How religious Catholic women are being silenced by power and policy

By Julie Ferraro | FāVS News Columnist

As someone who works with Catholic religious communities, I hear things. Up until recently, what I’ve heard has been a hopeful message that includes how much God loves each and every one of us.

In recent months, though, even what I hear from the various vowed religious women with whom I interact has become somewhat ominous. These communities — the members of which having spent their adult lives in service to the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the marginalized — are facing an uncertain future.

And not just because the number of new vocations — women joining these communities — has dwindled over the past 50 or more years.

These women, sadly, now must fear their own government.

The expressions of fear are becoming more prevalent. Women who previously and courageously spoke out about the injustices of the “system” are considering choosing silence, given the current state of uncertainty about the future. Their fear extends, in the instances where the religious are well into the senior time of life, to the prospect of losing Medicaid and Medicare benefits that permit their communities to cover the financial burden of their health needs as they age.

Religious women at a crossroads

Some of these communities fear their members will, themselves, wind up homeless if that source of funding is abruptly denied them because of their advocacy for those without a voice. Leadership teams are reevaluating their ministries in the light of news stories that detail how those who continue to speak against the current administration are facing retaliation and retribution.

It begs the question: Couldn’t these religious communities do without governmental assistance? Or, rather, shouldn’t they do without it, as a protest against how taxpayers’ dollars are being so heinously misspent?

The answers to these questions remain within the respective religious communities. Part of the issue, by holding a nonprofit status, is that reliance on donor generosity is difficult in times when donors don’t have as much to contribute toward the sisters’ ministries and care.

Their labor, their rights

A vast difference in how the sisters’ support themselves has, fortunately, occurred over the past 60 years or so. Where vowed religious once staffed Catholic schools or hospitals and worked for “free” — just room and board, mainly — those who are still in the workforce earn salaries no differently than the lay people who are their coworkers. But, fewer and fewer sisters serve in the workplace, due to age. So, that source of income is diminished.

That also leads to another point when answering the previously posed questions: If the sisters have contributed to governmental programs through the taxes deducted from their weekly paychecks, shouldn’t they benefit from those same programs and not be denied access to what they’ve paid for?

As this sector of society stands against what can bluntly be termed the “bully tactics” of those who wish to quash those who oppose them, their donors and other supporters can stand with them. They can assist them in their time of need by giving from the heart — not just money, but time and even a willing ear. Together, this storm can be weathered, as the hope of a brilliant sunrise once the clouds have dispersed continues to sustain those who have brought sunshine into the lives of so many.

Those who have done so much for others shouldn’t have to be forced, by a whim or a stroke of an executive pen, to do without now.

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.

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