“Fitting in” through the custom of local dress – in the sense that sisters might use it when speaking of this issue – would more likely be about a desire to signal that the sister can be approached; that she acknowledges and values local tradition; that she desires to live among them in THEIR lives, where she believes God can find them, however and whoever they are. That is a “fitting in” which represents a gift to other rather than an assuagement of one’s own psychological/social insecurities which the more common “I want to fit in” suggests.

I can imagine, too, sisters saying that traditional habits are physically uncomfortable at times and that it is fun to wear different things. Facts are, I *have* heard them say it. Plain old truth, right? That doesn’t mean it is an official stance or, as you indicate, the reason for the change. Those were simply casual statements to people they believed would allow them some of their God-given wiggle room to be human (think: Jesus asking God if the cup could pass from him in the Garden of Gesthemane).

My spiritual director – a young Cajun diocesan priest with an active parish and also director of a lay community – very often wears a beautiful classic cassock in the community. It is a rare and beautiful site, but certainly not required of him. My parish priest rarely leaves the private parts of his rectory with his clerical collar. But how often do we see priests and brothers and deacons these days in the community in clerical collars, habits, cassocks, any kind of religious clothing… and how often do we hear an outcry about this, a moral condemnation of these good men? I never have.

With all due repect to Mrs. Moceri and others, I think we Americans have become so accustomed to soundbite-sized experiences and conversations about complex and profoundly important issues in our collective lives that, even when we have the opportunity to interact more expansively and more intimately, we tend to engage on the level of the soundbite (whether image or words).
We’ve been trained to believe the whole story of the world can be captured and analyzed by FOX news and the default Yahoo or AOL or MSN website on our computers.

I think “the habit” is a soundbite-sized way to discuss

1) women’s role in the world and religion’s impact on that

2) women’s role in religion and the world’s impact on that

3) women’s role in religion and its impact on the world

4) women’s role in the world and its impact on religion.

How much easier to talk about what religious women wear!

Each of our communities began through and inspiration of the Holy Spirit — our “charism” is that original, unique gift of the Spirit that is for both the Church and the world. When the Church called us to return to our founding charism, some communities realized that the habit (and all that it signifies) was not key to that original charism and to how God was continuing to call them. Though certainly important and something to be cherished in our history, the habit was not the focal point for our mission and calling from God. For other communities, the habit was reaffirmed and seen as directly related to their founding and mission. No community casually kept or left the habit. Much prayer, reflection, and consultation (including with the Church) went into this.

For those of us who do not wear a habit, I can assure you that a choice of dress each day does not in anyway diminish our sense of mission and call and our faithfulness to serving God.

I have heard some nuns complain that the habit makes them way too hot in the summer and they like the “freedom” of getting to wear what they want to all the time. I thought nuns were suppose to be serving the Lord and not wasting time worrying about what to wear each day.

So sad…

Mrs. Moceri

JMJ

Joe

I do not wear the traditional habit but rather dress in ordinary clothing typical of the culture within which I live. This is the “habit” of my congregation. I suppose I could wear a habit but because it is not the custom of my congregation, I would not ask to. If I were a member of a community that wore the traditional habit, then I would certainly embrace it. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to wear an immediately identifiable habit.

I’ve talked at length with sisters that wear a habit and/or veil and that do not about precisely the question you raised — Are sisters treated differently? The answer is yes. They are treated differently. It can swing all sorts of ways — some Catholics embrace the idea of the habit, others feel it distances themselves from religious. Just from anecdotes I’ve heard and experiences I’ve had, I find that non-Catholics are more neutral about the habit. They have an image that all nuns wear a habit and are often pleasantly surprised to find that there are nuns that also do not wear the habit. I don’t find a strong preference either way.

As to how I feel about orders that consistently wear habits? I think that is great, same as how I feel about orders that do not. There is a wonderfully rich diversity of Catholic religious life. We as a Church and as citizens of the world are fortunate to have so many ways to expres God’s call. Religious life was never meant to be a one-size-fits-all life. I believe strongly that there is a need for all manner of religious life and expressions of religious life.

JMJ

Joe