Breaking the habit : a study of changes in the Benedictine Women's Religious Order in Ferdinand, Indiana, since 1965

Abstract

During the decade of the 1960s, Catholic women's religious orders experienced a mass exodus of members. The Benedictine community in Ferdinand, Indiana lost 88 members in 1968 alone. The instability in this Benedictine women's religious order during the 1960s was a unique occurrence since the Benedictine way of life had remained virtually the same for 1500 years. So many women left religious orders during this time that the infrastructure of religious communities changed dramatically. The Benedictine community experienced massive changes in their way of religious life due to changes in the Catholic Church as a result of Vatican Il and because of the social changes happening in the 1960s. Background research was conducted on the topics of Vatican II, the feminist movement, and changes in religious orders. Interviews were conducted with members of the Benedictine community who were in leadership roles; with women who had left the Benedictine convent in the 1960s during the time of the Grand Exit; and with nuns who had entered the Benedictine community during the 1960s and remain in the order today. The principal causes of women leaving religious orders during the sixties were due to changes mandated by Vatican II such as the shedding of the distinctive religious habit and shifting theology, and the social changes that provided increasing opportunities for women in society. Women interviewed who had left the convent were unaware of the impact of the social changes. They recalled leaving the community for personal reasons. Current nuns interviewed perceived the social changes as the motivating factors for upheaval in women's religious communities, and these changes forced the Benedictine community in Ferdinand, Indiana to rethink and redirect a way of life that had remained constant for 1500 years. Now the community has a better sense of theology, a renewed sense of mission, and a renewed dedication to a life of seeking God.