Voices of the Social Gospel, American Women Religious

Many of us have a favorite nun. I have several. In my experience, these inspiring women lead lives of self-sacrifice and absolute dedication to their work. The news reports about the Vatican investigations prompted me to write what I know about them. Then the recent health care debate showed the depth of their commitment to the poor when many of the sisters supported the legislation that would cover 32 million uninsured.     Today we have an historic health care law with an Executive Order barring federal funding of abortions, thanks in part to the active participation of American women religious.

The sisters are authentic, true to themselves, their mission, and the volunteers serving with them. They live the gospel imperative to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, and provide protection for the vulnerable.  Currently there are two separate inquiries by Rome of the nuns in America; first a visitation of all American women religious conducted by the offices of Cardinal Rode and second, an investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) conducted by the offices of Cardinal Levada based on alleged doctrinal errors of this group of sisters. No one knows how these site visits and conclusion reports will turn out.  But given the spread of the sex abuse scandal and cover-up by bishops around the world, this combined visitation and investigation seem arbitrary and ill-timed.   

Yet, despite the acrimony and moral uncertainty, the Gospel imperative to seek a preferential option for the poor continues unabated.  The practical application of this command is seen through the lives and work of these women. Through the medium of recorded oral histories, I’ve selected three sisters whose lives and works speak for themselves.  They are ‘voices of the social gospel.’

Sister Camille D'Arienzo, RSM-This exceptional woman has lived her life so faithful to the charisms of Venerable Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, it is difficult to describe in a few words all she has done! Teacher, producer, writer, scholar, public speaker, reporter, professor, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious - all these achievements and more only partially describe the drive of Camille. Meeting her for the first time, one sees a dynamic, forceful, but friendly and compassionate Sister whose life has been a love song for the poor and disadvantaged. "The poor need help today, not next week," insisted Mc Auley, but these words equally describe Camille's urgency and passion in fighting for the rights of the lost, the least, and the lonely. A very important part of her life started in 1993 when she established the Cherish Life Circle, a group of religious, lay and ordained people who oppose capital punishment by preaching and teaching. Since 1998, Camille regularly visits a death row inmate as his spiritual director arguing for his and others’ basic human rights and our complicity in allowing the state the awful power to kill any human life.

Camille started teaching in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in 1954, and by 1965, was producing and writing for the Brooklyn Diocesan Television Center. Among other activities, she was a reporter for the Tablet, the Diocese's official newspaper, from 1971 to 1991. She also became a professor in television and radio, for Brooklyn College during this period (1973-93) and has had a popular radio spot on 1010 WINS radio to this day, giving short, religious commentary to the wider world. In 1993, she was elected to the presidency of the Leadership Team, Brooklyn Regional Community and then in 1998 served three years as the president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, representing the vast majority of women religious in the United States. One might think given all these positions that Camille would be a little stand-offish. Not in the least! She's ready to applaud the successes of the least among us. I am happy to call her friend.

Despite Camille’s personal history in leadership roles, the summer of 2009 saw her choosing to follow her much younger Mercy Sister, Karen Schneider, a pediatrician with Johns Hopkins Medical Center, to Peru.  Serving as a volunteer, she helped provide health care to approximately 2,300 poor children in the Diocese of Chulucanas.  She has already signed up to return in August 2010 and now helps to raise funds for Karen’s missions to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as Peru.  Her reason:  “God’s call is not sung in monotone; it is an often changing harmonious invitation to bring mercy to those who need it now.”

Sister Mary Ryan,OP- I first met this extraordinary woman at the Wyandanch, NY location of the OPening Word program in 2002. I asked to volunteer as a tutor of social studies and civics. Sister Mary and her staff could not have been friendlier. All showed a warmth and caring that goes far beyond the usual. I later found out that one of the charisms of the Dominican Sisters of Amityville is an exceptional sense of the grace of the moment where courtesy and consideration are hallmarks of their connections to the outside world. Sister Mary is a happy, gentle, positive person. Always ready to laugh, she loves her vocation, and, at times, exhibits a steely determination to see that things are done correctly. After that first interview, the Sisters welcomed me to the Wyandanch community and I've been there happily ever since.

Sister entered the convent in 1953, and started teaching many levels of elementary and high school from 1955 to 1973. She became principle of Dominican Commercial High School from 1973 to 1981. A born teacher, her administrative skills again kept her from the classroom, when in 1981, she was elected by her peers to be Prioress of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville. Only later did she have the opportunity to teach again, but this time it was a school she founded called the OPening Word in 1991. A natural progression of her skills as educator, this program is a literacy and ESL (English second language) program for poor and immigrant women now in three locations - Wyandanch, North Amityville, and Huntington Station, NY. To date it has educated more than 1600 women, assisting them not only in reading, math and social studies, but giving them a sense of self-esteem often lacking in the underprivileged. Sister Mary always had the dream to educate each person individually and structure progress around each student's needs. She was able to achieve that special kind of education with the OPening Word outreach. 

Just listen to her describe what OPening Word accomplishes for each student.  “The Vision Statement of the Dominican Sisters of Amityville reminds us to promote the dignity of marginalized persons.  Each time I see a woman who has come to us frightened and insecure begin to change and lift her head with dignity and pride, I know that all our work is  in the right direction.”

Sister Mary Beth Moore, SC grew up as the oldest of five children in a loving family where the Catholic faith played an important role. It was tested early when her brother was born with severe mental and physical handicaps. Imitating her parents’ prayerful lives, she begged God that he would “get better,” but his handicap did not improve. As she grew, she realized clearly that it would never go away. She writes: "I might have become bitter, cynical or simply indifferent to prayer. But instead, I had already developed a relationship with a mysterious and loving God, who, though s/he did not do what I wanted done, nevertheless led me to see that each of us is loved before we have proven ourselves. Stated another way, I learned at an early age that God’s unconditional love is the deepest core of our identity. Over the years, I have realized that this learning was the gift of my brother’s life, and a deep dimension of my awareness of a call to be a Sister."

Only seventeen and a half when she left home to become a Sister of Charity, she later became a professional in rehabilitation counseling where for many years she ministered to persons of every disability group except the deaf. She pointedly explains that disabled people feel deeply the prejudices of the able bodied world. She believes the pain of feeling different is worse than the disability itself. Mary Beth also spent ten years in Latin America where she explains that "the time I spent among persons living in poverty transformed my spirituality from a private/personal affair, to one where work for justice became an essential component of the search for God." She now works for peace, formerly as the coordinator of Pax Christi-Long Island and currently for Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, an umbrella organization devoted to promoting the work for peace on the local level. She went through some difficult times trying to understand God's will in continuing her vocation, but remains joyful about being a Sister of Charity doing God's work for the vulnerable and marginalized. Mary Beth believes that the future of religious life will be closely connected to a witness of hope, and a lifestyle that is seen to be simple and sustainable.

By: Edward J. Thompson Sr.  May, 2010