
and
providing
social
services
to
those
in
need.
The

Franciscan
Handmaids
of
the
Most
Pure
Heart
of
Mary
based
in
Harlem,
New
York
is

another
such
community.

These
are
the
only
orders
that
cater
specifically
to
African

and
African
American
women.

Despite
the
purported
“changing
face”
of
women
religious
from
the
European

American
nuns
to
Asian,
black
and
Latina
sisters,
there
is
little
research
on
the

shifting
identities
that
U.S.
and
European
congregations
are
facing
both
in
the
United

States
and
abroad.

In
almost
all
of
the
interviews
that
I
conducted
with
sisters,

many
women
talked
about
the
significance
of
racial
and
ethnic
demographic
shifts

within
their
convents.

There
are
two
factors
to
consider
here:
1)
it
is
becoming

increasingly
difficult
to
attract
women
to
religious
life,
and
2)
sisters
perceive
that

their
mission
is
to
serve
in
countries
that
are
far
more
poor
and
more
destitute
than

the
United
States.

15

For
more
information,
see:

Bendyna,
Mary
E.,
and
Mary
L.
Gautier.
2009.
Recent
Vocations
to

Religious
Life:
A
Report
for
the
National
Religious
Vocation
Conference;

Oblate
Sisters
of
Providence
website,
http://oblatesisters.com/;
and
the
National
Black
Catholic

Congress
website,
http://www.nbccongress.org/black-‐catholics/worldwide-‐count-‐black-‐catholics-‐
01.asp/

68

Consequently,
what
has
happened
is
that
communities
have
sent
small

groups
of
sisters
to
African
and
Central
American
countries
to
set
up
service
for

those
in
need.

Because
of
their
commitment
to
serving
the
poor
and
to
the
Church,

many
young
women
are
choosing
to
join
religious
orders
either
because
of
the

example
these
sisters
offer
or
because
they
have
a
“true”
religious
calling.
16

In
the

case
of
Uganda,
where
roughly
70
percent
of
the
population
is
Catholic,
there
are

more
Catholics
per
capita
than
in
the
United
States
(NBCC
2005).

Catholics
are
a

much
smaller
minority
in
the
United
States,
making
up
about
25
percent
of
the
total

Christian
population
(Pew
Forum
on
Religious
and
Public
Life
2008).

All
of
the

sisters
talked
about
the
changing
face
of
religious
orders
abroad.

Despite
the
fact

that
“modern”
religious
sisters
suffered
through
what
one
sister
called
“
.
.
.
a
slow

and
steady
strip-‐tease
of
sorts,”
in
reference
to
the
adaptation
of
the
habit
to
the

modern
world,
women
outside
of
the
United
States
want
to
wear
the
habit
–
but

they
are
wearing
the
habit
in
new
and
different
ways.

Some
communities
are

choosing
to
integrate
their
own
culturally
significant
dress
into
their
religious
dress.

In
Asian
communities,
sisters
have
not
integrated
cultural
dress
but
wear
a
modified

habit.

This
is
significant
because
as
Caucasian
sisters
are
in
the
position
of
starting

new
convents
abroad,
they
are
also
faced
with
turning
over
the
governing
authority

and
power
to
the
local
women.

CARA
(2010)
makes
a
distinction
between
young
women
of
the
“Millennial

Generation”
(born
in
1982
or
later)
and
older
women
of
the
“Vatican
II
Generation”

16

The
issue
of
a
“true”
calling
is
a
concept
that
is
plaguing
orders
abroad.

Because
a
calling
is

subjective
and
lacking
in
objective
criteria.

69

(born
between
1943
and
1960).

This
distinction
may
indicate
a
cultural
chasm

between
religious
traditionalists
and
progressives
within
Catholicism,

suggesting

an
increasing
tension
between
the
two
cohorts
of
women.

Post
Vatican
II:

Contributions
to
Society,
Mistreatment
and
Scandal

Women
religious
have
made
notable
contributions
in
terms
of
educating

Catholic
school
children.

According
to
a
survey
by
Broughman,
Swaim,
and

Hryczaniuk
(2011)
for
the
U.S.
Department
of
Education’s
Office
of
Non-‐Public

Education,
the
Roman
Catholic
Church
in
the
United
States
operates
7,115
schools

and
educates
2,009,640
students
in
urban,
suburban,
and
rural
environments
as

well
as
in
towns.
While
there
are
not
many
Catholic
schools
in
rural
areas,
more

than
half
of
the
Catholic
schools
in
America
are
located
in
urban
areas
and
in
towns.

What
makes
these
statistics
remarkable
is
that
American
sisters
were
the
driving

force
in
the
establishment
and

direction
of
this
system.

Scholars
have
also
noted
the
importance
of
sisters
in
terms
of
their
influence

on
the
growth
of
the
Catholic
faith
in
urban
cities
and
within
immigrant
groups,
and

their
role
in
creating
extensive
hospital
systems
(Hoy
2006).

Kenneth
Briggs
(2006)

argues
that
women
religious
have
been
grossly
mistreated
by
the
Catholic
hierarchy

and
within
society.

Cheryl
Reed’s
(2004)
investigative
analysis
of
a
variety
of

women’s
religious
communities
called
attention
to
the
“hidden”
activities
and
rituals

of
small
groups
of
sisters.

Reed
exposed
one
congregation
in
which
sisters
engaged

in
a
collective
form
of
humiliation
based
on
the
practice
of
self-‐flagellation.

Additionally,
Reed
interviewed
“renegade”
religious
sisters
whose
opinions
and

activities
reflect
controversial
and
contradictory
church
values.

70

CONCLUSION

In
summary,
the
literature
on
religious
sisters
suggests
that
more
work

needs
to
be
done
in
the
area
of
Catholic
women
religious.

While
there
are
a
variety

of
interesting
and
useful
sources
in
terms
of
the
history
of
women’s
religious
orders,

the
outcomes
of
Vatican
II,
the
adaptation
of
religious
life,
and
the
current
state
of

vocations
in
America
and
abroad,
the
literature
demonstrates
that
there
is
a
greater

need
for
more
sociological
analyses
of
this
population
of
women.

Studies
focused
on

empirically-‐driven
projects
will
allow
us
to
start
to
unpack
the
complexities
of

understanding
problems
such
as
the
effects
of
the
Vatican
Visitation
on
the

adaptation
of
religious
life
in
America.

In
the
next
chapter,
I
will
discuss
some
of
the

pertinent
themes
that
emerged
which
will
serve
to
fill
the
existing
gap
in
the

literature.

71

CHAPTER
4.
Key
Findings:
The
Spectrum
and
Identity
of
Women’s
Religious

Communities
in
America—Progressive,
Conservative,
or
Traditional?

“People
can
do
no
great
things,
only
small
things
with
great
love.”

-‐-‐Mother
Teresa

OVERVIEW
OF
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

This
chapter
addresses
the
themes
that
emerged
as
a
result
of
55
interviews

with
women
religious
across
the
country,
participant
observation
data
collected

from
public
marches
and
events
as
well
as
from
two
brief
nights
spent
staying
in
a

convent
on
the
West
Coast.

In
terms
of
the
overall
conclusions,
there
are
four
major

themes
that
surfaced
throughout
the
research
process:
1)

religious
sisters
as
a

group
are
fragmented
as
a
result
of
political
and
theological
orientations
that
divide

communities
into
traditional,
conservative,
and
progressive,
2)

the
decline
of

religious
life
in
America
and
the
susequent
growth
of
religious
orders
in
the
Global

South
has
furthered
the
inability
of
sisters
to
adapt
in
the
American
context,
3)
the

decline
of
religious
life
has
caused
a
great
deal
of
strife
in
many
communities
as

sisters
look
for
new
ways
to
find
meaning
and
adjust
the
reality
of
a
lack
of
new

vocations,
and
4)
despite
some
support
by
several
traditional
communities,
the

Vatican
Visitation
has
disrupted
religious
life
in
America
because
religious
sisters

are
now
forced
to
justify
their
existence
in
lieu
of
focusing
their
efforts
on
things

they
do
well
-‐-‐
serving
the
poor
and
working
for
peace
and
justice
in
society.

In
addition
the
the
four
main
themes,
I
do
address
a
few
other
issues
related

to
understanding
religious
life
in
within
the
context
of
modernity.

The
growth
of

alternative,
or
noncanonical
communities
and
the
growing
popularity
of
one
or
two

72

year
programs
sponsored
by
religious
orders
has
provided
new
avenues
for

religious
sisters
to
leave
their
unique
stamp
on
society.

Although
not
necessary

central
to
the
these
categorical
frames,
issues
of
gender
and
race
were
important

topics
that
frequently
surfaced
while
I
was
talking
to
many
of
these
women.

And

finally,
understanding
the
role
of
charism
within
the
constantly
shifting
context
of

American
religious
life
is
important
to
better
under
the
plight
of
women
religious

today.

FRAGMENTATION
OF
RELIGIOUS
LIFE:

PROGRESSIVE,
CONSERVATIVE,

TRADITIONAL,
AND
NONCANONICAL

The
first,
and
perhaps
most
important
issue,
is
that
women
religious
in
the

United
States
are
divided
into
three
distinct
types
of
groups
–
and
these
groupings,

from
a
sociological
standpoint,
are
contributing
to
the
inability
of
religious
sisters
to

adapt
to
modernity,
especially
in
the
wake
of
the
Vatican
Visitation.

In
essence,

these
groups
have
neglected
to
band
together
and
provide
a
united
front
against
the

powers
that
be.

I
mentioned
earlier
that
the
groups
are
divided
into
three
camps,

progressive,
conservative,
and
traditional.

There
are
also
two
other
distinct
groups
that
are
worth
mentioning,
although

they
operate
on
the
margins
of
religious
life.

The
groups
are
known
as

“noncanonical”
communities,
which
means
that
they
maintain
some
of
the
core

characteristics
of
religious
life
such
as
a
strong
commitment
to
community,
and

promises
of
poverty,
chastity
and
obedience.

While
these
groups
function
in
some

ways
as
religious
communities,
they
are
not
congregations
per
se
–
the
promises
the

members
make
are
not
recognized
by
the
Holy
See
as
a
religious
vocation.

This

73

means
that
the
members
are
not
bound
by
the
same
degree
of
lifelong
commitment

to
the
Church
that
women
in
religious
congregations
do.

For
example,
once
a

woman
religious
makes
her
final
vows,
she
is,
in
essence,
making
a
promise
to

commit
her
life
to
Christ
and
to
serve
the
Church.

This
is
treated
like
a
marriage

vow
and
can
only
be
broken
with
special
dispensation
from
the
Vatican.

Members

of
noncanonical
communities
are
not
held
to
this
same
standard.

Women’s
Religious
Communities

Figure
1.

Expressions
of
Religious
Life

Figure
1
reflects
the
nuances
in
the
data
concerning
the
expressions
of

religious
life
evident
in
the
United
States
as
described
by
most
women
religious
in

my
sample.
While
many
sisters
used
the
broadly
defined
categories
of
“traditional,”

“conservative,”
and
“progressive,”
to
identify
their
communities,
other
sisters
were

quick
to
point
out
that
while
their
congregations
maintained
overall
characteristics

of
these
larger
categories,
some
did
overlap.

The
overlapping
areas
of
the
diagram

depict
that
although
they
have
a
traditional
or
progressive
ideological
orientation,

some
may
overlap
in
one
direction
or
another.
Many
sisters
in
traditional

Progressive

Conservative
Traditional
Non
canoni
cal
Non-
canoni
cal

74

communities
objected
to
my
use
of
the
term
“progressive”
to
describe
sisters
and

communities
at
the
other
end
of
the
spectrum.

