Oprah’s Got Catholic Nuns and Geishas

Kudos to the Dominican Sisters of Mary for their portrayal of religious life as they experience it! Additionally, I feel a great sense of disappointment for myself and the hundreds of thousands of women religious within the U.S. whose lives are likewise dedicated to the spreading of the Gospel but cannot identify with the lifestyle of the Sisters portrayed on Oprah. I am sorry the discussion did not involve at least a few of the numerous ways in which the call to religious life is lived out in 2010.

I didn’t get to see the whole interview, but I did catch the clips on Oprah’s website. I, too, am grateful for the sisters’ witness but am saddened that the show only presented one aspect of religious life. It would be great to have the stories of other women religious told as well. To do so would alleviate the misconception that there is only one way of responding to God’s call.

I, too, disagree with the presentation that the habit is the “wedding dress.” It was never intended as such and may be the way this particular congregation has come to identify it. I agree with Aneesah that the Dominican habit is beautiful; and if it was something to be worn the way our Dominican brothers wear it (over their clothes) for prayers and ministry, I might be inclined to wear one more regularly as well. However, the thought of wearing it all day every day for everything is just not appealing. Even those who are married don’t wear their wedding dresses every day of their married life! Besides, the habit does not make the religious; it is the heart that does so.

I also admit that the “spouse of Christ” image doesn’t really do much for me. I didn’t join the Dominicans to be married to Jesus. I joined to be a part of something bigger than myself; I stay, however ironically, because I have come to fall in love with the Lord through my congregation, the Dominican Family, and the myriad of people I have met along the journey. The image of marriage, though, just doesn’t capture the profundity of it.

The one part of the interview I really appreciated was the discussion on the important of silence and contemplation. Given the frenetic pace and onslaught of noise that comes at us each day, I believe one of the greatest witnesses of our lives (and a response to the signs of the times) is our willingness to enter the silence, to be contemplative, and to allow the Presence we encounter there to be the “animator” of our lives. It is something the world hungers for, and our witness of it might help lead others to a similar practice in their lives.

Teaching high school girls, I have an “Ask the Nun” day each semester. The students are encouraged to ask me any questions they want, and many of them are like the ones that were asked of the sisters on today’s show. My answers are similar to the ones they offered. If nothing else, this show reminded me that women in religious life – whether in conservative or more liberal congregations (though I am really beginning to hate such labeling) – are more alike than we are different. None of us has the market on “the right way” of being religious. We are all simply responding to the call of God in our lives; and with the witness of all of us, the Reign of God is being made more manifest.

Being a 19 year old non catholic male who only saw small cuts from the show, my opinion may be of no use. But, I am so grateful that the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist got to appear on secular television and bring that powerful witness to the public.

You can live a authentic religious life with or without a habit, and not being cloistered! You are a perfect example of that. This website you have is a true blessing to people looking to learn more about the Faith. You connect the faithful from ALL over the world and share in meaningful dialect. This diverse community that is your website, is spreading our faith wonderfully.

Certainly, where would we be without all the many religious sisters in the world who live for others and not for theirselves. Not for recognition from this passing world, but for the love of doing God’s work. Surely the world knows that not all nuns live in cloistered communities and wear habits, and I don’t believe that this was the message at all.

Their order’s story is truly a work of God’s providence in the world, and especially in the Catholic Church where our Faith is not being taught to the fullest, and sometimes downright lied about. The Sisters of Mary along with many others are on the forefronts of renewal to fix this problem in the Catholic Church in America.

The Sisters of Mary Mother of The Eucharist teach in schools in Michigan, California, Florida, and South Carolina. They reach out to young women with Spiritual Retreats, and they also have a teaching series on EWTN called Truth in the Heart. The Dominican Sisters of Mary were founded in 1997 by four Dominican sisters responding to John Paul II’s call for a new evangelization. In the 13 years of their existence, they have grown to almost 100 members. Their newly constructed motherhouse is already filled to capacity. Today, Tuesday, February 9, 2010, happens to land on the congregation’s 13th anniversary. The coincidence is “amazing, as they did not know this when they chose the date — but God did!” exclaimed the vocations director.

