Catholic Sisters: A Quick Intro
Sisters Maxine Kollasch and Julie Myers (center front) from A Nun's Life Ministry broadcast while visiting sisters in Cottonwood, Idaho
In the beginning, some in our group knew little about Catholic sisters. Others knew more, through relatives and friends. One had been a sister herself for several years. All of us have learned since then. And stereotypes don't fit at all. Catholic sisters are as diverse as all Catholic women, but they have a lot in common. This part of our website tells a bit about sisters and this way of life.
Quotes - A Few Basics - 5 Great Intros - More
Quotes
"'Why did you come here?' I asked a new applicant. 'Because this is the only group of women I have been able to find that cares about exactly what I do – community, the gospel of Jesus, and a commitment to peace and justice,' she said simply.” (Sister Joan Chittister in her weekly Ideas in Passing, 8/27/12)
"I want my life to proclaim that God is worth everything. I want to be available to respond when urgent needs arise. I want to love widely. I want to serve in places nobody else wants to go. I want to share life in common and build intentional community. I want to stand for justice. I want prayer to be the source of all I do. I want God's call to be the only claim on my life. I want to help make God's love visible. And I want to do all of this with my sisters who have made the same life commitment. There's something special about knowing that we are 'all in' together, that the sisters I walk with in formation now will very likely be by my side when we stand around the baptismal font at our own jubilees." (Sister Tracy Kemme)
Women religious have created among themselves a form of church that so many restless Catholics long for: small, supportive, non-hierarchical, intimate communities that are deeply rooted in tradition, devoted to sacramental life, and grounded in outreach to the poor and marginalized. If we look closely, we might find that they have created and continue to create a model of that church that many of us dream about." (Jamie L. Manson in “What LCWR teaches us about church leadership”)
Our vocations, our lives, begin and end in the desire for God. That Presence is our truest home. We wait for God to carve out a deeper knowing in us. Contemplation draws us toward fruitful action. It is the seedbed of a prophetic life. Through it, God shapes and strengthens us for what is needed now. (Sister Pat Farrell)
"We work so much on the margins, and we fall in love with the people we work with. And many of those people feel excluded from the church. So when we come back to the center, we raise those questions. That’s not defiance; it’s wanting the church to be all that it can be. It’s so that we can hopefully find a greater place so that those who on the margins might also feel at home in the church…. When you work with people who are very poor or who live under oppression, they don’t have a need to keep up appearances. Through their eyes, they often see what needs to be unmasked. And so we will continue to work with persons who are poor and try to look at our world through their eyes, because they inform us." (Sister Mary Hughes, National Press Club, August 16, 2012 – video)
"Our shared call to discipleship means that whether we like it or not, each of us is a living sign pointing to the reign of God. As a sister, my 'sign' takes the form of a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. These public vows, more than mere proclamations, are intended to shape an entire way of life that enables vowed religious to signal God's love to a wounded world." (Sister Christin Tomy)
"The Church that Jesus formed around himself is not an imitation of any secular model of community and therefore its leadership cannot and must not mimic the exercise of authority of secular power structures.... It is an active fostering of discernment about what is coming toward us from the future and how we can be prepared, like good stewards drawing on treasures both old and new (see Mt. 13:52), to meet those new challenges with the riches of the Gospel tradition but also with the best contemporary resources and communal reflection.... Religious life has generated, and is still developing, a form of Gospel leadership which is increasingly emerging into public view as a genuine alternative to ecclesiastical or secular leadership defined as dominative power." (Sister Sandra Schneiders)
"I want my life to proclaim that God is worth everything. I want to be available to respond when urgent needs arise. I want to love widely. I want to serve in places nobody else wants to go. I want to share life in common and build intentional community. I want to stand for justice. I want prayer to be the source of all I do. I want God's call to be the only claim on my life. I want to help make God's love visible. And I want to do all of this with my sisters who have made the same life commitment. There's something special about knowing that we are 'all in' together, that the sisters I walk with in formation now will very likely be by my side when we stand around the baptismal font at our own jubilees." (Sister Tracy Kemme)
Women religious have created among themselves a form of church that so many restless Catholics long for: small, supportive, non-hierarchical, intimate communities that are deeply rooted in tradition, devoted to sacramental life, and grounded in outreach to the poor and marginalized. If we look closely, we might find that they have created and continue to create a model of that church that many of us dream about." (Jamie L. Manson in “What LCWR teaches us about church leadership”)