They
objected
to
this
terminology

because
it
suggests
that
“progressive”
sisters
are
moving
forward,
while

“traditional”
sisters
are
not.

It
is
important
to
note
that
members
of
noncanonical

orders
operate
outside
the
context
of
religious
congregations,
but
maintain
many
of

the
characteristics
associated
with
the
lifestyle.

Members
of
these
communities
are

connected
to
a
particular
orientation
in
much
of
the
same
way
that
regular

communities
are,
however,
based
on
my
research,
noncanonical
associations
are

fixed
to
both
ends
of
the
spectrum.

There
is
little
evidence
to
suggest
that
there
are

any
groups
that
are
linked
in
any
way
to
conservative
movements.

Many
sisters
in
this
study
discussed
the
importance
of
demonstrating
that

some
women,
although
members
of
a
particular
congregation,
may
hold
personal,

philosophical,
and
political
beliefs
that
significantly
differed
from
those
of
other

members
and
the
organization
as
a
whole.

For
instance,
I
spoke
with
a
sister
of
a

large
conservative
congregation
who
described
her
constant
struggle
to
conceal
her

liberal
opinions
because
they
directly
challenge
the
ethos
of
the
community
as
a

whole.

This
sister
wrestled
with
this
issue
when
she
was
elected
to
a
leadership

position
within
in
her
congregation.

She
noted
that
she
made
several
attempts
to

“gently”
make
some
changes
that
greatly
benefited
her
fellow
sisters.

Although
she
was
met
with
resistance
at
times,
she
proudly
concluded
in
her

own
words,
“
.
.
.
I
handled
my
tenure
as
a
[leader]
with
great
respect
for
the

competing
interests
of
my
sisters
.
.
.
I
was
careful
to
make
changes,
carefully,
and

slowly,
paying
great
attention
to
details.

That
way,
I
was
able
to
gain
the
respect
of

75

my
community
members.”
Although
this
woman
often
felt
like
she
existed
on
the

fringes
of
the
community,
she
did
believe
that
women
like
her
are
an
important

component
to
a
healthy
and
well-‐functioning
organization.

Another
sister
I
had
met
in
passing
for
a
work-‐related
project
many
years

ago,
donned
a
full
habit
despite
her
community’s
decision
to
stop
wearing
it
in
the

post-‐Vatican
era.

When
I
asked
a
couple
of
her
fellow
sisters
about
why
she
was
the

only
one
wearing
such
outstanding
garb
given
the
congregation’s
more
liberal

orientation,
Sr.
Leslie
said:

Well
Sr.
Mary
Michael’s
answer
to
that
question
is
‘when
the
Pope
makes
it

mandatory
that
we
all
have
to
remove
it,
then
that’s
when
I’ll
do
it.

Until

then,
I’m
choosing
to
stay
like
this.’

Sr.
Mary
Michael
is
a
wonderful
person
–

she
has
a
beautiful
soul
and
a
feisty
spirit
and
she
is
one
of
the
few
who
won’t

move
along
with
us.

And
that’s
fine.

There
is
room
for
everyone
in
our

community
and
we
embrace
and
celebrate
all
ways
of
being
in
religious
life.

During
each
of
the
interviews,
I
asked
each
sister
if
the
categorization
of

three
main
communities
provided
an
accurate
depiction
of
the
spectrum
of
religious

life,
almost
all
sisters
(although
there
were
some
notable
exceptions)
agreed
that

this
scheme
is
useful
for
describing
the
current
state
of
various
congregations.

During
one
of
my
interviews
with
a
progressive
sister
living
in
New
Jersey,
(which

took
place
at
a
convent
in
a
lovely
courtyard
filled
with
brightly
colored
flowers
and

perennials)
I
asked
her
the
question:
“How
would
you
describe
the
various

expressions
of
religious
life
to
someone
who
doesn’t
know
anything
about
this
type

of
thing?”

She
replied
very
poignantly,
“You
know,
it
seems
very
simple
on
the

surface,
but
it’s
a
tad
more
complicated
than
most
people
realize.

For
starters,
all
–

what
you
call
‘progressive’
sisters
–
well
we
started
out
as
‘Traditionalists.’
”

I
was

76

confused
of
course,
and
asked
for
further
clarification.

She
sighed
deeply
and

pushed
her
goldrimmed
glasses
up
the
bridge
of
her
sharp
nose
and
tilted
her

striking
silver-‐haired
head
to
the
side
and
responded:

Well
it’s
just
that
all
of
us
ladies
have
already
lived
that
life
and
didn’t
really

like
it,
so
we
opted
to
change
–
to
modernize
–
and
to
adjust
to
the
way
the

world
was
changing.

We
wore
those
uncomfortable,
awful
wool
habits
–

gosh
those
were
terrible.

We
lived
that
regimented
lifestyle,
giving
up

precious
time
with
our
families
and
pooling
all
of
our
gifts
so
that
we
could

be
better
at
living
in
community.

We
had
all
these
rules.

I
hated
being
told

when
to
eat,
how
much
to
eat,
when
to
sleep,
and
that
I
couldn’t
do
things
like

watch
television.

I
can’t
imagine
why
anyone
would
want
to
live
that
way

again.

I
know
I
was
ready
for
a
change.

And
I
have
been
so
happy
with
how

my
community
came
together
and
slowly
moved
out
that
type
of
existence.

This
sister
seems
to
suggest
that
the
term
progressive
is
an
accurate
description
of

her
type
of
community.

She
later
emphasized
the
fact
that
until
Vatican
II,
every

community
and
everyone
religious
sister
was
really
the
same.

When
I
asked
a
traditional
sister,
who
was
a
middle-‐aged
woman
in
her
40s,

how
she
would
describe
her
community
to
someone
without
any
knowledge
of

religious
life
she
answered
the
question
this
way:

Religious
life
is
a
beautiful
and
true
manifestation
of
God
in
the
world.

Getting
to
your
question
–
someone
without
any,
or
very
little,
knowledge
of

religious
life
–
would
immediately
know
less
if
they
were
to
meet
or
to

encounter
a
sister
who
doesn’t
wear
a
habit.

That’s
the
first
thing.

The
habit

is
what
speaks
to
the
world
–
it
bears
witness
to
the
special
calling
that

sisters
have
to
the
world.

I
would
explain
that
concept
–
the
fact
that
when
I

put
on
my
habit
every
day,
which
I
do
in
a
particular
order,
that
this
special

clothing
has
significance
and
is
a
sign
of
my
unwavering
commitment
to

serving
God
and
his
people.

When
I
asked
this
woman
if
there
was
more
to
the
story
than
just
the
wearing
of
the

habit,
she
did
agree
that
there
was
much
more
to
the
story.

She
had
this
to
say:

Oh
yes
–
of
course
there
is
more
to
it
than
just
the
habit,
but
I
think
it’s
really

sad
in
this
day
and
age
that
women
don’t
want
to
demonstrate
their

77

commitment
to
God.

I
mean,
what
are
they
hiding,
and
why
are
they
hiding

it?

Look,
the
way
I
see
it,
my
community
would
tell
someone
that
we
follow

the
direction
of
the
Holy
Father.

We
think
that
respecting
the
Pope
is

important.

I
mean,
why
do
so
many
sisters
have
to
publicly
criticize
him?

He

is
there
to
protect
us
and
shepherd
so
that
we
can
enter
the
Kingdom
of
God.

We
are
also
servants
of
the
Church
–
and
we
make
sure
that
all
of
the
work

that
needs
to
get
taken
care
of,
does.

And
our
vows
–
poverty,
chastity,

and
obedience
–
allow
us
to
live
out
our
call
to
religious
life.

The
last
thing

I
want
to
point
out
is
that
our
types
of
communities
take
seriously
our
lives

as
Catholics
and
we
want
to
live
out
that
life
in
the
best
way
that
we
know

how.

In
this
narrative,
the
sister
addresses
the
issue
of
adherence
to
the
Holy
Father.

At

the
time
I
was
conducting
this
research,
Benedict
the
XVI
was
still
in
office
and
had

not
retired
from
his
duties
as
acting
Pope.

One
of
the
defining
characteristics
of

traditional
communities
is
a
deep
and
profound
commitment
to
taking
the
Pope’s

teaching
very
seriously.

In
all
of
my
interviews
with
traditional
sisters,
there
was

always
mention
that
adherence
to
the
Pope’s
teachings
and
directives
is
a
critical

aspect
of
being
an
“good”
Catholic
or
“true”
member
of
a
religious
community.

On

the
other
hand,
many
progressive
sisters
openly
criticized
many
of
the
Pope’s

decisions
and
did
not
believe
they
were
in
the
wrong
for
doing
so.

When
I
met
with
a
handful
of
sisters
from
conservative
convents,
I
must

admit
that
this
particular
group
posed
a
bit
of
challenge
when
it
came
to

determining
a
concrete
set
of
defining
characteristics.

For
example,
I
visited
a
fairly

large
and
influential
congregation
of
sisters
in
the
Pacific
Northwest
and
the
order

had
a
legacy
in
terms
of
educating
Catholic
children.

This
congregation
ran
or

assisted
with
many
Catholic
schools
in
a
largely
middle
class
suburban
area,
located

not
too
far
from
a
relatively
large
city.

I
had
the
opportunity
to
spend
a
signficant

part
of
a
day
with
a
religious
sister
who
had
left
a
fairly
lucrative
career
in
business

78

in
order
to
purse
her
religious
calling.

This
woman,
who
entered
religious
life
in
her

late
40s,
had
on
a
modified
religious
habit
which
consisted
of
a
short
veil,
a
habit

that
hit
mid-‐calf,
beige
nylons,
and
a
pair
of
black
New
Balance
tennis
shoes.

She

had
clear
green
eyes,
a
somewhat
round
body
shape,
and
I
noticed
that
she
didn’t

seem
to
have
any
grey
hair
mixed
in
with
her
sandy
blond
locks.

While
this
sister
had
a
very
intimidating
demeanor,
I
kept
trying
to
imagine

her
wearing
a
suit
in
a
business
setting,
but
I
couldn’t
seem
to
do
it.

She
definitely

“looked
the
part”
of
a
nun
and
there
was
no
indication
that
she
had
a
former
life

before
entering
the
convent.

When
this
sister
tried
to
describe
her
conservative

community
to
me,
she
had
this
to
say:

Yes,
well
conservative
communites
are
just
as
the
name
states,
conservative.

We
essentially
think
some
groups
are
too
liberal
and
others
are
too
strict.

The
liberal
communities
are
always
out
protesting
and
telling
the
Church
and

its
people
what
they-‐we
need
to
work
on.

Instead
of
focusing
all
that
energy

on
vocalizing
your
anger,
doesn’t
it
just
make
more
sense
to
get
to
work?

I

mean
sometimes
I’m
irritated
with
the
fact
that
those
women,
who
call

themselves
sisters,
don’t
stop
for
a
moment
and
add
up
the
time
they’re
on

the
megaphone
–
and
think
how
much
more
productive
they
would
be
if
they

did
the
jobs
they
were
supposed
to.

You
know
what
I
mean?

I
can’t
believe

they
even
have
time
to
do
that
kind
of
stuff.

I
can’t
ever
steal
a
spare
moment

from
my
work
here
(motioning
to
the
children
playing
in
the
school
yard).

When
I
asked
this
sister
to
tell
me
about
her
thoughts
on
traditional
communities,
I

encountered
a
surprising
answer.

