"This is a book about change and about people changing. It is a book abaout women, American Catholic sisters, in passage. It tells of the radical transformation that has been underway among sisters for the past four decades, redefining their identities and their way of life." [Preface].

"This is a book about change and about people changing. It is a book abaout women, American Catholic sisters, in passage. It tells of the radical transformation that has been underway among sisters for the past four decades, redefining their identities and their way of life." [Preface].

Religious sisters have created educational and healthcare systems over the past two hundred years that have transformed the Catholic community in the United States. Through their ministry, sisters have served waves of immigrants and those pushed to the margins. The growing cultural diversity of newer sisters and the diminishing number of older sisters, therefore, is both a challenge and a creative moment to be critically examined. This book examines these changes in culture and ethnicity among sisters, the structural impact of diminishing numbers, and the creative response to this new reality for religious life in the United States. In it, sisters from a variety of generations, cultures, and institutes join with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) researchers to examine and reflect on CARA's recent research findings and their impact on the life and ministry of sisters today.

A collection of extraordinary oral histories of American nuns, Habits of Change captures the experiences of women whose lives over the past fifty years have been marked by dramatic transformation. Bringing together women from more than forty different religious communities, most of whom entered religious life before Vatican II, the book shows how their lives were suddenly turned around in the 1960s--perhaps more so than any other group of contemporary women. Here these women speak of their active engagement in the events that disrupted their church and society and of the lives they lead today, offering their unique perspective on issues such as peace activism, global equality for women, and the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The interviewees include a Maryknoll missionary who spent decades in Africa, most recently in the Congo; an inner-city art teacher whose own paintings reflect the vibrancy of Haiti; a recovering alcoholic who at age 71 has embarked on her fourth ministry; a life-long nurse, educator, and hospital administrator; and an outspoken advocate for the gay and lesbian community. Told with simplicity, honesty, and passion, their stories deserve to be heard.

Fifty years ago, nearly 200,000 religious sisters worked in Catholic schools, hospitals and other institutions throughout the United States. American Catholics honored these women of faith who founded and built these flourishing works of mercy. Then came the ideological shifts and moral upheavals of the 1960s, and ever since, most women's orders in the United States have been in a state of crisis. Now the sisters are aging, with fewer and fewer younger women to take their place. Perhaps related to this demographic shift is the continuing doctrinal confusion that has come under the scrutiny of the Vatican. Using the archival records of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and other prominent groups of sisters, journalist and author Ann Carey shows how feminist activists unraveled American women's religious communities from their leadership positions in national organizations and large congregations. She also explains the recent and necessary interventions by the Vatican. After examining the many forces that have contributed to the crisis, Carey reports on a promising sign of renewal in American religious life: the growing number of young women attracted to older communities that have retained their identity and newly formed, yet traditional, congregations.

Presents a narrative of the history and transformation of Catholic hospitals in twentieth-century America. -- Back cover.

Divided into two parts, this volume first presents an analysis of the problem and secondly a solution to place apostolic religious life on a positive trajectory in the 21st century.

Suellen Hoy's Good Hearts describes and analyzes the activities andcontributions of Catholic nuns in Chicago. Beginning with the arrival ofwomen-religious in 1846 and ending with the sisters' social activism inthe 1960s, Good Hearts traces the development and evolution of thesisters' work and ministry that included education, health care, andsocial services. Contrary to conventional portrayals of religious asreclusive and conservative, the nuns in Good Hearts are revealed asdynamic, powerful agents of change. Catholic sisters lived on the edge, serving sick and poor immigrants as well as those racially andreligiously unlike themselves, such as the uneducated black migrantsfrom the South

More and more people-- especially millennials-- are turning to religion as a source of comfort and solace in our increasingly chaotic world. Rather than live a cloistered life of seclusion, the Daughters of Saint Paul actively embrace social media to evangelize, collectively calling themselves the #MediaNuns. In this collective memoir, eight of these Sisters share their own discernment journeys, struggles and crises of faith that they have overcome, and episodes from their daily lives. They offer practical takeaways and tips for living a more spiritually-fulfilled life, no matter your religious affiliation. -- adapted from jacket

More than 150 colleges in the United States were founded by nuns, and over time they have served many constituencies, setting some educational trends while reflecting others. In Catholic Women's Colleges in America, Tracy Schier, Cynthia Russett, and their coauthors provide a comprehensive history of these institutions and how they met the challenges of broader educational change. The authors explore how and for whom the colleges were founded and the role of Catholic nuns in their founding and development. They examine the roots of the founders' spirituality and education; they discuss curricula, administration, and student life. And they describe the changes prompted by both the church and society beginning in the 1960s, when decreasing enrollments led some colleges to opt for coeducation, while others restructured their curricula, partnered with other Catholic colleges, developed specialized programs, or sought to broaden their base of funding. Contributors: Dorothy M. Brown, Georgetown University; David R. Contosta, Chestnut Hill College; Jill Ker Conway, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Carol Hurd Green, Boston College; Monika K. Hellwig, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities; Karen Kennelly, president emerita of Mount Saint Mary's College, Los Angeles; Jeanne Knoerle, president emerita of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College; Thomas M. Landy, College of the Holy Cross; Kathleen A. Mahoney, Humanitas Foundation; Melanie M. Morey, Leadership and Legacy Associates, Boston; Mary J. Oates, Regis College; Jane C. Redmont, Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley; Cynthia Russett, Yale University; Tracy Schier, Boston College.