Please let us not say hurtful things about the sisters community or complain about how different they live from the majority of religious sisters in America. Let us live our vocations, and let God take care of the rest. A opportunity like this comes every 100 years when our fellow Religious Sisters are on a secular television show like Oprah, where tons of women and men of all ages and religions can see the powerful message that these Sisters bring.

Please Sr. Julie- continue to do God’s and the Church’s work in bringing our true Faith to the multitudes. Serving a community with Joy.

“Young Religious ought to enter blogs and correct the opinions of the youth, showing them the true Jesus” – Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar for Rome

I just finished watching the late night repeat and I thought this show was great. There is no denying the joy that radiated from the faces of the sisters on the show. They are a *powerful* witness to the secular world about the relevance of serving God in this way.

While not perfect, appearing on the number one talk show in America in this way is terrific exposure for Catholic nuns (Oprah didn’t feature any Anglican, Buddhist, or Lutheran sisters, for example.)

Up until I started reading this blog, I didn’t know anything about sisters, nuns and religious orders. (I probably was worse than Oprah! Nuns with blogs! lol…Thanks, Sister Julie!) I’m not a Catholic and I think Oprah speaks for her non-Catholic demographic with her simple, uneducated questions. I would suggest that Sisters that feel like there’s more Oprah could learn should write or email the show. She might do a longer, more educated show in the future!

(I will agree, though, that the Geisha juxtaposition was very unfortunate — but it was probably a ratings chaser. )

For the Sisters and lay persons that have posted, with all due respect, please get some perspective for the greater Church!

It’s a great and wonderful thing to see such a vibrant an amazing community! Please don’t get offended or see some sort of identity crisis just for the fact that your particular way of community life wasn’t highlighted. Do you really expect Oprah to be able to create a 20 minute segment that does a survey of all of the forms that consecrated women religious take on in the US? Absolutely NOT.

She was able, however, to point out a really good example of a vibrant group of women who are completely counter-cultural, and live our the common Evangelical Counsels of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. That is what matters.

As a discerning man with the Dominican Friars, my heart only swells to see such a life highlighted. I’m not offended or disheartened because they only talked about Sisters and Nuns! They showed a group of Religious who are Catholic and proclaim Jesus to the world in a way that only Catholic Religious can!!

Be excited with your whole heart, not half-heartedly disappointed because it didn’t cover your particular way of life.

Half a show was not enough to portray even this one congregation. A whole show on women religious would be a wonderful idea. The Sisters did well fielding the inevitable sex questions. The expressions on Oprah’s face (which at times looked exaggerated) seemed to say she really did not get it, which is not unusual. She does not have children either. But pointing out some orders don’t have pets may have hit home. Lisa Ling seemed to have grasped the concept a little better. The little snippets with “other” Sisters was disappointingly short, but there was not time for more. I think it would be something if a bunch of us women religous wrote in and asked for our own show. Could be fun. But I think the life I lead as a religious lacks the sensationalism needed for ratings. Watching TV, wearing a veil rather than full habit, and living in a normal house with one other Sister won’t get ratings. It would have been helpful to explain that it was a Motherhouse, not just a convent. So, I hope this is just one of episodes featuring religious not just an anomaly.

As Sr. Julie has pointed out, Oprah is a business woman. She had no interest in doing a documentary about nuns for daytime TV. She featured this particular order, because, like Geishas, most of her viewers would find their way of life exotic. Sisters, if you want to do a documentary on the passion you feel in your own way of life, do it, promote it, take it to film festivals–whatever. Given your strong feelings, I think it would be sad if you waited for Oprah or someone from the outside to pick up the beat.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the program. I did view a few snippets though. Does anyone know how we can find out when the show will be broadcast again?

From what I saw, the interview looked fine. I didn’t find it offensive. It does, admittedly, just profile this one very conservative group of sisters. I’m not sure whether or not this is a shortcoming. A lot of various groups are interviewed on TV that are not representative of their group as a whole. The advantage of interviewing this congregation, however, is indeed that they do have a lot of new, young recruits. This is positive I believe. Viewers unfamiliar with religious life will therefore see religious life as a viable option, one that still attracts a reasonable number of women, and younger ones at that. I know many on this thread will dislike my next comment, but if you focus on a congregation where a majority of its members are over 65, there might be less of an appeal. Now I’m just talking from a public relations kind of standpoint. Certainly congregations with mainly older women and fewer recruits are not “less” than the one depicted on Oprah.

