Nurturing Change
Before health care evolved into a business, a science and a largely government-regulated sector, care facilities sprouted because nuns planted themselves among communities in need of health attention. “We would probably not have the systems of care we have today without their leadership,” says Therese Pandl, president and CEO of the Eastern Wisconsin Division of Hospital Sisters Health System, who has worked with nuns for more than 30 years. “What I’ve observed over my experience working with them is courage, tenacity and figuring out how to get things done in the face of incredible adversity.”
Leclare embodies this pioneering spirit. She says of her fellow nurses, “We have learned to be creative, adjust and stick with it. When we didn’t have it, we created it.”
At the turn of the century, a time when American culture resisted female empowerment, “Women had more opportunities if they chose a different path,” says Pandl. Women who chose the path of religious service could travel the world, receive higher education and secure freedom from the necessity of marriage as an economic crutch. With a strong will and feisty spirit, American Catholic sisters are bold. With their daring commitment to elevating the status of the disadvantaged, they can be considered some of the first feminists.
“I surely do not put men down,” qualifies Leclare. “I love men too much. But I think that women have to have their place, and they should not be put down as the weaker sex. Because I do not think we are too weak at all…women just cannot be demeaned. So I will stick up for them.”
Barb Kruse, who serves as the spiritual director for the Franciscan Spirituality Center, has observed Leclare’s perseverance as a personal friend over the past 30 years. “She’s as tough as nails….She’s not going to be intimidated by men, or men who have power,” Kruse says. “Somehow she found within herself power to be that pioneer.”
Pandl does not think Leclare is unique in her disposition. “They are definitely feminists, in that feminism is the outrageous conclusion that women are equals…social justice is part of why they believe they exist,” she says of the nuns she has encountered. “Even though there’s variation within religious women groups, they still will be strong in their support of people.”
Not everyone is singing feminist nuns’ praise, however. American sisters’ documented support of legislation that broadly advances personal equity brings them into conflict with some male Catholic leaders. In recent years, the Vatican issued a report berating groups like the NETWORK, a social justice advocacy group of nuns, and the larger umbrella group, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Both groups gained notoriety outside Catholic circles in recent years.
The NETWORK lobbied Congress to pass the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and is most recognizable for its “Nuns on the Bus” cross-country tour. In September 2012, the NETWORK’s Executive Director Sister Simone Campbell addressed the Democratic National Convention about economic support for the poor, prompting a thankful call from President Obama. On the other hand, LCWR represents 400 American orders and between 80 to 90 percent of sisters in the United States, including Leclare’s order, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. LCWR believes health care is a right and therefore supports the ACA as a whole, despite it including birth control provisions. Both groups celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the ACA in June 2012.
In response, the Vatican called American nuns in these groups “radical feminists,” accusing them of deviating from traditional Catholic values. Compared to nuns in some parts of Europe who rarely leave the convent and still wear habits, American sisters have enjoyed a more secularized position in society.
This situation demonstrates the fundamentally different viewpoints with which Catholic male and female leaders approach health care reform. Leclare describes nuns’ support as holistic, while the Vatican is narrowly focused on a few specific provisions.
“[Nuns] are very good about being realistic and practical, but also visionary,” says Barb Kruse’s husband and Chief Administrative Officer of Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare, Joe Kruse. “They are an inspiration.”
With American nuns’ actions deemed divergent, the Vatican indicates it will begin censoring nuns’ teaching and speaking materials and may even disband the LCWR.
