Vatican officials have just wrapped up an unprecedented four-day gathering, all about the sexual abuse that鈥檚 shaken the church to its core. At the same time, the population of what researchers call 鈥渨omen religious鈥� 鈥� people like nuns 鈥� in the United States is experiencing 鈥� .鈥� But in the Central Texas city of Georgetown, a new Catholic convent, an outpost of the order of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, just opened its doors.
The convent is an expansion of their mother house in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The new convent is a 60-acre campus where the grass still hasn鈥檛 taken root and the jet-black pavement is still spotless. Inside the building, everything has that 鈥渘ew smell.鈥� Mother Assumpta Long leads the tour.
鈥淚鈥檓 still learning my way around here, so I might take you in the wrong direction 鈥� no 鈥� really,鈥� Long says. 鈥淚 come here and ask 鈥榳here is the kitchen?鈥欌��
Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz interjects. 鈥淚t is a large house, there is no doubt, but we will get used to it and we will grow into it before we know it!鈥�
Bogdanowicz鈥� confidence about growing into the campus, from the handful of nuns who currently live there, to the 115 they ultimately hope to house, comes from the fact that they鈥檝e done it before. Since 2009, their original home in Ann Arbor has been snug. They鈥檝e recruited dozens more sisters than they can house. And that is mostly the work of Bogdanowicz.
We鈥檙e walking through the chapel whispering. I ask how she attracts new nuns?
鈥淭he rest of the story is essential 鈥� we get out the hope, the joy, the fun of life! I happen to love life!鈥� Bogdanowicz says.
Did you hear that? It鈥檚 about hope, joy and even fun. Her love of life is contagious and that is one reason others, like Sister Irenaeus Schluttenhofer, have joined in.
鈥淚t was really the joy of the sisters that won my heart,鈥� Schluttenhofer says.
Their story is the silver lining of reports like one from Georgetown University鈥檚 that notes the Dominican Sisters as one of the few orders of religious women in the U.S. that鈥檚 adding numbers to its ranks. And they鈥檙e young sisters!
A recent publication found the largest population of Catholic sisters is 90 or older. The average age of a Dominican Sister of Mary is only 32.
Schluttenhofer is 28 but she was in college when she felt called by God
鈥淗e still does call.鈥� Schluttenhofer says.
She felt called to be a nun but also 鈥� to be a middle school science teacher, even though a common criticism is that the church is a reluctant supporter of science.
鈥淚 love to share with my students how 鈥� especially St Pope John Paul II 鈥� he had such a love for science and was always asking questions and having conversations with people to find the truth, because if Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no truth is contrary to the person of Jesus Christ,鈥� Schluttenhofer says.
One difficult truth the church is currently dealing with is the truth of sexual abuse and sexual assault to children and adults, including nuns. I tell Mother Assumpta that no matter how much joy there may be in service, this truth can prevent some women from taking a habit for life.
鈥淵ou know, I鈥檓 glad you asked the question because you know? I鈥檓 the first one to say: 鈥榯hank God it鈥檚 out in the open.鈥� You have to recognize it for what it is 鈥� it鈥檚 evil,鈥� Long says.
This truth has hurt the church and the faithful, especially Long, who鈥檚 wanted to be a nun since she was a little girl growing up in Tennessee. She is hurt but her faith is intact.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 become discouraged because of the sins of others, you know? That can鈥檛 discourage us from doing the right thing or the good thing,鈥� Long says. 鈥淵ou know? This may sound crazy, but one of the greatest gifts that God gave us is Judas 鈥� I mean 鈥� because Judas was with our Lord three years 鈥� and didn鈥檛 get it.鈥�
Judas was closest to Jesus and went on to betray him. As Long says, he didn鈥檛 get it. But she鈥檚 in it for those who do get it and for those who want to get it. She鈥檚 the recruiter and says it takes a special kind of person to carry a torch in the middle of a storm and that鈥檚 why they came here.
鈥淚 think Texas has our spirit 鈥� that pioneering spirit, that energizing, that bigger and go for it and give it everything you got 鈥� that鈥檚 us! Yeah,鈥� Bogdanowicz says.
They are giving it everything they鈥檝e got 鈥� waking up at 4:45, sewing their own clothes, teaching and following a daily regimented schedule. It鈥檚 a counter-cultural lifestyle for a woman in the 21st century. But they follow another woman who was countercultural for her time too - La Virgen de Guadalupe. Before I leave, they honor her with a song, 鈥淪alve Regina.鈥�
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