For balance, should sisters living a life different than the one those sisters live up in Ann Arbor be given equal time on Oprah? That’d be great. I’d like to see some nun “trail blazers” on Oprah. Also some corporate executives, i.e., CEOs of hospitals, university presidents, lawyers, etc. A good lead-in story might be a way to get one’s foot in the door – Dorothy Stang, Katherine Drexel (especially since Oprah is into Black History), etc. Start off with the one story and then move out into religious life in general. I love Sr. Julie (other sister Julie’s) idea about having the audience peopled with nuns. I do believe tickets are free for the Oprah Show but you probably have to book way in advance.

I have not seen the Oprah show of course as it is shown with some months delay in Australia and I would have to be alerted to the particular edition. However from the above comments I can see that it would be very desirable for other Sisters, especially other Dominicans, to be protrayed for a future edition. My understanding at my reception of the habit (traditional) when we changed from a wedding dress to the cream serge was certainly not that the habit was to be my wedding dress, but that it was the dress of the “ordinary” people of Dominic’s time. Since it no longer is I would now feel foolish wearing it, particularly as the life of a Dominican Sister today is so much less restricted by going beyond the cloister. (This does not address at all the cost of cream serge today.)

As a lifelong Catholic and daytime TV Producer (Never worked at Oprah’s show) I was very psyched to see today’s show. As a Catholic school student, I spent 12 years in classrooms taught by nuns and never really fully understood the choice , lifestyle or meaning. I had a front row seat, but when I saw the promo I was thinking… ‘Oh, finally…’ And tuned in. I googled around to see what the church and other nuns had to say and found this page.

The thing is, when you produce a show like that one, from experience, you try your best to cover it as widely as possible and also catch all the intricacies of an issue or group. You anguish and research and make endless phonecalls trying to find the right interview that will express thousands of points of view. It is daunting, and I’ve offended groups before. Message boards just like this one claimed I produced shows that didn’t show every possible view of water birthing, vaccinations, cheerleading dangers, etc. I even had a white supremacy group say that I only showed one type of ‘weak’ neo natzi when covering Racism in America and that there are many more stronger racists out there that were’t represented. (Though, for obvious reasons that one didn’t bother me!) The thing to remember is daytime talk shows are really just conversations. Aside from the tape packages, the goal is to send out the best talkers you can book that will provide the host and viewer with insight in a natural way. It just flows. Have you ever walked away from a conversation and thought, ‘Gee… I should’ve said this… or that?” Aside from NPR, there are few outlets where conversations can go on for hours. Oprah provided a taste that honestly did more good than harm, from my standpoint. The tape piece that everyone felt glossed over independent/working/non-habit wearing nuns was the controlled-chance the show had to do a wider overview, where the on-set conversation could fall short. The show was inside one convent and focused on these women. That was clear enough to outsiders.

The MOST IMPORTANT part was at the very beginning when Oprah said her bookers and producers called every convent they could and only ONE said yes. If Oprah looked surprised it’s because with her clout she can get cameras in everywhere… interview anyone… the Catholic church’s closed door ‘feel’ cracked a bit today and that’s a GOOD thing. If more convents were willing to open up there may have been more views. But, we all know how much red tape most archdiocese have. I hope that this segment is the first of many that give young people a better view of the church and doesn’t send nuns and churches shying away from media. Trust that this was just a taste… and in 2010 many, many people will hit the internet to find out more to ‘the story.’ Just my opinion… thought my work experience could be somewhat helpful in your discussion.

Thank you for posting this, Sister Julie. I saw the clips on Oprah.com earlier this week and just tuned in to see the full episode. Overall, I think the Dominican sisters did an excellent job answering all those questions (most of which were asked out of ignorance, as Oprah admitted herself) and were beautiful witnesses of the power of God working in each of their lives. I also loved how they did not sugarcoat why they were called into the religious life, and kept reaffirming that “God is good, Oprah!”, as well as answering the sex question in a very direct, straightforward way. The documentary was very well filmed and it was cool that their convent was the only one… out of the 100s that Oprah called, that said yes. It was also good for Lisa Ling to be able to spend the night in the convent and get an insider’s look into what life must be like.