Since
this
sister
had
really
opened
up
to
me
about

her
thoughts
on
progressive,
or
“liberal”
sisters,
I
was
prepared
to
hear
something

equally
critical
about
those
that
are
member
of
traditional
communities.

She

responded
with
an
answer
that
was
far
more
postive
than
I
had
expected:

Well
those
traditional
communities
are
really
into
preserving
the
culture
of

religious
life
–
they
really
work
hard
to
keep
some
of
the
stuff
that
maybe
my

community
doesn’t
do
so
well,
kind
of
in
balance.

Our
community
strives
to

79

be
better
about
working
on
building
relationships
within
our
congregation,

but
you
know
it’s
hard.

So
many
of
us
are
running
back
and
forth
and
we
just

don’t
have
the
time
to
‘stick
to
the
schedule’
like
the
others
(the

traditionalists)
do.

We
really
strive
for
that,
though.

Overall,
I
was
left
with
impression
that
conservative
sisters
don’t
really
like
what

progressive
sisters
stand
for,
but
they
can’t
seem
to
maintain
the
kind
of
discipline

they
need
in
order
to
be
traditional.

After
the
formal
interview,
the
sister
invited
me

to
attend
mass
in
the
chapel
with
the
rest
of
community.

During
our
short
walk

outside
of
the
school
and
into
the
relatively
large
convent
chapel,
this
sister

proceeded
to
tell
me
that
she
had
another
thought
about
life
as
a
conservative
sister,

which
I
found
very
compelling.
She
told
me
that
conservative
communities
allow
for

both
liberal
and
traditional
expressions
of
religious
life
to
flourish
side
by
side
and

without
conflict.

When
I
asked
her
what
she
meant
by
that,
we
rounded
the
corner

and
took
our
seats
in
one
of
the
back
pews
of
the
chapel.

“Look
around
you,”
she

said.

Confused,
I
quickly
scanned
the
room
and
tried
to
comprehend
what
she
was

asking
me
to
see.
After
a
moment,
I
responded
with,
“Ah,
I
see.”

From
the
back
of
the

chapel,
I
watched
as
a
massive
group
of
sisters
flooded
the
sanctuary,
all
of
them

were
sisters
and
some
wore
the
modified
habit,
while
others
were
dressed
in
plain

clothes.

The
sister
whispered
in
my
ear,
“our
community
allows
for
the
full

expression
of
religious
life
and
you
can
see
it
right
here.”

Fully
understanding
the
role
of
noncanonical
communites
with
respect
to

religious
life
proved
to
be
a
difficult
task
because,
according
to
my
research
(both

archival
and
primary),
it
was
difficult
to
determine
why
someone
would
choose
this

path
because
of
the
similarity
to
religious
life
itself.

According
to
the
two
interviews

80

I
had
with
members
of
noncanonical
communities,
these
are
lay
associations
of

women,
men,
or
women
and
men
who
make
promises
of
poverty,
chastity,
and

obedience,
but
who
do
not
pledge
the
vows
of
poverty,
chastity,
and
obedience
as

sisters
do.

Members
of
these
women’s
communities
emphatically
stress
that
they

are
not
“religious”
or
“sisters”
in
the
same
way
that
other
women
are
because
they

are
simply
making
promises
and
not
taking
vows.

From
their
perspective,
pledging

vows
indicates
a
higher
level
of
religious
commitment
to
oneself
and
to
the
Church.

While
I
was
out
talking
to
women
religious
across
the
country,
many
women

in
progressive
communities
lamented
the
impending
demise
of
women’s
religious

congregations
and
were
eager
to
discuss
alternative
forms
of
religious
life
–
their

form
being
a
viable
option.
Almost
every
sister
in
progressive
communities
believed

that
religious
life,
in
the
words
of
one
woman,
will
“
.
.
.
exist
but
not
in
the
way
it

does
at
present.

I
don’t
know
how
it
will
work,
I
don’t
know
how
it
will
function,

and
I
don’t
know
how.”
In
Figure
1,
I
demonstrate
that
noncanonical
communities

seem
to
relate
theologically
and
politically
to
either
the
progressive
or
traditional

congregations,
but
not
to
conservative
ones.

I
also
show
that
there
is
a
basic

structural
pattern
to
how
these
communities
are
organized.

An
interesting
theme
that
emerged
as
a
result
of
conversing
with
women

religious
is
that
religious
sisters
seem
to
accept
and
even
celebrate
the
different

expressions
Catholicism
in
the
form
of
the
progressive,
traditional,
conservative,

and
noncanonical
groups.

The
varying
degrees
in
terms
of
their
positions
on

matters
of
politics
and
theology
varied
greatly
and
it
is
no
surprise
that
the

fragmentation
has
perpetuated
the
notion
that
sisters
do
not
stand
united,
they

81

stand
divided.

Of
the
55
women
with
whom
I
spoke,
all
of
them
made
it
clear
to
me

that
they
had
provided
the
Vatican
with
the
information
officials
needed
in
order
to

collect
the
data
for
their
secret
report.

RESPONSE
TO
THE
VATICAN
VISITATION:

ACCEPTANCE,
RESISTANCE
AND
ANGER

On
the
whole,
progressive
sisters
expressed
a
general
resistance
and
anger

and/or
stressed
that
the
Visitation
should
more
appropriately
be
called
an

“investigation”
or
“inquisition.”

Most
of
these
women
fervently
stated
that
they

“have
nothing
to
hide,”
and
did
not
offer
any
more
information.
Additionally,
one

sister
even
talked
about
how
women
religious
may
act
as
consultants
to
other

communities
in
relation
to
how
to
answer
the
questions
on
the
Visitation
survey
and

in
the
event
that
they
had
to
deal
with
an
on-‐site
meeting
with
Mother
Mary
Clare

Millea,
the
head
of
the
Visitation.

Perhaps
it
is
not
surprising
that
while
progressive
sisters
were
frustrated
or

angry
at
the
process
of
the
Visitation,
traditional
sisters
often
uttered
the

importance
of
submitting
to
the
will
and
authority
of
both
the
Congregation
for

Religious
and
Pope
Benedict
XVI.

Many
traditionally-‐oriented
sisters
avoided

criticizing
the
Visitation
in
any
way.

For
the
two
women
whom
I
interviewed
in

canonical
communities
–
I
did
not
gather
specific
data
or
talk
to
enough
members
of

these
associations
to
discuss
how
they
felt
about
the
Visitation.

Since
these
lay

communities
exist
outside
the
scope
of
the
context
of
the
Visitation,
it
would
be

incredibly
difficult
to
assess
whether
or
not
they
were
directly
affected
by
the

results
of
this
study.

82

THE
DECLINE
OF
RELIGIOUS
LIFE

While
I
was
in
Maryland,
I
had
the
opportunity
to
shadow
a
group
of
sisters

at
a
Catholic
high
school.

These
traditional
sisters
encouraged
me
to
attend
a

weekly
meeting
they
host
with
a
consortium
of
sisters
from
other
congregations
in

the
area.

Sr.
Monica
confided
in
me
that
while
the
group
is
open
to
all
women

between
the
ages
of
18
and
35,
and
the
real
purpose
is
to
give
these
young
women

an
opportunity
to
see
if
any
vocations
surface.

Intrigued,
I
agreed
to
attend
the

session.

My
instructions
were
to
go
to
the
school’s
library
at
6
p.m.

This
old,
all-‐
girl’s
convent
school
was
located
in
a
suburban
area.
Before
the
evening
began,
the

evening’s
presenter
asked
us
to
move
to
the
school’s
chapel
where
we
were
going
to

pray.
I
made
the
trek
over
to
the
chapel
and
compliantly
took
a
seat
in
the
pew.
I’m

not
too
fond
of
formal
prayer,
so
I
decided
to
close
my
eyes
and
just
sit
with
my

thoughts
for
a
bit.

This
was
a
deadly
mistake
because
I
ended
up
fighting
the
urge
to

fall
asleep.

I
kept
nodding
off
slightly
and
then
after
what
seemed
significantly

longer
than
20
minutes,
the
presenter
asked
us
to
follow
her
back
down
the
stairs
to

the
library.

The
room
had
a
nice
buzz
to
it
and
the
young
women
and
sisters
were
milling

around,
chatting
and
laughing
at
various
religious
topics.

I
overheard
one
woman

complaining
about
how
difficult
it
is
to
set
up
simple
events
like
donuts
and
coffee

after
Sunday
morning
mass
at
her
church
social
hall.

Another
woman
squealed
with

excitement
about
an
upcoming
retreat
she
was
planning
to
attend
at
a
nearby

Catholic
center.

I
made
small
talk
with
some
of
the
women
–
most
were
intrigued

about
the
project
and
expressed
real
concern
about
the
future
of
religious
life
in
the

83

United
States.

One
woman
told
me
she
had
wonderful
relationship
with
their
sister-‐
teachers
in
elementary
school.

Another
woman
chimed
in
and
described
having
a

bad
experience
when
a
sister
humiliated
her
in
front
of
the
class
for
her
score
on
a

recent
math
test.

At
this
point
in
the
conversation,
a
young
traditional
sister
had

joined
our
conversation
and
took
it
upon
herself
to
apologize
for
all
the
sins
of
past

nuns.

She
told
us
that
it
was
the
old
way
of
doing
things
and
that
religious
orders

have
learned
a
lot
about
their
past
mistakes.

Just
when
she
was
going
to
say
more

about
sisters’
grievances,
the
presenter
announced
that
it
was
time
to
reconvene.

The
presenter
gave
a
pleasant
multi-‐media
presentation
about
the

importance
of
spirituality
in
our
lives
and
taking
the
time
to
pray
every
day.

A

traditional
sister
said,
“One
of
the
things
we
do
to
remind
ourselves
about
who
we

are
and
what
we
do
is
to
wear
the
habit.

The
symbol
of
our
habits
is
not
just
for
the

world
to
see,
but
serves
as
visible
sign
of
our
thirst
to
know
God
and
hunger
for

greater
spiritual
fulfillment.”

Many
of
the
sisters
expressed
that
religious
life
will
continue
but
has
to
be
re-‐
imagined
for
it
to
survive.

Part
of
the
problem
is
that,
according
one
sister,
the

Catholic
Church
sustained
an
“unnatural”
swell
in
population
as
during
and
after
the

Second
Vatican
Council.

Droves
of
women
joined
religious
communities,

representing
a
phase
of
tremendous
growth
and
change
in
the
Church.

One
of
the

larger
questions
I
was
never
really
able
to
answer
definitively
is:
“What
is
the
future

of
religious
life
in
the
United
States?”

Although
no
one
really
knows
what
is
going
to

happen
to
active
religious
sisters,
I
think
it’s
important
to
acknowledge
that
the

monastic
form
is
not
in
serious
jeopardy.
During
my
research,
many
of
the
women

84

with
whom
I
spoke
did
express
that
they
felt
a
significant
level
of
sadness
that

religious
life
in
the
United
States
isn’t
really
changing
much
overall.

While
some
of

the
more
traditional
orders
are
bursting
at
the
seams
with
new
recruits,
there
is

little
data
about
the
number
of
women
who
decide
to
leave
their
communities,

signaling
that
we
need
better
record
keeping.

RESISTING
DECLINE:

CLOISTERED
NUNS

Due
in
part
to
a
natural
curiosity
and
also
as
an
attempt
to
gain
some

perspective,
I
decided
it
would
be
helpful
to
talk
to
a
small
number
of
cloistered

nuns.

Since
these
sisters
are
removed
from
the
world
and
do
not
interact
much
with

society,
I
figured
that
I
didn’t
stand
a
chance
of
anyone
even
returning
my
phones.