Our vocations, our lives, begin and end in the desire for God. That Presence is our truest home. We wait for God to carve out a deeper knowing in us. Contemplation draws us toward fruitful action. It is the seedbed of a prophetic life. Through it, God shapes and strengthens us for what is needed now. (Sister Pat Farrell)
"We work so much on the margins, and we fall in love with the people we work with. And many of those people feel excluded from the church. So when we come back to the center, we raise those questions. That’s not defiance; it’s wanting the church to be all that it can be. It’s so that we can hopefully find a greater place so that those who on the margins might also feel at home in the church…. When you work with people who are very poor or who live under oppression, they don’t have a need to keep up appearances. Through their eyes, they often see what needs to be unmasked. And so we will continue to work with persons who are poor and try to look at our world through their eyes, because they inform us." (Sister Mary Hughes, National Press Club, August 16, 2012 – video)
"Our shared call to discipleship means that whether we like it or not, each of us is a living sign pointing to the reign of God. As a sister, my 'sign' takes the form of a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. These public vows, more than mere proclamations, are intended to shape an entire way of life that enables vowed religious to signal God's love to a wounded world." (Sister Christin Tomy)
"The Church that Jesus formed around himself is not an imitation of any secular model of community and therefore its leadership cannot and must not mimic the exercise of authority of secular power structures.... It is an active fostering of discernment about what is coming toward us from the future and how we can be prepared, like good stewards drawing on treasures both old and new (see Mt. 13:52), to meet those new challenges with the riches of the Gospel tradition but also with the best contemporary resources and communal reflection.... Religious life has generated, and is still developing, a form of Gospel leadership which is increasingly emerging into public view as a genuine alternative to ecclesiastical or secular leadership defined as dominative power." (Sister Sandra Schneiders)
What are “sisters” and “nuns”? Both sisters and nuns are women who make vows to live with poverty, celibacy, and obedience, either in a monastery centered in prayer, or in a community that expresses Jesus’ love in active ministries with people wherever they are. Each congregation or order is autonomous, with its own charism, ministries, budget, etc. Both sisters and nuns are also called “women religious,” and many people use all the terms as synonyms. If you want details, check out: What’s the difference between sisters and nuns?
What do sisters' vows mean? At a practical level, poverty often means that sisters "don't see their paychecks, which go into the common fund, and each person, each household, discerns and budgets what they need." In a deeper sense, poverty is about "being completely and freely available," "living simply and letting go of harmful choices," with intentional "detachment from material possessions and unreasonable adherence to personal opinions" and "ultimate dependence on God." Celibacy (chastity) means sisters will not dedicate their love to one person exclusively, which can lead to "a yes to a love without bounds, a broader sense of availability," and "a powerful relationship with God and the capacity to embrace mission with greater focus and intention." Obedience is "listening with leadership to the movement of the Spirit," focusing on "furthering the presence of God in the world regardless of the cost," rejecting "the unbounded individualism one might experience outside of a committed relationship" and saying "yes to channeling my prophetic power to "bear public witness to God and the Reign of God." These quotes are from very human reflections by Sister Carol Zinn, Sister Tracey Horan, and Sister Sue Paweski. For much more insight, read In Our Own Words: Religious Life in a Changing World, a book by 13 younger women religious, particularly the chapters on vows by Sister Juliet Mousseau and Sister Tracy Kemme.
Why do some sisters wear distinctive clothes ("habits") and some don't? "Vowed women religious [hope to] signal God's love to a wounded world. We don't always agree about how to live our 'signhood'.... To cite one example, some sisters feel strongly that wearing simple, modern clothing rather than religious habits brings them closer to the people of God. For them, religious garb bestows undue privilege or status, or even creates a barrier to relationship, which is contrary to the sign of compassion they wish to be in the world. Others feel just as strongly that wearing distinct religious garb is a way to witness without words. It creates an opportunity for encounter and conversation, and it reminds others that God is indeed present. There's no hiding in a habit; it holds them to a truthful standard. There are still others who find themselves somewhere in between, muddling through the complexity of culture, context and personal call. I count myself among their number. This business of being a sign is not easy! ...I believe that within the tension is a shared desire: the desire for authenticity. Externals matter little compared with matters of the heart. Signs are only as good as what's behind them." (Sister Christin Tomy)
What’s the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)? LCWR is an association of the leaders of congregations that represent 80% of US sisters. Through its officers, the board, regional representatives, and a small staff, LCWR provides resources and networks to help members to collaboratively carry out the mission of the Gospel in today’s world. Our group of lay people, Solidarity with Sisters, has been joyfully in companionship with LCWR since 2012.
