Nuns Call for Better Treatment of Image

The nuns are annoyed.

The satire in “Nunsense” seems a generation outdated. The insipidity of Sally Field in “The Flying Nun” still makes them cringe.

And the hapless convent dwellers in “Sister Act” may be great as foils for Whoopi Goldberg, but they insult a cadre of women who rank among the best-educated in the world.

Catholic sisters say they are weary of being mocked and patronized. Granted, few groups like their depiction in the mass media. But if you let this rough cultural shorthand be your guide, you would assume nuns were either young and dumb or old and mean.

“I think if what was being put out there was in the ballpark, we wouldn’t be so concerned,” said Sister Nancy A. Schreck, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 90% of the Catholic sisters in the United States. “We are women who stand for something, and one way to take away the strength of what we stand for is to trivialize us, mock us and undercut our characters.”

In Cleveland, 20 congregations of nuns have decided to give editors, reporters and producers a fresh impression. They have organized a seminar for media workers this month as part of a Positive Image of Religious Life Project.

“Let me give you an example,” said Sister Maureen McCarthy, who leads the Ursuline sisters in Cleveland. “We were having a religious leadership meeting with 50 or 60 women, and a local television station came because they were filming a day in the life of Bishop (Anthony) Pilla. Only six women at the meeting were in headdress, but the camera focused immediately on these few.”

Most Catholic nuns work in street clothes. They characterize their civilian attire as part of being among God’s people, not separate from them.

Sisters have poured into untraditional careers: law, hospice ministry, even construction.

A national survey of American sisters identified four important career trends:

* Less work among children and more work with adults.

* Less service to the middle class and affluent and more work among the materially poor.

* Less official church-sponsored work.

* Less work in institutions.

The nuns who once served as the backbone of parochial schools and church hospitals are being eclipsed by a new breed, sisters say. And while the ranks of American sisters have shrunk 40% in the last three decades, many who remain report joy and challenge in their tasks.

The film “Dead Man Walking” wins kudos from a variety of nuns as the best depiction of a contemporary sister put on screen.

In an Oscar-winning performance, Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen Prejean, a crusader against the death penalty. This screen nun is no luminous Mother Teresa or tuneful Maria Von Trapp. Sarandon’s character is beset by self-doubt, fear and criticisms--even as she is borne up by her faith, her friendships and her sense of humor.

Sarandon refused to wear the habit originally assigned to her character because Prejean doesn’t cover her head. The script was rewritten to show Sarandon’s character explaining that her order, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, hasn’t worn the headdress for 20 years.