To
my
surprise,
I
was
dead
wrong.

While
I
didn’t
get
immediate
responses
from

these
nuns,
they
did
eventually
call
me
back
and
expressed
interest
in
the
project.

In
my
excitement
with
landing
an
appointment
with
the
first
monastic
sister,
I
asked

if
she
would
like
to
have
coffee
or
dinner
together.

Sr.
Maria
chuckled
softly
over

the
phone
and
said,
“Oh
dear
Kara,
since
I’m
cloistered,
I
never
leave
the
convent”

(Phone
log
notes).
I
quickly
apologized
and
mentally
scolded
myself
for
sounding
so

ridiculous.

Since
Sr.
Maria’s
life
is
closed
off
from
the
rest
of
the
world,
she
spends

very
little
time
actually
interacting
with
people.

Her
schedule
included
rising
early

at
4:30
a.m.,
reciting
daily
prayers
(the
horarium),
doing
chores,
and
producing

goods
for
sale
(which
is
how
sisters
sustain
themselves
financially).

When
I
arrived
at
this
tightly-‐knit
community,
nestled
inconspicuously
in
the

landscape
of
a
relatively
metropolitan
area,
I
was
a
bit
nervous
but
I
was
greeted
by

a
short-‐statured
Asian
sister
who
invited
me
to
sit
down
in
the
lone
chair
inside

85

their
little
shop.

It
was
slightly
strange
to
be
seated
in
a
single
chair
next
to
a

random
door,
but
I
complied.

I
waited
for
about
five
minutes
while
the
sister
made

a
call
on
an
old,
single-‐line
phone.

She
nodded
along
while
she
was
talking
to
the

person,
hung
up
shortly
thereafter,
and
wandered
off.

The
sister
then
came
back

and
said,
“Sister
will
see
you
now.

Please
come
with
me.”

I
diligently
followed
her

around
a
corner
down
a
long
hallway
and
through
another
door
when
we
entered
a

long,
narrow
room
that
had
1960s’
style
wood
paneling,
austere
carpet,
and
semi-‐
private
areas
where
I
was
shocked
to
see
several
prison-‐like
grilles
with
two
chairs,

one
on
each
side
of
the
fence.

I
waited
for
a
couple
of
minutes
and
took
note
of
my
surroundings.

The
room

reminded
me
of
the
uber-‐musty
smell
that
I
used
to
endure
daily
while
attending
my

convent
high
school.

Privately,
I
was
desperately
wondering
how
I
could
keep
up
a

conversation
with
a
sister
behind
such
a
strange
device.

I
was
actually
starting
to

experience
a
weird,
ocular
dizziness.

Maybe
it
was
just
nerves,
I
thought.

When
the

sister
finally
arrived,
she
immediately
approached
the
grille
and
stuck
her
hand

underneath
it
to
give
me
a
modified
handshake.

She
welcomed
me
with
effusive

enthusiasm
and
invited
me
to
sit
down.
This
lovely
woman
was
slightly
portly
and

had
an
olive
tint
to
her
skin.

Since
her
skin
tone
was
a
bit
lighter
than
mine,
I

wondered
if
she
had
some
sort
of
Italian
lineage.

She
wore
a
modified
habit
with
a

black
dress
that
stopped
mid-‐calf,
a
long
black
veil,
nylons,
and
Velcro
orthopedic

shoes.

I
hate
to
admit
this,
but
she
bore
a
striking,
albeit
darker,
resemblance
to

Disney’s
“Fairy
Godmother.”

86

While
the
experience
of
being
in
a
cloistered
environment
caused
me
to
feel

totally
out
of
my
element,
I
did
learn
some
important
lessons
about
the
cloistered

form
of
religious
life
and
Sr.
Maria
helped
me
to
better
understand
the
role
of

monasteries
of
women
in
the
United
States.

One
theme
that
kept
coming
up
had
to

do
with
the
importance
of
the
cloister
as
a
means
for
“focusing
on
the
sins
of
the

world.”

Sr.
Maria
made
it
very
clear
to
me
that
these
women
devote
their
lives
to

the
practice
of
highly
disciplined
spiritual
exercises
that
emphasize
a
woman’s

oneness
with
God,
Jesus,
and
the
universe.

Sr.
Maria
had
this
to
say:

You
see,
Kara,
dear,
cloistered
nuns
are
in
the
full-‐time
business
of
prayer.

That’s

what
we
do.

That’s
almost
all
we
do.

With
the
exception
of
producing

our
[small
line
of
goods]
we
spend
all
of
our
time
praying
for
the
world.

It’s

a-‐a-‐er
very,
very
important
job
but
we
feel
entirely
fulfilled
doing
it.

The

world
is
a
distracting
place
and
we
love
the
clarity
and
quiet
that
comes
from

the
cloister.

Oh,
and
getting
back
to
praying
full-‐time
–
we
hold
a
vigil
in
a

chapel
24
hours
a
day,
seven
days
a
week.

Yes,
that’s
right
–
there
is
always

one
of
us
praying
thoughout
the
day
and
night.

I
must
admit
that
I
was
a
tad
overwhelmed
at
the
thought
of
maintaining
that
kind
of

discipline,
which
led
me
to
ask
her
if
that
ever
became
too
difficult
of
a
task
for

certain
sisters.

She
replied
by
saying:

Well,
yes,
of
course,
it
can
be
difficult
at
times,
but
it
is
much
easier
for
me

now
that
I’ve
been
in
the
cloister
for
the
past
50
years.

When
I
first
started

out
I
had
a
difficult
time
staying
focused.

But
I
don’t
need
as
much
sleep
as
I

did
when
I
was
young.

Every
so
often,
a
sister
nods
off
–
but
that’s
okay
–

God
is
forgiving!

It
is
an
amazing
sight
to
see
a
sister
totally
immersed
in
her

prayer
and
oneness
with
the
Lord.

Because
cloistered
nuns
are
neither
concerned
with
nor
interested
in
interacting

with
the
world
and
choose
to,
in
some
senses,
reject
it
in
favor
of
providing
focused,

collective
prayer,
this
type
of
religious
life
is
likely
to
withstand
the
test
of
time.

When
I
was
sitting
with
Sr.
Maria,
I
remember
comparing
Catholic
nuns
to
Buddhist

87

nuns.

While
there
are
many
Buddhist
nuns,
there
still
seems
to
be
a
strong
base
of

monasteries
in
the
United
States
and
it
doesn’t
appear
that
will
change.

In
essence,

since
monastic
life
is
so
small
in
terms
of
the
number
of
sisters
and

numbers
of

monasteries,
the
sisters
aren’t
really
affected
in
any
way
by
the
problems
facing

apostolic
sisters.

Additionally,
according
to
Sr.
Maria
and
the
other
monastic
nun

with
whom
I
spoke,
the
Vatican
wasn’t
concerned
with
women
whose
full
time

profession
was
prayer.

Rather,
Vatican
officials
were
more
interested
in
finding
out

what
was
happening
with
more
outspoken
sisters.

THE
REIMAGINATION
OF
RELIGIOUS
LIFE
AND
STRATEGIES
FOR
SURVIVAL:

PROGRESSIVE,
CONSERVATIVE,
AND
TRADITIONAL

On
the
whole,
the
sisters
welcomed
me
into
their
homes
and
into
their
lives,

albeit
it
for
a
short
period
of
time.

They
spent
time
telling
me
about
their
lives,

hopes,
fears,
and
dreams.

Most
of
these
women
had
unique
stories
to
tell,
but
there

were
two
distinct
strategies
that
these
sisters
used
to
negotiate
their
identities
as

individual
women
and
as
members
of
a
larger
organizational
structure.

Women
in

progressive
communities,
for
the
most
part,
discussed
the
notion
of
charism
as
a

significant
part
of
their
ability
to
totally
immerse
themselves
in
their
work,
ministry,

and
community.
Nearly
all
of
the
sisters
spoke
about
the
importance
Vatican
II
had

on
their
formation
and
development
as
women
religious.

In
terms
of
a
division

between
the
old
and
young,
the
younger
progressive
sisters
understood
the

importance
of
Vatican
II
and
how
the
documents
that
emerged
from
the
Council

gave
them
the
freedom
to
reevaluate
their
communities.

88

All
sisters
in
progressive
communities
talked
about
the
importance
of
living

out
their
collective
“charism.”

Most
sisters
explained
the
charism
as
the
guiding

“spirit”
or
“soul”
at
the
heart
of
their
congregations.

During
Vatican
II,
these
women

were
challenged
to
take
time
to
define
their
communities
and
figure
out
new
ways

to
live
out
their
call
to
religious
life.
Women
in
these
congregations
do
not

emphasize
a
strict
routine
practice
of
collective
rituals.
Sisters
in
traditional

communities
did
not
have
a
strong
sense
of
charism,
while
sisters
in
conservative

congregations
did
maintain
a
strong
sense
of
charism.

These
women
identify
more

closely
with
religious
rituals
such
as
prayer,
observance
of
the
horarium,
and
saying

the
rosary.
Women
in
these
congregations
draw
their
energy
and
charism
from
the

routine
practice
of
collective
rituals.

POST
DECLINE:

ALTERNATIVES
TO
RELIGIOUS
LIFE?

Many
sisters
noted
that
there
are
many
alternatives
to
religious
life
in
today’s

world.

They
often
noted
some
of
the
more
popular
Catholic-‐affiliated
or
Catholic-‐
sponsored
organizations
attract
young
college
grads
because
they
ask
for
only
a

year
or
two
service
to
a
nonprofit
agency,
school,
clinic,
or
other
direct
service

organization,
concluding
that
young
people
are
more
comfortable
with
making
that

kind
of
secular
commitment
in
lieu
of
deciding
to
commit
themselves
to
religious

life.

While
a
group
of
young,
traditional
sisters
and
I
were
chatting
one
afternoon
in

the
convent
kitchen
over
ice
cream,
I
asked
these
women
why
more
young
women

don’t
join
religious
life
like
they
did
in
the
past,
referring
to
Ebaugh’s
findings
that

there
is
a
lack
of
a
pipeline
for
new
recruits
and
thus,
sisters
have
sustained
a
“loss

of
status”
in
society,
and
alternatives
to
religious
life
(Ebaugh
1994b).

This
group
of

89

bright-‐eyed
young
women
(almost
in
unison)
proclaimed
that
our
society
was
too

focused
on
sexualizing
human
bodies,
achieving
“full”
liberation,
and
giving
in
to
the

immediate
wants
of
a
capitalistic,
disposable
society.

For
example,
Sr.
Mary
Thomas

had
this
to
say:

I
mean,
if
you-‐you
really
think
about
how
we’re
so
surrounded
by
images
of

nudity
and
sex.

It’s
really
all
around
us
–
we
can’t
escape
it.

Last
week
I
was

walking
down
[the
main
street
in
their
neighborhood]
to
catch
the
bus,
there

was
like
one
of
those
–
oh
you
know
–
what’s
it
called?
(other
sister
shouts

out:
‘billboards’)
Yeah,
that’s
right,
billboards.

There
was
one
plastered
all

over
the
side
of
bus
number
[23]
with
a
woman
sprawled
out
in
a
kind
of

seductive
or
yeah
–
erotic
pose.
I
think
she
was
promoting
some
kind
of

energy
drink,
but
I
can’t
remember
the
brand.

I
mean
stuff
like
that
happens

all
of
the
time.

I
can’t
even
remember
the
product
the
company
was
trying
to

sell!