A lively way to "meet" sisters: A Nun's Life website is a great place to explore, with its blog, podcasts, broadcasts, Q&As, Adventure Nun, LOL Outtakes, posts by younger and older sisters, etc. (Fun fact: the women religious who create this website are technically sisters rather than nuns.)
Very personal answers to personal questions about sisters: "The Life" at Global Sisters Report is a series of fun, fascinating, moving monthly interviews in which sisters from across the global north and south respond to questions about the unique, challenging and very specific lives of women religious.
A great one-stop news source: Global Sisters Report is an up-to-the-minute online newspaper. Find current news, stories, commentary, reflections, and more, by and about Catholic sisters. It’s a project of the National Catholic Reporter.
What do sisters' vows mean? At a practical level, poverty often means that sisters "don't see their paychecks, which go into the common fund, and each person, each household, discerns and budgets what they need." In a deeper sense, poverty is about "being completely and freely available," "living simply and letting go of harmful choices," with intentional "detachment from material possessions and unreasonable adherence to personal opinions" and "ultimate dependence on God." Celibacy (chastity) means sisters will not dedicate their love to one person exclusively, which can lead to "a yes to a love without bounds, a broader sense of availability," and "a powerful relationship with God and the capacity to embrace mission with greater focus and intention." Obedience is "listening with leadership to the movement of the Spirit," focusing on "furthering the presence of God in the world regardless of the cost," rejecting "the unbounded individualism one might experience outside of a committed relationship" and saying "yes to channeling my prophetic power to "bear public witness to God and the Reign of God." These quotes are from very human reflections by Sister Carol Zinn, Sister Tracey Horan, and Sister Sue Paweski. For much more insight, read In Our Own Words: Religious Life in a Changing World, a book by 13 younger women religious, particularly the chapters on vows by Sister Juliet Mousseau and Sister Tracy Kemme.
Why do some sisters wear distinctive clothes ("habits") and some don't? "Vowed women religious [hope to] signal God's love to a wounded world. We don't always agree about how to live our 'signhood'.... To cite one example, some sisters feel strongly that wearing simple, modern clothing rather than religious habits brings them closer to the people of God. For them, religious garb bestows undue privilege or status, or even creates a barrier to relationship, which is contrary to the sign of compassion they wish to be in the world. Others feel just as strongly that wearing distinct religious garb is a way to witness without words. It creates an opportunity for encounter and conversation, and it reminds others that God is indeed present. There's no hiding in a habit; it holds them to a truthful standard. There are still others who find themselves somewhere in between, muddling through the complexity of culture, context and personal call. I count myself among their number. This business of being a sign is not easy! ...I believe that within the tension is a shared desire: the desire for authenticity. Externals matter little compared with matters of the heart. Signs are only as good as what's behind them." (Sister Christin Tomy)
What’s the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)? LCWR is an association of the leaders of congregations that represent 80% of US sisters. Through its officers, the board, regional representatives, and a small staff, LCWR provides resources and networks to help members to collaboratively carry out the mission of the Gospel in today’s world. Our group of lay people, Solidarity with Sisters, has been joyfully in companionship with LCWR since 2012.
A lively way to "meet" sisters: A Nun's Life website is a great place to explore, with its blog, podcasts, broadcasts, Q&As, Adventure Nun, LOL Outtakes, posts by younger and older sisters, etc. (Fun fact: the women religious who create this website are technically sisters rather than nuns.)
Very personal answers to personal questions about sisters: "The Life" at Global Sisters Report is a series of fun, fascinating, moving monthly interviews in which sisters from across the global north and south respond to questions about the unique, challenging and very specific lives of women religious.
A great one-stop news source: Global Sisters Report is an up-to-the-minute online newspaper. Find current news, stories, commentary, reflections, and more, by and about Catholic sisters. It’s a project of the National Catholic Reporter.
(Much more in Looking Back, Looking Ahead, and Videos, Etc.)
There are many books about sisters. The first four below are personal favorites – (1) very readable, (2) vivid glimpses of sisters as real people, (3) important stories, vision, and history, and… (4) the first, in particular, has helped to change our lives. In them you meet Catholic sisters constantly working together to understand God’s call to them. The sisters’ questions are much like our own as lay people, and their choices open paths and new horizons for us, too.
