In Singling Out Nuns, Catholic Church Overlooks Its History
In 1899, a contingent of nuns journeyed into the malarial forests of southern Africa to set up missionary schools. They mastered the clicking language of the Ndebele tribe, baked communion bread in brick ovens they built themselves, and steered clear of the subject of monogamy so as not to enrage the polygamous local chief.
In 1911, another group of sister-pioneers set sail for the islands of Fiji to run a clinic for lepers. In 1929, nuns in black habits rode a steamship up the Yangtze River into the heart of China, braving insufferable heat, flying termites, and warring generals.
Without the resourcefulness and courage of these extraordinary women, the Catholic Church would never have been able to spread its teachings around the globe or staff its unwieldy empire of schools, churches, and hospitals.
Sanctions against nuns spark backlash
So it is odd to hear the Vatican denouncing the largest group of nuns in America for promoting “radical feminist” ideas. The statement is shockingly out of touch with the modern world. But it is also willfully blind to important parts of the church’s own history.
A profound faith in women’s capabilities — in the world, in the classroom, and in God’s eyes — lies at the core of what nuns have always been. Long before Betty Friedan kicked off the modern feminist movement in the 1960s, nuns were earning medical degrees and running complex institutions, often without financial support from Rome.