Behind the pope’s “fighting” words to women religious

The words are particularly strong. And they target a very concrete reality – the not always happy fate of women religious in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis actually invites the “nuns” to fight when they are reduced "to servitude".

"I invite them to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly," he says in the latest Pope Video, in which he presents his monthly prayer petitions.  

"Even within the Church; when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude — at times, by men of the Church. Do not be discouraged," the pope says.

One of the most sensitive topics in the Vatican

But what’s behind the Bishop of Rome’s words?   

In reality, he’s addressing one of the most sensitive issues in the Vatican – the untold number of nuns and consecrated women who work as domestic help for seminarians, priests and bishops. 

It’s a phenomenon that exists throughout the universal Church, including at the Vatican.

It is common to be greeted by nuns when visiting some prelates of the Roman Curia. 

This can also be the case in certain congregations of priests, where sisters are in charge of cooking, cleaning and doing the laundry in exchange for accommodation. 

The pope’s denunciation of the practice is all the stronger because he contrasts it by praising those consecrated women who "show the beauty of God's love and compassion as catechists, theologians and spiritual guides". 

A matter of extreme delicacy

The treatment of women religious at the Vatican was the topic of a bombshell report that appeared in 2018 in “Donne-Chiesa-Mondo”, the monthly supplement of the official newspaper of the Holy See, L'Osservatore Romano.

The sisters, who were allowed to speak anonymously, testified to their daily life, revealing in passing that most of them had no work contract, while earning derisory sums when they were paid at all. 

Some of them have been doing such domestic chores for clerics for years. Others only while completing their studies in Rome, since some congregations force their members to find a way to finance their stay in the Eternal City.

This eye-opening report – which was published by the Vatican newspaper, no less – was clearly an unofficial recognition of the existence of a problem.

But the issue has since disappeared from the L'Osservatore Romano website.

As proof that the situation continues, the fate of these nuns was the subject of a new article, published in October 2021, still in Donne Chiesa Mondo, but without mentioning the specific situation of the Vatican. 

"There are people or congregations that are still being exploited in the absence of contracts," explained Dr. Maryanne Loughry, a Sister of Mercy who teaches at Boston College.

"We feel very encouraged"

"This can lead to situations such as when nuns lose their jobs for a diocese or for a parish priest, they lose their housing and are basically homeless, without notice," insisted the Australian born religious sister.

Loughry is one of the few to speak explicitly about this phenomenon.

"In the Church, many things are taken for granted: we are very generous, we are able to innovate when there is something special to do. I don't want to give up that characteristic, but I think it's sometimes exploited," she said.

"As women religious, we feel very encouraged and called by Pope Francis, both in our community life and in meeting the challenges of mission today," said Claretian Sister Jolanta Kafka, president of the International Union of Womens’ Superiors General (UISG).

She does not explicitly mention the situation of the sisters in domestic service, nor has any of the leaders of this organization ever explicitly done so. 

But for years the UISG has been putting an emphasis on the intellectual work of women religious and their involvement in social and political issues. This is a way of getting the message across, without breaking the taboo.