Think
about
all
the
young
girls
that
see
stuff
like
that
on
a
regular
basis.

These
sorts
of
things
become
their
reality.

I
mean
why
would
you
give
up

everything
to
live
life
simply
as
a
sister
when
you
think
it’s
totally
normal
to

be
half-‐naked
on
a
bus?

When
talking
to
sisters
in
other
communities,
all
55
of
them
confirmed
that
an

oversexualized
culture
is
definitely
one
of
the
main
reasons
for
a
lack
of
vocations,

but
most
sisters
were
quick
to
point
out
that
the
real
reason
women
don’t
become

sisters
anymore
is
pervasively
tied
to
a
generalized
lack
of
commitment
in
young

people
today.

Sr.
Nora,
a
white
sister
in
her
late
60s,
had
this
to
say:

You
see,
young
people
today
just
don’t
–
they
really
don’t
have
the
same

sense
of
commitment
that
people
of
my
generation
did
or
do.

They
don’t

think
through
things
for
a
while
then
make
a
decision
on
it.

They
just
act
on

everything.

Take
my
niece
for
example,
she
is
always
hopping
from
job
to
job

and
never
seems
happy.

I
asked
her
just
recently
‘don’t
you
think
you
should

give
it
more
time
before
you
quit
and
move
on
to
the
next
thing?’

She
looked

at
me
said
‘Auntie
–
I’m
just
bored
all
the
time.

I
have
a
lot
of
interests
and

these
companies
make
me
do
this
ridiculous
stuff.

I
don’t
feel
like
they
are

making
the
most
of
my
talents.’
I
was
so
shocked
I
didn’t
even
know
what
to

say,
I
mean
you’ve
gotta
pay
your
dues,
you
know?

I
mean
when
I
was
just

starting
out
when
I
was
first
teaching,
I
had
a
million
responsibilities
that
I

hated.

But
I
did
them
without
complaining
because
you
just
have
to
start

90

somewhere.

And
young
people
nowadays
aren’t
willing
to
commit
and

accept
the
fact
that
you’ve
gotta
work
your
way
up.

Perhaps
as
a
response
to
this
generalized
lack
of
commitment
among
young
people,

many
religious
orders
and
organizations
have
had
great
successes
designing

volunteer
and
service
programs
that
are
geared
toward
college
students
and

graduates
with
short
term
service
projects
rooted
in
spirituality,
community,
and

social
justice.

Many
of
these
students
and
grads,
especially
at
Catholic
colleges
and

universities,
are
showing
their
devotion
by
joining
Catholic
volunteer
organizations.

Many
of
the
religiously
sponsored
groups
offer
short-‐term
service
projects
that
give

participants
the
chance
to
be
hands-‐on

and
do
some
great
direct
service
in
their

communities.

These
groups
also
provide
opportunities
for
their
members
to
form

friendships
and
experience
spiritual
bonding.

In
Catholic
circles,
the
Jesuit
Volunteer
Corps
(JVC)
began
in
1956
when

group
of
volunteers
got
together
to
service
Native
Americans
in
Alaska
(JVC
2011).

The
JVC
is
sponsored
by
the
Society
of
Jesus
(S.J.),
more
commonly
referred
to
as
the

Jesuits.
Since
then,
the
program
has
expanded
domestically
and
internationally,

placing
men
and
women
in
volunteer
positions
for
altruistic
purposes.

Volunteers

teach
in
underprivileged
schools,
work
in
clinics,
provide
hospice
care
to
AIDS

patients,
and
a
variety
of
other
diverse
projects.

Placements
usually
last
for
one

year
and
often
involve
living
in
a
community
with
other
faith-‐minded
peers,

managing
a
very
small
communal
budget,
and
attending
retreats.

The
unofficial

motto
for
Jesuit
Volunteers
is
“Ruined
for
Life,”
a
ironic,
yet
accurate
depiction
of

what
people
feel
after
they
have
completed
their
service.

This
motto
refers
to
how

91

the
JVC
really
challenges
their
volunteers
to
reevaluate
their
choices
in
life
to
live

more
simply—the
way
Jesus
did.
Sociologist
Nina
Eliasoph
(2011)
argues
that

today’s
civically
minded
volunteers
are
less
concerned
about
politics
and
more

interested
in
service.

For
example,
the
Dominican
Volunteer
Corps,
which
is
based

on
Chicago,
is
an
extensive
service
organization
sponsored
by
priests
and
sisters
of

the
Order
of
Preachers.

The
Dominicans
follow
the
spirit
of
St.
Dominic,
who
was

know
for
his
commitment
to
evangelization,
preaching
and
teaching.

The
Marynolls

are
also
known
for
their
service
abroad
and
have
several
programs
for
both
men

and
women
to
volunteer.

When
I
asked
interviewees
if
they
felt
sad
about
the
possibility
of
extinction

for
religious
communities,
many
sisters
responded
by
saying
that
they
were
a
little

disappointed
that
more
young
women
aren’t
joining
their
communities,
but
they

also
acknowledged
that
the
harsh
reality
of
convents
closing
their
doors
is

inevitable.

Sr.
Regina,
a
retired
social
worker
peered
over
her
bifocals
while
we

were
chatting
over
coffee
at
a
café
and
said
this:

You
know,
Kara,
we’ve
had
almost
thirty
years
of
preparing
for
this.

Sure,
we

thought
that
this
‘decline’
was
just
a
temporary
blip,
but
if
congregations

aren’t

getting
ready
for
the
inevitable,
then
they’re
living
in
a
fantasy
world.

I
mean
just
around
you
–
well
you
know
that
[the
sisters
at
your]
high
school

have
completely
overhauled
the
convent.

They’ve
had
to
turn
their

community
into
a
care
facility
for
elderly
and
infirm
sisters.

I
heard
the

‘young’
ones
–
and
by
‘young’
I
mean
in
their
60s
and
70s,
have
had
to

separate
and
are
living
at
various
residences
in
the
Valley.

My
community
is

experiencing
something
similar,
although
not
to
the
same
extent.

The
sisters

at
[your
school]
have
really
got
it
bad.

I
think
it’s
because
they’re
mostly

Irish
–
which
means
they’re
much
more
insular
than
we
are.

Our
order
has
a

greater
degree
of
diversity.

Oh,
I
guess
I
shouldn’t
say
that,
but
I
think
it’s

true.

Lord
have
mercy,
I
was
talking
to
[one
of
your
sisters]
and
she
admitted

that
they
haven’t
had
a
new
vocation
since
the
early
1980s.

We
all
really

need
to
get
with
it.

92

When
I
asked
Sr.
Regina
if
she
felt
sad
about
young
women
not
choosing
to
follow
in

her
footsteps,
whether
that
caused
her
any
pain
or
difficulty,
she
said:

It
is
difficult,
not
simply
because
we
are
dying
out,
but
because
the
cycle
is

ending.

We
don’t
have
that
young
energy
surrounding
us
anymore
–
there

isn’t
that
same
buzz
anymore.

And
to
tell
you
the
honest-‐to-‐God-‐cross-‐my-‐

heart
truth,
I
would
discourage
a
young
woman
from
entering
religious
life

nowadays.
I
mean
think
about
–
take
for
instance
our
community.

We
had
a

young
woman
–
she
was
in
her
late
twenties
I
think
who
started
the
process

and
suddenly
she
just
ran
for
the
hills.

Nobody
really
knew
why,
but
if
I’m

gonna
be
totally
honest
with
you
–
she
probably
left
because
she
saw
herself

and
realized
she
would
be
taking
care
of
the
rest
of
us!

I
don’t
blame
her
for

leaving,
I
really
don’t,
and
I
actually
think
it’s
selfish
of
us
not
to
talk

women
out
of
it.

The
notion
of
supporting
an
aging
population
of
sisters
does
seem
to
have
a
certain

amount
of
relevance.

Younger
women
interested
in
joining
these
communities
do

run
the
risk
of
having
to
carry
a
large
portion
of
the
responsibility
in
terms
of
caring

for
elderly
sisters.

When
I
visited
several
traditional
communities,
I
did
notice
that

there
were
larger
groups
of
much
younger
women
and
the
sense
of
identity
and

importance
of
interpersonal
relationships
seemed
much
stronger
than
in

progressive
and
conservative
congregations.

SOCIOLOGICAL
SIGNIFICANCE:

DOES
FEMINISM
INFORM
SISTERS’
IDENTITIES?

The
oversimplified
answer
to
this
question
is:
some
sisters
consider

themselves
feminists
and
some
do
not.

The
more
complicated
answer
is
that

traditional
sisters,
on
average,
were
critical
of
the
feminist
movement
because
they

found
it
to
be
it
too
extreme.

These
women
believe
in
the
overall
concept
of
social

equality
and
see
their
role
as
women
religious
–
despite
the
fact
they
are
not
able
to

be
priests
–
as
truly
equal
to
men’s
roles.

They
believe
in
the
“division
of
labor”
and

93

an
essentialized
feminine
role
of
women.

In
the
Church,
the
sisters
meet
the
needs

of
the
people
in
a
distinct
role.

When
asked
‘are
you
a
feminist?’
most
traditional

sisters
didn’t
align
themselves
with
any
level
of
feminism.

According
to
one

traditional
sister
living
on
the
East
Coast:

I
am
most
certainly
not
a
feminist.

I
am
staunchly
pro-‐life
and
I
don’t
believe

in
the
practice
of
mudering
fetuses.

It
goes
against
the
fibers
of
my
soul
–
I

mean
to
end
the
life
of
an
unborn
child?

What
a
terrible
tragedy.

I
don’t

understand
this
business
about
‘choice.’

It’s
a
child
–
and
it
hasn’t
been
given

the
opportunity
to
live.

God
has
ordained
the
natural
order
of
procreation

and
I
don’t
like
that
the
feminists
have
ruined
this
–
so
no,
I
am
not
a
feminist

and
I
am
proud
to
say
that
I
am
not.

In
contrast,
within
progressive
communities,
some
sisters
proudly
proclaimed
their

feminist
ideological
stances,
but
always
made
a
point
to
tell
me
that
they
were

staunchly
pro-‐life.

One
of
the
factors
that
unites
many
women
religious
is
their

views
about
sacredness
of
human
life.

They
often
used
the
infamous
caveat,
“I’m
a

feminist
but
.
.
.
”
to
explain
that
while
they
had
many
feminist
leanings,
they
don’t

necessarily
agree
with
all
the
tenets
of
feminism.

For
example,
Sr.
Simone,
a
very

tall
and
imposing
white
woman
with
brown
eyes
and
sandy
brown
hair
had
this
to

say:

I
really
think
a
lot
of
–
or
a
big
part
of
the
feminist
ideological
standpoint
-‐-‐
is

that
a
woman’s
right
to
choose
dominates
what
it
means
to
be
a
feminist.

I

would
have
to
say
that
I
agree
with
almost
everything
the
movement
stands

for
–
even
–
and
I
know
I
probably
shouldn’t
discuss
this
–
but
I
don’t
have
a

problem
with
birth
control.

I
mean
that’s
definitely
one
effective
way
of

controlling
one’s
body.

But
I
don’t
agree
with
abortion.

But
I
can
understand

why
women
would
feel
the
need
to
get
one.

I
mean
we
–
do
a
–
we
don’t
do
a

good
job
of
valuing
human
life.

A
by
valuing
human
life
I
mean
we
don’t

provide
enough
services
for
women
after
they
give
birth.

We
don’t
do

enough
to
scold
absent
fathers
who
don’t
step
up
to
the
plate.

So
I

understand
why
women
seek
out
abortions.

