What a wonderful conversation on Doubt the Movie yesterday! My profound gratitude to the Sister Regina, Sister Connie, and Sister Mary of the Sisters of Charity of New York for joining us.

I encourage you to read through the comments and, if you haven’t already, go see the movie or read Doubt: A Parable. Feel free to continue the conversation on yesterday’s post. I’ll be checking in too.

Since we’ve had much Doubt here on A Nun’s Life, I thought perhaps we should meditate for a little bit on Hope.

“Isn’t it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity …”

- Vaclav Havel (playwright, writer, politician)

What is your experience of hope in the midst of doubt?

Today the Sisters of Charity of New York, my IHM nun Sister Maxine Kollasch, and myself will be here on A Nun’s Life blog from 2-4 p.m. EST for a “live” discussion and Q&A on Doubt the movie. This discussion takes place right here on this page in the comment section (below this post).

I asked the Sisters of Charity a few of my own questions. Sister Connie, the community’s archivist, graciously responded.

Sister Julie: Who are the Sisters of Charity of New York? What is your spirituality and mission/ministry?

Sister Connie: The Sisters of Charity of New York are a Roman Catholic congregation of vowed religious women founded by Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. We are in the tradition of St. Vincent de Paul and from our earliest foundation our mission was to serve the poor of every type who may require our assistance. In former times our ministries centered around child care, hospital work and education. Now, however, our mission to serve the poor brings us into many different ministries. No matter where we are, we strive to bring our Logo, “Living Lives of Love” into practical loving service.

Sister Julie: What are your overall impressions of Doubt the movie?

Sister Connie: I loved the movie DOUBT! I thought it was an example of suburb, talented, acting set against a background of spectacular technical effects. All the elements of good theater combined to create a great fiction film.

Sister Julie: How did you feel the Sisters of Charity were portrayed?

Sister Connie: I thought the Sisters of Charity were portrayed as a typical Religious Community of that time, 1964. We were portrayed as educators and as a community of religious women living together. As an educator, Sister Aloysius was dedicated not only to the academic excellence of the school, but also to the protective care of each of her students, especially the most vulnerable. As a Sister in Community her loving attention to the ailing Sister Veronica was and is typical of our concern for one another.

The film was dedicated to one of our Sisters, Sister Margaret McEntee who taught the author, John Patrick Shanley in the first grade. Sister Margaret remains today a living example both of a Catholic educator, and Community woman.

Sister Julie: What was it like to meet Meryl Streep?

Sister Connie: I was introduced to Meryl Streep when she visited our Archives. Of course, I was thrilled! But on a deeper level, I was impressed with her friendly attitude and her desire to meet and talk with as many Sisters as she could. She visited two of our Retirement Houses, ate and chatted and had her picture taken with the Sisters. She also visited the Convent where Sister Margaret McEntee lives. She allowed us to take pictures and posed with endless patience. On another note, when she visited the Archives, and we showed her the clothing worn in 1964, she was very interested. She said that she would like to make her own shawl.

The Sisters have a webpage specifically on the Sisters of Charity of New York and Doubt.

We’ll be here from 2-4 EST but feel free to begin posting your questions or comments here. For those who submitted questions earlier, I’ll pass them along to the Sisters. Please extend a warm welcome to the Sisters of Charity of New York, Sister Connie Brennan, SC, Sister Regina Bechtle, SC, and Sister Mary McCormick, SC. All three will be responding via Sister Regina’s comments.

Tomorrow (Thursday) A Nun’s Life is hosting a blog discussion on the move Doubt from 2-4 p.m. EST. The Sisters of Charity of New York will be joining us to discuss the movie with us.

I wanted to offer a few of my thoughts and questions regarding the movie Doubt but I find that my time is running out as I must get to the airport momentarily to fly from San Francisco to Detroit. So instead, I’m turning to Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP, director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Culver City, CA. She is the author of the blog Sr. Rose Goes to the Movies.

Sister Rose wrote a thoughtful review of Doubt the Movie. Here’s a short excerpt but be sure to read the whole thing.

The atmosphere of the film is cold and stark: December in a frozen, urban landscape is bleak. The emotional, rational, spiritual state of doubt can be chilly: a dark night of the soul, the revelation or realization of doubt, that makes us take action and ask questions, that challenges the comfort of our certainty, is a cold, and at times, lonely journey.

