Summary
Title: Unveiled: The Hidden Lives of Nuns
Author: Cheryl L. Reed
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
ISBN: 0425195112
Pro:
• Provides a perspective on nuns not otherwise available
• Engaging style that draws you in and keeps you reading
Con:
• Some comparison with Catholic nuns elsewhere in the world might have been interesting
• Some comparison with non-Catholic nuns in America might have been interesting, too
Description:
• In-depth study of Catholic nuns in America over the course of 5 years
• Examines and contrasts nuns from different orders and geographic regions
• Demonstrates the existence of a great deal of diversity among nuns today
Book Review
That people would misunderstand what it means to be a nun is understandable because most, especially men, don't have the chance to live with nuns in a convent. How is anyone supposed to get real, unvarnished information about what it is like to be a nun, why people become nuns, and what a nun's life is like? One place to start would be Cheryl L. Reed's book Unveiled: The Hidden Lives of Nuns. The title sounds like an expose worthy of tabloid newspapers, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Over the course of five years, Cheryl Reed was given the unprecedented chance to live and work with over 300 Catholic nuns at convents across the country. What she found was that there is no single generalization that one can make about all nuns — except perhaps that they may be dying out in America.
In 1965 there were 180,000 nuns in the U.S. but today there are just 73,000. Among nuns who remain the average age is 69 and many are in retirement. The situation for nuns is perhaps worse than that for Catholic priests, but because most people don't have daily contact with nuns they never know it. Even in Catholic schools, once a principle arena where nuns and lay Catholics interacted, nuns are rare.
Reed is generous and sympathetic while also remaining independent and critical of what she finds. And what does she find? Aside from sharing a doubtful future, the diversity of backgrounds, motives, and behavior among nuns is staggering. Some wear habits, some wear regular (but modest) clothing. Some live strictly cloistered lives while others are active in communities or prisons. Some live in urban settings, some live in rural areas. Some are open and welcoming to outsiders while others are suspicious. Some are fervent in their allegiance to the pope while others openly call him a misogynistic dinosaur.
Writing about the nature of obedience in a nun's life, Reed observes:
- "Some see obedience as submitting to the will of a mother superior who controls even the most trivial aspects of a nun's life: when she rises, when she retires, what job she will perform, to whom she can speak and when. Other orders...include wearing a habit. Most traditional orders add in loyalty to the Pope and strict adherence to the principles of the Church. A few moderate orders try to live practically while following a version of their orders' traditions...
- Many progressive sisters...however, interpret obedience simply to mean they follow the rules of their order and the leadership of their superior. That obedience, though, doesn't mean that they have to agree with Vatican precepts or give up their own consciences. Modern sisters insist that sometimes obedience to their order's core beliefs and values means they must challenge Church leaders' decisions."
In one chapter we meet nuns who rise every day at 2 a.m. to pray and flog their bare buttocks. In another we meet a community that voted to leave the Catholic Church because the of the way the local bishop failed to respect their traditional and independent authority over their own affairs. It doesn't seem as though any generalizations can be made about nuns, but what divides them most might be that which has always separated them most visibly from the general public: the nun's habit.