But
I
still
think
we
should

change
the
way
we
view
childrearing
in
this
country.

94

Other
women
included
in
my
research
study
were
critical
of
the
feminist

movement
and
struggled
to
reconcile
the
campaign
for
women’s
rights,
which
they

saw
as
contributing
important
social,
political,
and
economic
gains,
but
also
was
a

problematic
“definition”
that
clashed
with
religious
life.

Many
sisters
expressed
to

me
that
they
don’t
fit
into
the
modern
definition
of
being
a
woman
religious.

I
asked

Sr.
Elaine,
a
retired
hospital
administrator,
and
member
of
a
progressive
community

who
explained
why
she
thinks
many
sisters
don’t
consider
themselves
feminists:

Well,
the
feminist
movement,
well
you
know,
there
isn’t
really
a
place
for

us
in
it.

I
mean,
[sisters]
really
go
about
things
differently.

For
one,
we’re

just
not
as
angry.

Most
of
us
don’t
take
to
the
streets
when
we
disagree
with

something.

We
pray
about
issues
–
think
about
–
talk
about
them
in
our

communities
and
figure
out
how
we
should
handle
things.

Second,
almost

every
sister
I
know
is
pro-‐life.

And
most
feminists
believe
that
you
have
to

be
pro-‐choice
to
be
part
of
the
cause.

I
mean
ideologically
I
agree
with

certain
tenets
of
feminism
–
things
like
equal
pay
for
equal
work,
equal
rights

in
society,
doing
things
yourself
and
not
needing
to
rely
on
a
man
for

financial
support.

Things
like
that.

At
first
glance,
a
women’s
religious
community
appear
to
have
of
the
goals
that
are

antithetical
to
feminism:
all
adherents
report
to
the
Pope
and
his
hierarchy
of
male

clerics,
and
the
faithful
rely
on
the
elevated
social
and
theological
status
of
men
to

perform
the
ritual
of
transubstantiation.

Lay
Catholics
and
the
general
public
often
believe
in
the
assumption
that

sisters
who
support
the
ordination
of
women
to
the
priesthood
are
really
just

interested
in
being
priests
themselves.

More
importantly,
many
people
often

believe
that
there
is
a
connection
between
a
sister’s
support
of
the
ordination
of

women
and
having
a
radical
feminist
viewpoint.

Such
was
not
the
case.

Of
the
55

women
with
whom
I
spoke,
only
one
progressive
sister
actually
voiced
an
interest
in

95

being
considered
for
the
role.

The
remaining
54
sisters
had
no
interest
whatsoever

in
pastoring
a
church
or
serving
in
the
capacity
of
a
priest.

While
women
have
made
small
gains
over
the
years,
any
talk
of
the

ordination
of
women
is
suppressed
by
the
Church,
and
women
are
not
allowed
to

enter
the
lower
level
of
ordination,
the
diaconate.
Yet,
if
a
woman
is
married
to
man

who
serves
or
is
studying
to
be
a
deacon,
she
is
expected
to
stand
by
his
side
and

train
alongside
him
despite
not
having
full
privileges.

The
church
is
now
calling

these
folks
“deacon
couples”
and
women
married
to
candidates
for
the
diaconate
go

through
a
five-‐year
formation
process
of
learning
the
tenets
of
the
faith,
how
to

preach
the
Gospel,
administer
the
sacraments,
and
provide
pastoral
care
to

parishioners.

According
to
the
Archdiocese
of
Los
Angeles’s
Deaconite
Formation

Office
(2011):

[Aspirants]
17

meet
with
designated
deacons
(deacon
couples)
who
are

instrumental
in
the
formation
process
by
serving
as
mentors
during
the

summer
and
at
various
times
throughout
the
year.

In
addition
to
mentors,

there
is
a
journey
deacon
couple
for
each
formation
group.

The
journey

couples
are
present
during
most
of
the
formation
sessions
and
assist
the

formation
coordinator
for
that
group
in
a
variety
of
ways.

All
of
the
conservative
sisters
in
my
study
said
they
did
not
consider
themselves

feminists.

However,
one
could
argue
that
the
structure
of
religious
life
and
the

women
who
participate
in
it—although
part
of
a
larger
patriarchal
body—is
a
form

of
hetero-‐patriarchal
resistance.

17

The
term
“aspirant”
is
the
title
given
to
a
man
in
his
first
year
of
study.

It
is
a
time
for
a
greater

development
of
one’s
spirituality
and
some
academic
study.

96

SOCIOLOGICAL
SIGNIFICANCE:

RACE
AND
IDENTITY

Although
it
is
difficult
to
make
conclusions
about
the
experiences
of
women

of
color
because
I
do
not
have
a
sample
size
that
is
large
enough,
I
do
think
it
is

important
to
address
the
issue
of
organizational
identity
in
terms
of
being
black
and

Catholic.

According
to
the
Pew
Forum
on
Religion
and
Public
Life
(2008),
most

African
American
Christians
identify
as
Protestant,
which
creates
a
gap
in
common

understanding
of
the
ritual
and
practice
of
black
Catholics.

During
the
process

research,
I
attended
mass
at
a
black
parish
in
a
neighborhood
not
too
far
from
USC

to
see
if
I
could
connect
with
some
African
American
sisters
either
in
Los
Angeles
or

elsewhere.

Unfortunately,
I
was
completely
out
of
luck
–
the
white
Irish
pastor
did

not
know
of
any
sisters
with
whom
I
could
speak.

Sitting
in
the
pew
at
the
Church

proved
to
be
somewhat
useful
because
I
had
the
opportunity
to
hear
a
woman
give

the
homily
in
lieu
of
the
pastor
(this
is
not
done
very
often
and
I
believe
requires

special
permission).

This
sister
spoke
fervently
and
energetically
about
her
experiences
as
a
black

Catholic.

She
argued
that
when
individuals
refer
to
the
“Black
Church,”
black

Catholics
believe
they
are
included
in
this
despite
their
uniquely
Catholic
identity.

What
struck
me
as
interesting
is
that
according
to
this
woman,
what
anchors
the

“Black
Church”
is
that
race
and
ethnicity
function
as
means
to
create
a
transcendent

ethos
where
people
are
united
by
their
ethnicity
and
not
their
religion.

Unfortunately,
due
to
the
fact
that
the
Catholic
Church
has
had
a
history
of
racial
and

ethnic
segregation,
few
scholars
have
addressed
the
issue
of
black
women
in
the

Catholic
Church.

97

As
previously
noted,
black
sisters
make
up
a
small
percentage
of
the
total

number
of
nuns
in
the
United
States.
While
searching
for
sources,
I
came
across
the

name
of
Sr.
Thea
Bowman
(1938-‐1900),
who
made
her
mark
in
the
1980s
and

1990s
by
challenging
the
white
Catholic
hierarchy
to
address
issues
of
racism
and

subordinate
status
of
blacks
and
other
racial
and
ethnic
minorities.

She
was
one
of

the
first
to
shed
her
habit
in
favor
of
wearing
a
traditional
African
dashiki
instead.

In

1989,
Sr.
Thea
gave
a
speech
to
the
U.S.
Conference
of
Black
Catholics
urging
them
to

devise
more
strategies
to
be
more
inclusive
of
black
Catholics.

She
served
the

Church
as
the
“consultant
for
intercultural
awareness”
and
traveled
across
America

preaching
about
the
importance
of
dialogue
and
communication.

In
2003,
the

Vatican
began
the
process
of
exploring
the
possibility
of
canonizing
her
as
a
saint.

While
meeting
a
sister
for
breakfast
to
talk
about
her
experiences
in
her

particular
religious
community,
I
had
an
interesting
experience
worth
sharing

because
it
is

indicative
of
the
influential
role
of
race
in
society.

Sr.
Amelia
had
asked

me
to
meet
her
at
the
convent
and
when
I
arrived,
we
decided
to
have
breakfast
at
a

restaurant
that
was
just
about
20
minutes
away.

I
was
not
surprised
to
see
that
she

was
wearing
a
veil
with
her
dark
suit,
but
I
was
surprised
by
the
amount
of
stares

she
received
while
we
were
together.
It’s
certainly
not
uncommon
for
people
to
let

their
gaze
linger
when
they
see
a
woman
religious
walk
by
in
a
modified
or
full

habit.

Since
we
had
chosen
a
busy
time
to
dine,
I
had
to
park
the
car
in
a
very

crowded
structure
and
we
were
forced
to
walk
a
couple
of
blocks
to
the
restaurant.

I
was
astounded!

People
were
staring
at
Sr.
Amelia
much
more
frequently
than
I

had
noticed
with
other
sisters
while
were
out
in
public.

What
was
more
telling
was

98

when
we
returned
to
the
parking
structure.

After
we
got
into
the
car,
I
drove
to
the

exit
where
a
man
with
a
muddled
Jamaican
accent
was
sitting
at
the
booth.

As
I
was

fumbling
around
in
my
briefcase
to
find
money,
the
man
peered
into
the
car,

noticing
Sr.
Amelia.
The
following
conversation
transpired:

Man:

You
a
sista?

Sr.
Amelia:
Yes,
I
am.

Man:

Really,
you
sure?

I
don’t
believe
it.

Sr.
Amelia:
Absolutely.

Man:

Wow.

I
ain’t
never
seen
no
black
sista
before!

Sr.
Amelia:
(Smiling
politely)
We’ll
there’s
certainly
a
first
time
for

everything.

Man:

Hey
since
you’re
a
sista,
will
you
pray
for
me
and
my
family?

Sr.
Amelia
I
most
certainly
will.

In
this
instance,
the
issues
of
race
and
religion
were
at
the
forefront
of
the
exchange

between
the
two
parties.

It
was
clear
that
the
middle-‐aged
Jamaican
man
had
never

had
an
encounter
with
a
Roman
Catholic
Sister
before
and
was
interested,
and

perhaps
even
enthusiastic
about
this
interaction.

I
asked
Sr.
Amelia
if
she
regularly

encountered
these
types
of
interactions
with
people
when
in
public
and
she

responded
that
she
did,
indeeed,
have
these
encounters
but
that
she
didn’t
really

mind
addressing
the
issue
of
race.

Sr.
Amelia
noted
that,
contrary
to
popular
belief,

most
of
these
encounters
are
positive
in
nature
and
serve
as
a
platform
for

educating
people
about
religious
life.

CONCLUSION

In
sum,
my
research
suggests
t`hat
religious
sisters
in
the
United
States
are

undergoing
a
significant
shift
or
transition
as
result
of
the
Apostolic
Visitiation
of

Women
Religious.

As
a
result
of
sisters’
identifying
as
members
of
progressive,

conservative,
and
traditional
communities,
the
fragmentation
has
caused
a
collective

99

disenfranchisement
in
terms
of
religious
sisters
as
a
whole.

The
divisions
within

religious
congregations
has
lead
to
a
increasing
levels
of
tensions
throughout
the

American
sisterhood.

Additionally,
sisters
are
in
the
process
of
negotiating
their

identities
during
this
process
of
decline
and
based
on
religious
orders’
respective

orientations,
how
they
feel
about
this
differs
greatly.

Finally,
the
sociological

significance
of
questions
of
feminism
and
race
and
ethnicity
seem
to
fuel
the

uneasiness
surrounding
religious
life.

100

CHAPTER
5.
Conclusion:
Summary
Remarks
and
Directions
for
Future

Research

“We
believe
God’s
call
is
written
in
the
signs
of
the
time.”

-‐-‐Leadership
Conference
of
Women
Religious

“Nothing
great
is
ever
achieved
without
much
enduring.”

