Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church's Betrayal of American Nuns

I did personally feel that this book felt a bit academic at times, as opposed to giving us this fascinating information mainly through longer personal stories and remembrances, but writing style aside, it really gets the subject across. The fact that Mr. Briggs put 8 years into this book really shows, not only in the compelling material and telling personal stories, but also in his knowledge of Catholic history and theology in spite of not being Catholic himself. This book was interesting to me as a feminist, as one interested in Catholic history and nuns, and someone who, several times, thought semi-seriously about becoming a nun when younger (the religion I ended up choosing was not Catholicism, so the sisterhood was obviously ruled out for me). The history of nuns in America is a very long and fascinating one, and the numbers of American sisters steadily grew over time, till their ranks were swelling in the decades just before Vatican II. Even though some sisters might not have considered themselves such (for various reasons that Mr. Briggs explains throughout the book), nuns really were the original feminists. They were liberated women ages before the ordinary secular American women were. They might not have been liberated from things like hierarchical control and institutionalised sexism in the Church, but they were liberated insofar as they were out there working, going to college, getting advanced degrees, being administrators of hospitals, schools, and social welfare agencies, having their own identities instead of being identified through a husband, and being childfree, in an age where pregnancy could be a death sentence for women, particularly before birth control was legal and widely available; nuns could always work and control their own lives because they had no husbands and children. Historically, unmarried women, nuns or not, have always had more power and freedom than married women; only in the past few decades has that begun to change. Topics covered in the book include the habit, unforeseen consequences of Vatican II's call for renewal and re-examination of religious life and the histories of these orders, the horrible poverty many aging nuns have found themselves in, the mass exodus of nuns in the years after Vatican II, nuns and feminism, the backlash against progressive nuns (and feminism in general), groups working for female ordination, and nuns getting advanced degrees. Since no two orders and no two nuns are alike, there are a plethora of viewpoints on these issues. For example, some orders never really had a habit, and there were some orders in the 19th century whose founders got away with never wearing a habit. Many different nuns offer differing viewpoints on the future of the sisterhood in the face of their dwindling ranks and the continued interference from bishops. As Mr. Briggs shows, there's no one clear and simple answer to the question of why there are relatively few nuns under the age of 50 today,

I have lived thru many of the years descibed in this book & know that the messge is correct. The nuns have been the step-children of the Church. No respect or honor from the high clergy. They were/are worker-bees even today. W/out them to teach in the schools, the Church is failing its members. When Vatican II permitted their habits to be voluntary, the nuns were no longer visible thusly they doubly lost any hope of value or equality w/in the male dominated Church. But this tactic backfired since Catholic schools no longer exist for the most part w/out the visibility & inclusion of nuns into the lives of congregations. A young nun is rare. The nuns basically are old now to be sure & have no means of support except for begging & intelligent investments planned on their own. They also care for one another by inviting those Orders on the brink into larger & more successful & better planned ones. While the Church abandoned the nuns, their families & friends have been supportive. The Church itself, however, in the process, has lost its way.

This is an extraordinary history of American Sisters and should be read not only by the many Sisters who lived through these critical years of renewal and loss but also by the many women who entered religious life during these decades from the 40s through the 80s and made the painful decision to leave their communities. I found many of the stories brought back memories of my own religious life, and I highly recommend this book. It will make you angry at times, but it should also be read because it is a history of visionary American women that should not be lost. I am grateful to Kenneth Briggs for bringing it to our consciousness.

Not being either a Catholic or a woman, I didn't think I would be interested in this book, but once I started reading it I discovered that Mr. Briggs found in the decline of nuns a canvas to say so much about many issues of the last 50 years. Would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding women and/or church autority in our society. Very well written and researched. Many fascinating stories between its covers.

Ken Briggs is worked on this book for 10 years--and it was worth waiting for. Based upon copious research and (especially) interviews with a large number of sisters, Briggs produced a book that demonstrates a depth of knowledge and insight that is rare in books of this sort. He clearly has a point of view--sympathy with the more progressive sisters about whom most of this book is written--but he also allows others to speak for themselves. What is especially remarkable is that the author is not only not a sister, he's not a Catholic. That might not be evident to those not aware of the fact; the book SEEMS to reflect a kind of cultural familiarity that one would expect mainly from a Catholic author. Briggs did a lot of research in both popular and scholarly literature, too. Needless to say, I highly recommend this book.