I do agree with some of you who said that there was not enough variety and that most of the show was dictated by Oprah and Lisa as THEIR views, not the sisters. It would have been nice to expound on the fact that not all sisters live in community or wear the habit, and perhaps give people a historical overview of the Dominican order and how they differ from other orders, and perhaps address more misconceptions that the general public has about Sisters, the Catholic faith and religious life in general. And yes, the juxtaposing with the Geishas was indeed VERY strange, so I ignored that part. Period.

That being said, I studied abroad in Orvieto, Italy over 6 years ago and lived in a convent (as a part of my study abroad program) run by the Sisters of Mary our Lady, a Roman Catholic teaching order of nuns that live in community, wear ordinary clothes and are allowed to go to [say, Target] to buy stuff when they need it. The convent also housed a PreK – 1st grade program and serves as a bed & breakfast for the tourists and locals alike. Wine and beer are allowed, as well as watching TV, downing espresso and eating gelato (in moderation, of course). The Mother Superior also happened to be a big fan of soccer and car racing, so it was not uncommon to see her make the occasional trip to watch a Ferrari/Formula One race. On the flip side, there was also a “Rule of Life” the sisters adhered to and it was always beautiful to join their prayer services and work with them in the kitchen and around the convent. There was also a great respect to silence, and even night owl’s such as myself appreciated the 11pm nightly curfew. These Sisters truly believed in the value of each person to become all that God has created them to be, and that was made evident when I stayed there, went back to visit on numerous occasions and why our friendship remains, even to this day. If I hadn’t gone on this program, I doubt I would have such a deep respect for nuns and the religious life. Broke all my pre-conceived stereotypes for sure… =)

In any case, I was really thrilled to see the Dominican sisters featured on the Oprah show. I know certain Christian denominations have singled Oprah out due to her involvement with New Age practices, so it was very powerful to her invite and feature these Sisters on her show and have her talk about her own understanding of Christianity as well. Not sure if it was featured on the televised episode, but the final clip on their website showed Oprah interviewing some of the sisters after their visit. One of them said something along the lines of — “If you don’t acknowledge something greater than yourself, how can you do anything great?” which was definitely beautiful and well-spoken. May these women, and all Sisters in religious life, continue to live out these powerful testimonies and be a light unto our darkened world… this is the best way of bringing the Kingdom of God here on earth. 

I havent read yet all the comments, but, now that I’ve seen the show, I would like to express one impression in particular. The show didnt leave me with a bad impression on nuns (but thats beacause I kind of know how it works) but it did left me with a bad impresison on Oprah (whom I had never seen before) Its true that some people might think that Oprah’s points of views on things are the most valid, but its not difficult to find out that she talks too much from a very banal and subjective place. And the questions she made to the nuns were absolutely superficial too. Also, I dont think the sisters were talking from a “theology of religious life” when they spoke about marriage or wedding dress, it didnt seem to me that they all live it precisely like that, in stead I think one of the nun mentioned it just in the air and Oprah was so delighted with it that she kept repeating it, and the nuns, who according to my opinion, fastly realised how ignorant in the topic was Oprah, just kept saying yes so that, at least on that metaphore Oprah could have a slight idea of what religious life is… I think the nuns were great!! Oprah, instead stood like an idiot showing them as if they were phenomena, which they left clear not to be….

Hi I also thought the comparison with Geisha was odd. However, being a catholic myself I found the segment informative and enlightening, things I did not know about. Its nice to know that nuns too are just regular people but took a leap of faith to answer their calling. After watching this I’m wondering too whether I was deaf myself to a higher calling, well too late for me I have now two beautiful kids. The 1st and 2nd year nuns were so genuine in their comments and made be believe that they truly are fulfilled and feel that they are contributing to a greater cause. I’m hoping to sign up for a few charitable activities myself after watching the show after all life is too short and we have to give ourselves completely….God bless