-‐-‐St.
Catherine
of
Siena

What
I
find
particularly
interesting
is
the
irony
of
the
word
“Visitation.”

In
a

purely
Roman
Catholic
(and
also
larger
Christian)
sense,
the
“Visitation”
strikes
a

chord
among
the
faithful
because
the
term
is
usually
used
to
describe
Mary’s

journey
to
see
her
cousin
Elizabeth
after
the
Angel
Gabriel
had
appeared
to
the

Virgin
Mary
to
announce
that
she
was
to
give
birth
to
the
Son
of
God.

Mary

purportedly
traveled
many,
many
miles
to
be
with
her
cousin
Elizabeth
who
had

struggled
to
conceive
a
child,
but
had
been
blessed
with
a
pregnancy
and
was
to

deliver
John
the
Baptist.

Mary
and
Elizabeth
rejoiced
together
and
proclaimed
the

miracle
and
wonder
of
these
significant
events
while
together.
In
Roman

Catholicism,
the
Visitation
plays
an
important
role
in
devotional
life,
liturgy,
and

worship.

For
example,
when
Catholics
pray
the
rosary
–
it
begins
with
the
following

words,
which
appear
in
the
1
st

chapter
of
Luke.

The
Feast
of
the
Visitation
of
the

Blessed
Virgin
Mary
is
part
of
the
Church’s
liturgical
calendar
and
is
widely

celebrated
every
year
on
May
31st.

When
praying
the
rosary,
Catholics
recall
and
meditate
on
one
set
of
four

sacred
“mysteries.”

These
mysteries
are
believed
to
be
real
events
Jesus

experienced
and
are
divided
up
into
Joyful,
Sorrowful,
Glorious,
and
Luminous.

In

101

each
of
these
categorical
mysteries,
there
are
five
events
within
each
group.

The

Visitation
of
Mary
to
Elizabeth
is
part
of
the
Joyful
Mysteries.

The
Visitation
of
Mary

to
Elizabeth
has
scriptural
origins
in
the
Gospel
of
Luke.
Luke
1:36-‐44,
56
(New

American
Bible),

after
the
Angel
Gabriel
announced
that
Mary
was
to
bear
the
Son

of
God
in
Luke,
says:

And
behold,
Elizabeth,
your
relative,
has
also
conceived
a
son
in
her
old
age,

and
this
is
the
sixth
month
for
her
who
was
called
barren;
for
nothing
will
be

impossible
for
God."

Mary
said,
"Behold,
I
am
the
handmaid
of
the
Lord.
May

it
be
done
to
me
according
to
your
word."
Then
the
angel
departed
from
her.

During
those
days
Mary
set
out
and
traveled
to
the
hill
country
in
haste
to
a

town
of
Judah,
where
she
entered
the
house
of
Zechariah
and
greeted

Elizabeth.
When
Elizabeth
heard
Mary's
greeting,
the
infant
leaped
in
her

womb,
and
Elizabeth,
filled
with
the
holy
Spirit
[sic],
cried
out
in
a
loud
voice

and
said,
"Most
blessed
are
you
among
women,
and
blessed
is
the
fruit
of
your

womb.

And
how
does
this
happen
to
me,
that
the
mother
of
my
Lord
should

come
to
me?

.
.
.
Mary
remained
with
[Elizabeth]
about
three
months
and

then
returned
to
her
home.

The
recent
Vatican
outcry
against
women
religious
has
put
an
interesting

twist
on
how
this
research
is
interpreted.

When
I
began
the
process
of
collecting

data
for
this
project,
I
was
convinced
that
I
would
never
read
the
results
of
the

Visitation
–
that
for
some
reason
–
the
Vatican
was
simply
going
to
keep
tabs
on

religious
sisters
as
a
means
of
collecting
data
for
future
use.

I
figured
we
probably

wouldn’t
hear
anything
significant
about
this
report
for
years
to
come.

While
the

Vatican
did
not
release
the
findings
of
the
study,
reports
about
the
sisters
began
to

flood
the
news
during
the
month
of
April
in
2012.

In
this
dissertation,
I
have
presented
some
findings
that
will
help
begin

conversations
about
the
role
of
sisters
in
the
American
context.

While
the
future
of

religious
life
is
uncertain,
and
the
Vatican
Visitation
has
officially
ended,
the
impact

102

of
this
investigation
has
not
yet
disappeared.

In
fact,
Hervieu-‐Léger’s
theoretical

intervention
is
perhaps
more
obvious
now
that
it
is
evident
that
American
sisters

are
in
a
state
of
crisis.

More
importantly,
the
idea
that
religion
is
a
“chain
of
memory”
uniting
the

past,
present,
and
future
is
perhaps
more
salient
at
this
point.

I
mentioned
earlier

that
Vatican
II
served
as
the
first
moment
that
the
chain
had
been
broken.

While
the

disruption
of
the
“breaking
chain”
has
postively
impacted
the
Church
in
terms
of

making
more
social
concessions,
the
links
have
yet
to
be
restored.

Perhaps
the
links

will
never
be
restored?

The
narratives
of
the
women
who
shared
their
lived

experiences
with
me
suggests
that
this,
too,
remains
a
possibility.

THE
APOSTOLIC
VISITATION
OF
WOMEN
RELIGIOUS
AND
REGULATION
OF
THE

LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE
OF
WOMEN
RELIGIOUS

On
April
19,
2012,
the
National
Catholic
Reporter’s
Joshua
J.
McElwee
wrote

an
article
stating
that
the
Congregation
for
the
Doctrine
of
the
Faith
has
decided
to

appoint
Archbishop
Peter
Sartain
of
Seattle
as
it
“Archbishop
Delegate”
in
charge
of

the
Leadership
Conference
of
Women
Religious
(LCWR).

According
to
a
statement

by

Cardinal
William
Levada
(2012)
posted
by
the
United
States
Conference
of

Catholic
Bishops:

As
the
issues
evidenced
in
the
doctrinal
Assessment
involve
essential

questions
of
faith,
the
Holy
Father
has
given
the
Congregation
for
the

Doctrine
of
the
Faith
a
special
mandate
to
collaborate
with
the
LCWR
in
a

renewal
of
their
work
through
a
concentrated
reflection
on
the
doctrinal

foundations
of
that
work.
This
process
will
necessarily
involve

communication
and
coordination
with
the
United
States
Conference
of

Catholic
Bishops,
the
Congregation
for
Institutes
of
Consecrated
Life
and

Societies
of
Apostolic
Life,
and
the
Congregation
for
Bishops.

103

The
Congregation
for
the
Doctrine
of
the
Faith,
under
the
direction
of
Archbishop

William
Levada,
cited
that
a
need
for
a
“doctrinal
assessment”
of
the
LCWR.

The

Vatican
is
questioning
public
addresses
made
by
its
members,
a
departure
from

Catholic
sexual
teachings,
and
the
presence
of
feminist
principles,
which
are
thought

to
be
in
direct
contradiction
to
the
Church.

The
Apostolic
Visitation
of
Women
Religious
in
the
United
States
has
left
an

imprint
on
the
hearts
and
minds
of
sisters,
their
communities,
American
Catholics

and
those
they
serve.

These
women
have
sacrificed
their
entire
lives
in
service
to
all

of
humankind
and
it
is
no
doubt
that
this
investigation
has
affected
how
they

understand
their
roles
in
society.

Coupled
with
the
confusion
about
their
own

destinies
as
they
age
in
an
institution
that
this
is
currently
in
a
state
of
crisis,
these

sisters
are
largely
troubled
with
the
way
in
which
the
Vatican
has
interrupted
their

lives
as
their
“way
of
life”
is
struggling
to
survive.

As
I
mentioned
at
various
points

in
this
dissertation,
I
have
drawn
on
Hervieu-‐Léger’s
(2000)
notion
that
religion
as

it
operates
as
an
institution,
is
a
“chain
of
memory”
and
that
binds
together
the
past,

present,
and
future.

Although
this
chain
of
memory
vis-‐à-‐vis
religion
is
meant
to

give
the
faithful
hope
and
meaning,
the
Vatican
Visitation
has
disrupted
this
chain
in

such
a
way
that
American
Catholics
and
members
of
sister
Christian
religious

organization
are
fraught
with
renegotiating
their
identities
as
members
of
such
a

group.

After
Mother
Mary
Clare
Millea
submitted
the
final
write-‐up
to
Rome
to

report
the
data
that
she
and
her
committee
had
uncovered,
I
followed
the
news
very

closely
and
noted
that,
indeed,
none
of
the
details
from
the
report
had
been
released

104

per
the
Vatican’s
directive.

However,
on
April
19,
2012,
I
was
stunned
when
I
read

McElwee’s
article
in
the
National
Catholic
Reporter
that
the
Congregation
for
the

Doctrine
of
the
Faith
has
“
.
.
.
ordered
the
largest
leadership
organization
for
U.S.

women
religious
to
reform
its
statutes,
programs,
and
affiliations
to
conform
more

closely
to
‘the
teachings
and
discipline
of
the
Church.’”

Additionally,
The
Reverend

Peter
Sartain,
Archbishop
of
the
Roman
Catholic
Archdiocese
of
Seattle
currently
in

control
of
the
LCWR
was
named
to
oversee
the
LCWR
renewal,
and
he
will
be

assisted
by
Bishop
Thomas
Paprocki
of
Springfield,
Illinois,
and
Bishop
Leonard

Blair
of
Toledo,
Ohio
(Carey
2012).
18

Moreover,

according
to
McElwee
(2012),
the

Congregation
for
the
Doctrine
of
the
Faith
has
also
mandated
he
has
control
over
the

following
areas
of
the
LCWR:

• Revising
LCWR
statutes

• Reviewing
plans
and
progams

• Creating
new
programs
for
the
organization

• Reviewing
and
offering
guidance
on
the
application
of
liturgical
texts

• Reviewing
LCWR’s
affiliations
with
other
organizations,
citing

specifically
NETWORK
and
the
Resource
Center
for
Religious

Institutes

The
summary
of
these
mandates
on
a
very
basic
level,
is
that
the
Leadership

Conference
of
Women
Religious
is
the
primary
organization
responsible
for

representing
nearly
80
percent
of
religious
sisters
in
the
United
States.

According
to

most
of
my
interviewees,
the
LCWR
is
a
fairly
progressive
organization
which
works

to
call
attention
to
issues
related
to
religious
sisters,
highlighting
the
need
for

change
in
the
Catholic
church,
and
provides
a
forum
for
women
religious
to
network

18

National
Catholic
Reporter,
Ann
Carey
July
29
th
,
2012

ONLINE

105

and
stay
focused
on
causes
related
to
social
justice.

The
sisters
are
not
taking
this

news
lying
down.

In
fact,
the
sisters
have
launched
the
Nuns
on
the
Bus
campaign,

which
is
devoted
to
the
tenets
of
promoting
social
justice
in
the
United
States.
19

Although
it
is
difficult
to
determine
their
exact
origins,
the
campaign
is
designed,
in

part,
as
a
reactionary
measure
to
combat
the
Vatican’s
criticism
that
American

sisters
are
spending
too
much
time
on
social
justice
efforts.

A
recent
news
report

suggested
that
Pope
Francis
has
joined
the
critics
and
has
endorsed
the
efforts
set

forth
by
the
previous
Vatican
administration
to
maintain
control
over
the
LCWR.

Leadership
Conference
versus
the
Council
of
Major
Superiors
of
Women?

According
to
the
Leadership
Conference
of
Women
Religious,
the

organization
represents
more
than
80
percent
of
women
religious
in
the
United

States.