As the writings of St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, and Mother Teresa attest, doubt happens, and however painful, can be a source of honesty and ultimately, spiritual growth.

The United States Catholic Bishops also has a review of Doubt the Movie.

You can also get a copy of the original play Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley.

The Sisters of Charity of New York are joining us at A Nun’s Life this Thursday to talk about the movie Doubt. We’ll chat about the making of Doubt, which they served as consultants for (the Sisters of Charity are the ones portrayed in Doubt) as well as their impressions of the movie as a whole.

This “live discussion” is happening from 2 – 4 p.m. (EST) on Thursday here on A Nun’s Life. The discussion is like other discussions we’ve had here (e.g. Jim Martin, SJ, and Joan Wester Anderson) where the interaction is through comments back and forth on the blog. So all you need to do is visit around 2 p.m., read and offer comments/questions on that day. This is your conversation! You can email me or comment directly on the blog post of that day. You’ll have to update/refresh your screen to see new comments/questions.

If you have any preliminary comments or questions about the movie please write them in the comment section below. If you can’t join us on Thursday from 2-4, check in anytime later and you’ll be able to see the discussion.

Tomorrow I’ll post my review of the movie and my preliminary questions for the sisters and for you!

This Thursday A Nun’s Life is hosting a discussion about Doubt, the movie about a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of having an improper relationship with a student. The discussion will be here on the blog on January 8 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

We will be joined by two Sisters of Charity of New York, the community of nuns who are featured in the film — Sister Connie Brennan, SC, the community’s archivist and Sister Regina Bechtle, SC. I am delighted and honored that they can join us and give us their impression of the movie, the making of the movie, and their experience as Sisters of Charity.

I just saw the movie with Sister Maxine Kollasch, IHM, so I’ll write up my own review of the movie and post it here prior to the discussion. I encourage you to see the move (or play) and join us for an online discussion about the movie, the Sisters of Charity, and other related topics.

If you have any questions now for the Sisters of Charity or Sister Maxine and myself, please offer them below and we’ll try to incorporate them into Thursday’s conversation.

Doubt is based on the play by John Patrick Shanley who also adapted and directed the movie version. The cast is stunning with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman,  Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.

Big news it seems in the entertainment world. Natalie Portman has been outed as having turned down the role of a young nun in the movie Doubt because she couldn’t wrap her head around the character being celibate. Playwright John Patrick Shanley explained: “We asked Natalie Portman, and Natalie was very interested but kept saying she had a problem. And we finally nailed down as to what the problem was: she basically said she didn’t understand celibacy.”

As you might suspect, I have a few words of wisdom for Natalie, as well as for Amy Adams who eventually took the role. Celibacy, my friends, is not an easy thing to understand especially in our society, but it is worth wresting with.

First things first: celibacy is basically abstaining from sexual relations. For people who take a religious vow of celibacy (as Catholic sisters and nuns do), the meaning of celibacy goes deeper than “merely” not having sex. Don’t get me wrong, not having sex is a significant choice and is not for the faint of heart. But it’s more than that for nuns. When we profess a vow of celibacy, we make a conscious choice of how we want to BE in the world, how we want to comport ourselves and how we want to relate to people and to the world. It means that we choose not only to not have sex, but also to not engage in sexual activity or to have “romantic”, exclusive relationships.

Whereas a married, sexually-active person gives herself/himself to a spouse and to a family, a nun gives herself to her relationship with God which is expressed through her relationship with her religious community (her “family”) and her mission (the way she serves the world). Being celibate leaves a nun “free” to go where God and her community calls her to go (having children and a spouse can make this more challenging). There’s also a counter-cultural dimension to the vow of celibacy. A nun testifies by her life that sex is not what it’s all about. Yes, sex is good, but even for healthy, sexually-active people, it doesn’t define a person nor constitute who she or he is.

Celibacy is not all that a nun is about — there is much more, though celibacy is definitely the first thing that might hit you! Celibacy is lived within a community of sisters who support one another in this lifestyle. We also profess the vows of poverty (simple living, holding all things in common) and obedience (to God and to the mission of the Congregation) which combined with celibacy shape a nuns life and help her live her life-long commitment to God, her sisters, and the world.

There’s lots more to say about living celibacy as a nun, but I’ll stop for now with an invitation: if you are considering playing a Catholic sister and nun, don’t get hung up on the celibacy part of it. It’s worth wrestling with and you can always come by A Nun’s Life for some insight and advice!