However Long the Night: Making Meaning in a Time of Crisis: A Spiritual Journey of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders (2018) – This book will help you change the world and yourself as you read the very personal learnings of 11 sister-leaders during difficult times. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is a large, complex, national organization. From 2009 to 2015, it was in the international spotlight because the Vatican claimed it was failing in fundamentals. In 2015, it all worked out in a peaceful, mutually respectful resolution. Prayerfully reflecting on that challenging time, LCWR leaders from those years asked what they had learned that could help all of us act with constructive grace in our fractured, fractious society. In times of conflict, how to build relationships that leave everyone better off? When emotions and outside forces urge angry reactions, how to choose strategies that carry peace? How to seek, recognize, and hold to truth and integrity when people don’t agree on what the truth is? How to embody humility instead of righteousness? How to use influence responsibly? How to create communal discernment that engages a large, complex, national organization? How to speak my truth when others want to shout their own version of my story? The resulting book is a stunning leadership manual. It’s an inspiring, challenging spiritual guidebook. It’s a powerful course in nonviolence, faith, and hope. It’s a map of these sisters’ journey and an immensely rich set of navigation aids for our own. I expect to re-read it for years, hoping to be more like this each time… and hoping to change how we do things in the USA. (2018, edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders) Global Sisters Report's article describes the book, and National Catholic Reporter's podcast is an interview with two authors, Sister Annmarie Sanders and Solidarity with Sisters' Betty D. Thompson.
In Our Own Words: Religious Life in a Changing World, edited by Sister Juliet Mousseau and Sister Sarah Kohles (2018) -
Want hope and energy for the future? Read this book! Thirteen younger women religious, all from North America, share profound and very personal reflections about what they've chosen to do with their lives, and why. What is religious life? What are vows, and how do they change these sisters' lives? How do you find community within congregations of much older sisters and inter-congregationally among younger sisters? How do you live a balanced life while being available to respond to urgent needs? How do younger women religious lead? The authors come from diverse charisms, ministries, and histories. As Sister Deborah Warner writes in a review, "We move into a future that clearly challenges us to make manifest God's presence in a world that is unpredictable and unstable and in which our brothers and sisters in Christ may be deeply afraid. Aware of the many uncertainties, young women with passion and radical love and commitment to this present and yet unknown future continue to enter religious communities and to make public profession of their vows" -- and write a very valuable book.
Spiritual Leadership for Challenging Times: Presidential Addresses of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious – This book lets us listen in as leaders talked with each other during 50 complicated years. LCWR’s annual assemblies always include an address by the outgoing president. Here are ten pivotal ones. These aren’t feel-good pep talks. They are candid, challenging self-examinations of how God is calling women religious to engage with the needs of the world, at this moment. Year by year, we get a visceral sense of realities and inspirations. More important, we get vivid models of “leadership that is deeply rooted in God and that strives to connect the soul of an organization with the soul of the world... with an integrity and humility for which the world at large yearns and hungers." When the book came out (2014), we lay people in Solidarity with Sisters had been meeting with LCWR for years, hoping for this kind of clarity about the wellsprings for the wise, loving, terribly difficult choices they were making. So we wrote reflection/discussion questions for the book and offered a one-day practical symposium about the book; you can still listen to the sisters’ conversations about this way of leadership and the way of life from which it arises. This book was a 2015 finalist for the Excellence in Publishing Awards of the Association of Catholic Publishers. (2014, edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders)
Transformational Leadership: Conversations with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious – This is "an absolute gem of a book," says Fr. Ted Keating in his review for InFormation. "We are not offered theories and exhortations, but concrete examples (parables) of how [transformational leadership] looks in practice and of the many learnings gained by the experiences." Rhonda Miska, in her review in Global Sisters Report, notes how specific interviews in the book "pose rich, thought-provoking questions and point to...habits, skills and attitudes characteristic of this leadership, which flows out of a way of life grounded in community, contemplation and attentiveness to 'the signs of the times.'" These 18 interviews with esteemed thought-leaders were originally published for sisters as fuel for Gospel-centered leadership. The book’s “unique collection of personalities and insight makes it of interest to all men and women seeking to live and lead with purpose and depth.” It was powerful for us, and we wrote reflection/discussion questions to invite you into its practical value, too. (2015; edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders)
Navigating the Shifts: Sister Pat Farrell’s powerful, inspiring address to the 2012 LCWR assembly holds a very short version of the realistic faith, hope, and love in the books above. It’s what we’ve unfailingly encountered with LCWR’s sisters. She called the sisters, who were newly stunned by the Vatican’s recent mandate, to the foundations of their way of life: contemplation, community, nonviolence, solidarity with people who are marginalized, prophetic voice, and joyful hope.