The
Leadership
Conference
of
Women
Religious
evolved
out
of
the

Conference
of
Major
Superiors
of
Women,
adopting
its
current
name
in
1971.

The

name
change
yielded
a
split
among
the
conference,
with
a
protestors
citing
that
the

name
change
deviated
too
much
from
the
spirit
of
the
organization
and
proved
to
be

against
church
teaching.

The
LCWR
currently
serves
as
the
dominant
voice
of

women
religious
in
the
United
States
and
provides
members
with
advocacy,
the

allocation
of
funds,
scholarship,
and
other
resources
for
American
sisters.

This

organization
is
considered
to
be
very
progressive,
with
the
majority
of
their
work

focused
on
encouraging
sisters
to
be
active
on
the
front
lines
of
social
justice.

19

For
more
information
on
the
social
justice
efforts
of
the
Nuns
on
the
Bus
campaign,
see:

http://www.networklobby.org/bus.

106

Conversely,
the
Council
(not
to
be
confused
with
Conference)
of
Major

Superiors
of
Women
(CMSW),
is
a
newer
representative
body
that
is
credited
for

advocating
for
and
organizing
leadership
activities
and
forums,
and
is
also
active

regarding
issues
related
to
religious
life
in
the
United
States.

The
CMSW,
founded
in

1992,
most
likely
accounts
for
the
remaining
20
percent
of
women
religious
not

involved
with
the
LCWR.

Not
coincidentally,
CMSW
was
organized
during
Pope
John

Paul
II’s
reign
at
the
height
of
his
“Call
for
Evangelization.”
In
response
to
this,
the

CMSW
published
a
book
titled
The
Foundations
of
Religious
Life:
Revisiting
the
Vision,

which
is
a
reassessment
of
the
interpretation
of
life
in
the
sisterhood.

The
issues

presented
in
this
text
suggest
that
religious
life
is
currently
in
a
state
of
crisis
and

the
solution
to
these
problems
is
to
return
to
the
original
roots
of
this
way
of
life.

This
organization
is
known
for
representing
the
views
of
a
growing
body
of

conservative
and
traditional
sisters.

The
preeminent
difference
between
these
bodies
–
apart
from
size
–
is
the

political
and
theological
orientation
of
members.

For
example,
I
would
not
be
out
of

line
by
making
the
point
that
the
LCWR
represents
a
more
progressive
standpoint

on
church
and
social
issues.
The
LCWR
has
been
in
existence
since
the
late
1950s

and
emerged
as
a
result
of
a
direct
request
from
the
Congregation
for
Religious

(LCWR
2011).

Some
sisters
insisted
that
no
tension
exists
between
the
LCWR
and
the

CMSW,
but
I
surmise
that
this
isn’t
necessary
the
case.

Some
conservative

congregations
belong
to
both
organizations.

However,
none
of
the
members
of
the

LCWR
with
whom
I
spoke
belonged
to
the
CMSW.

In
fact,
some
sisters
talked
to
me

107

off
the
record
at
length
about
the
CMSW,
citing
that
organization
as
directly

responsible
for
fueling
the
Vatican
with
more
ammunition
to
attack
sisters
on

several
levels.

REIMAGINING
RELIGIOUS
LIFE

In
this
dissertation,
I
have
discussed
the
importance
of
identity
in
sisters’

lives.

It
is
important
to
note
that
the
sisters
themselves
did
not
convey
that
their

lives
are
in
a
state
of
crisis.

There
is,
however,
a
distinction
between
the
ways
that

sisters
in
traditional
and
progressive
religious
orders
see
their
roles
in
society.

The

progressive
sisters
almost
always
talked
about
“reimagining”
religious
life
so
that
it

takes
on
a
new
form.

In
this
example,
it
is
useful
to
turn
to
other
forms
of

Christianity
where
the
umbrella
title
of
religious
life
exists.

For
example,
Apostolic

form
of
religious
life
is
unique
to
Roman
Catholicism.

Monastic
life,
to
which
it
is

commonly
referred,
exists
in
other
branches
of
Christianity.

The
existence
of
these

monastic
forms
serve
as
evidence
that
this
form
of
religious
life
will
likely
remain

throughout
the
centuries.

But
most
progressive
sisters
were
content
to
discuss
that

the
Apostolic
form
is
on
its
way
to
its
grave.
DIRECTIONS
FOR
FUTURE
RESEARCH:
CATHOLIC
SCHOOLS
IN
CRISIS

While
I
have
presented
some
interesting
findings
about
the
role
of
women

religious,
more
scholarship
on
women
religious
is
necessary
to
understand
the

shifting
patterns
of
organizational
behavior
and
movement.

For
example,
as
the

median
age
of
women
religious
continues
to
rise
and
the
number
of
women
to

replace
them
continues
to
shrink
drastically,
the
Catholic
Church
needs
to
address

108

how
this
loss
of
labor
will
become
detrimental
to
missionary
efforts,
keeping

education
affordable
for
Catholic
children,
etc.

As
I
noted
earlier,
the
entire
Catholic
school
parochial
system
was
built
on

the
backs
of
religious
sisters.

As
a
result,
there
are
Catholic
schools
in
almost
every

part
of
the
United
States.

I
think
an
“impending”
crisis
is
brewing.

For
example,

because
sisters
did
not
draw
an
income
for
their
work
as
teachers
in
the
schools,

sister-‐principals
had
the
ability
to
keep
tuition
costs
low.

This
was
especially

important
in
poorer
areas
such
as
in
urban
centers.

As
sisters
began
disappearing

from
schools
in
the
late
1970s
and
throughout
1980s,
the
number
of
lay
women

who
entered
the
ranks
as
Catholic
school
teachers
increased.

Many
of
them
were

married
women,
whose
earned
income
was
simply
meant
as
a
secondary
to
their

husbands’.

Single
women
had
an
even
more
difficult
time
living
off
their
drastically

lower
salaries.

According
to
the
National
Association
of
Catholic
School
Teachers

(2012),
in
the
Archdiocese
of
Los
Angeles,
the
current
starting
salary
for
a
lay

teacher
is
$34,107
and
the
maximum
salary
is
$61,257
(with
a
master’s
degree
plus

thirty
units
as
well
as
California
State
Teaching
Credential).

In
contrast,
a
teacher

with
a
standard
credential
in
the
Los
Angeles
Unified
School
District
will
earn
a

minimum
salary
of
$45,
637
and
can
earn
up
to
$92,917
(Los
Angeles
Unified
School

District).

One
of
the
main
problems
that
I
have
seen
over
the
years
is
that
because

most
Catholic
schools
do
not
require
state
certification
many
teachers
take
positions

in
them,
get
their
certification
at
night,
and
then
leave
to
secure
a
high
paying
job
in

the
public
school
system.

Catholic
schools
have
become
a
veritable
training
ground

for
the
public
school
system.

109

While
on
the
surface,
it
does
not
appear
that
Catholic
schools
are
problematic

–
and
perhaps
–
unrelated
to
the
issues
faced
by
many
women’s
religious

congregations,
many
sisters
discussed
that
their
departure
from
this
institution
will

likely
bring
about
negative
consequences
for
children
especially
in
inner
city

environments.

With
sisters
not
present
in
many
Catholic
schools,
the
rising
cost
of

tuition
will
eventually
force
the
Church
to
either
close
a
significant
number
of

schools,
or
begin
to
charge
more
in
tuition
dollars
to
supplement
the
loss
of
support.

It
is
difficult
to
tell,
but
the
relationship
between
sisters
and
Catholic
schools
has
a

lot
of
historical
and
social
significance.

DIRECTIONS
FOR
FUTURE
RESEARCH:

SISTERS’
RESPONSE
TO
THE
U.S.

HEALTHCARE
DEBATE

Roman
Catholic
Sisters
in
the
United
States
have
forged
an
identity
for
their

extensive
work
in
the
healthcare
system.

And
caring
for
the
sick
and
injured
is
an

important
part
of
many
religious
congregations’
core
mission
and
charism.

During

the
time
I
completed
my
fieldwork,
I
found
it
surprising
that
sisters
were
being

more
outspoken
than
ever.

For
instance,
when
President
Obama
introduced
his

initiative
for
health
care
reform
a
few
years
ago,
sisters
rallied
in
support
of

securing
healthcare
for
all
people.
In
the
greater
metropolitan
area
of
Los
Angeles

alone,
several
prominent
religious
orders
founded
a
number
of

Southern

California’s
leading
hospitals.

In
Burbank,
the
Sisters
of
Providence
founded
Providence-‐St.
Joseph
Medical

Center,
the
Religious
Sisters
of
Charity
established
St.
Vincent
Hospital
and
currently

operate,
or
have
previously
managed
some
of
the
best
hospitals
in
Southern

110

California.

The
Sisters
of
Providence
established
the
Providence-‐St.
Joseph
Medical

Center
in
Burbank
in
1943,
the
Daughters
of
Charity
of
St.
Vincent
de
Paul
opened
St.

Vincent
Medical
Center
in
1856,
and
the
Sisters
of
Charity
of
Leavenworth

sponsored
the
building
of
St.
John’s
Medical
Center
in
Santa
Monica.

The
tradition
of

caring
for
the
sick
and
the
poor
is
part
of
the
history
and
mission
of
many
religious

orders
across
the
United
States.

Women’s
religious
orders
have
also
focused
their

attention
on
convalescent
and
elder
care.

In
Ventura
County,
the
Servants
of
Mary,

Ministers
to
the
Sick
have
owned
and
operated
Mary
Health
of
the
Sick
Skilled

Nursing
Facility
since
1964.

With
the
current
state
of
healthcare
in
flux,
it
will
be

interesting
to
see
how
sisters’
organize
themselves
around
justice-‐related
issues

such
as
healthcare.

CONCLUDING
REMARKS

In
this
dissertation,
I
have
attempted
to
shed
light
on
an
important
historical

moment
in
the
Catholic
Church,
the
Apostolic
Visitation
of
Women
Religious.

This

investigation
has
caused
many
sisters
across
the
United
States
a
great
deal
of
strife

in
the
sense
that
they
are
trying
to
find
meaning
and
relevance
amidst
all
of
the

chaos.

Despite
illusions
of
oneness
and
togetherness
of
their
respective

communities,
these
divisions
run
deep
and
are
a
determining
factor
in
terms
of
how

religious
congregations
will
adapt
and
find
meaning
in
relation
to
modernity.

111

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Asset Metadata

Creator Lemma, Kara (author)

Core Title The Vatican Visitation? Roman Catholic sisters and the adaptation of identity

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Sociology

Publication Date 08/06/2013

Defense Date 06/06/2013

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag American Catholic nuns,American Catholic sisters,Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious,Catholic nuns,Catholic sisters,OAI-PMH Harvest,Roman Catholic Church,Vatican Visitation,women religious

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Hays, Sharon R. (committee chair), Flory, Richard (committee member), Gustafson, Thomas (committee member)

Creator Email kara.petrone@gmail.com,lemma@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-319178

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Identifier etd-LemmaKara-1984.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-319178 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-LemmaKara-1984.pdf

Dmrecord 319178

Document Type Dissertation

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Rights Lemma, Kara

Type texts

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Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The author examines how Catholic Sisters negotiated their identities in the wake of the Vatican sponsored "Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious in the United States." Drawing from 55 qualitative interviews from women religious across the country, the author suggests that the impact of this investigation sheds light on other systemic factors that are contributing to a decline in membership, the fragmentation of religious communities, and the need for a re-imagination of religious life in the modern era.