However Long the Night: Making Meaning in a Time of Crisis: A Spiritual Journey of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders (2018) – This book will help you change the world and yourself as you read the very personal learnings of 11 sister-leaders during difficult times. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is a large, complex, national organization. From 2009 to 2015, it was in the international spotlight because the Vatican claimed it was failing in fundamentals. In 2015, it all worked out in a peaceful, mutually respectful resolution. Prayerfully reflecting on that challenging time, LCWR leaders from those years asked what they had learned that could help all of us act with constructive grace in our fractured, fractious society. In times of conflict, how to build relationships that leave everyone better off? When emotions and outside forces urge angry reactions, how to choose strategies that carry peace? How to seek, recognize, and hold to truth and integrity when people don’t agree on what the truth is? How to embody humility instead of righteousness? How to use influence responsibly? How to create communal discernment that engages a large, complex, national organization? How to speak my truth when others want to shout their own version of my story? The resulting book is a stunning leadership manual. It’s an inspiring, challenging spiritual guidebook. It’s a powerful course in nonviolence, faith, and hope. It’s a map of these sisters’ journey and an immensely rich set of navigation aids for our own. I expect to re-read it for years, hoping to be more like this each time… and hoping to change how we do things in the USA. (2018, edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders) Global Sisters Report's article describes the book, and National Catholic Reporter's podcast is an interview with two authors, Sister Annmarie Sanders and Solidarity with Sisters' Betty D. Thompson.
In Our Own Words: Religious Life in a Changing World, edited by Sister Juliet Mousseau and Sister Sarah Kohles (2018) -
Want hope and energy for the future? Read this book! Thirteen younger women religious, all from North America, share profound and very personal reflections about what they've chosen to do with their lives, and why. What is religious life? What are vows, and how do they change these sisters' lives? How do you find community within congregations of much older sisters and inter-congregationally among younger sisters? How do you live a balanced life while being available to respond to urgent needs? How do younger women religious lead? The authors come from diverse charisms, ministries, and histories. As Sister Deborah Warner writes in a review, "We move into a future that clearly challenges us to make manifest God's presence in a world that is unpredictable and unstable and in which our brothers and sisters in Christ may be deeply afraid. Aware of the many uncertainties, young women with passion and radical love and commitment to this present and yet unknown future continue to enter religious communities and to make public profession of their vows" -- and write a very valuable book.
Spiritual Leadership for Challenging Times: Presidential Addresses of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious – This book lets us listen in as leaders talked with each other during 50 complicated years. LCWR’s annual assemblies always include an address by the outgoing president. Here are ten pivotal ones. These aren’t feel-good pep talks. They are candid, challenging self-examinations of how God is calling women religious to engage with the needs of the world, at this moment. Year by year, we get a visceral sense of realities and inspirations. More important, we get vivid models of “leadership that is deeply rooted in God and that strives to connect the soul of an organization with the soul of the world... with an integrity and humility for which the world at large yearns and hungers." When the book came out (2014), we lay people in Solidarity with Sisters had been meeting with LCWR for years, hoping for this kind of clarity about the wellsprings for the wise, loving, terribly difficult choices they were making. So we wrote reflection/discussion questions for the book and offered a one-day practical symposium about the book; you can still listen to the sisters’ conversations about this way of leadership and the way of life from which it arises. This book was a 2015 finalist for the Excellence in Publishing Awards of the Association of Catholic Publishers. (2014, edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders)
Transformational Leadership: Conversations with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious – This is "an absolute gem of a book," says Fr. Ted Keating in his review for InFormation. "We are not offered theories and exhortations, but concrete examples (parables) of how [transformational leadership] looks in practice and of the many learnings gained by the experiences." Rhonda Miska, in her review in Global Sisters Report, notes how specific interviews in the book "pose rich, thought-provoking questions and point to...habits, skills and attitudes characteristic of this leadership, which flows out of a way of life grounded in community, contemplation and attentiveness to 'the signs of the times.'" These 18 interviews with esteemed thought-leaders were originally published for sisters as fuel for Gospel-centered leadership. The book’s “unique collection of personalities and insight makes it of interest to all men and women seeking to live and lead with purpose and depth.” It was powerful for us, and we wrote reflection/discussion questions to invite you into its practical value, too. (2015; edited by Sister Annmarie Sanders)
Navigating the Shifts: Sister Pat Farrell’s powerful, inspiring address to the 2012 LCWR assembly holds a very short version of the realistic faith, hope, and love in the books above. It’s what we’ve unfailingly encountered with LCWR’s sisters. She called the sisters, who were newly stunned by the Vatican’s recent mandate, to the foundations of their way of life: contemplation, community, nonviolence, solidarity with people who are marginalized, prophetic voice, and joyful hope.