Catholic priests and bishops told to stop using nuns as cheap labour

A Vatican magazine has slammed the exploitation of nuns by the cardinals and bishops and demanded they stop treating them like lowly servants.

The March edition of Women Church World exposed underpaid labour of sisters in the Catholic Church, saying sisters often cook and clean for the male hierarchy. 

The publication, which is the monthly women’s magazine of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, said the nuns’ remuneration was ‘random and often modest’.  

One article reads: ‘Some of them serve in the homes of bishops or cardinals, others work in the kitchens of church institutions or teach. 

The nuns, who take vows of poverty, received no pay and are sent to residences of male Church officials as part of their assignments

‘Some of them, serving men of the church, get up in the morning to make breakfast, and go to sleep after dinner is served, the house cleaned and the laundry washed and ironed.’ 

The nuns, who take vows of poverty, received no pay and are sent to residences of male Church officials as part of their assignments.

Most working in male-run residences or institutions, such as seminaries, were local nationals. 

But in recent years many have come over from Africa, Asia and other parts of the developing world. 

Most nuns working in male-run residences or institutions, such as seminaries, were local nationals but, in recent years, many have come over from Africa, Asia and other parts of the developing world

Most nuns working in male-run residences or institutions, such as seminaries, were local nationals but, in recent years, many have come over from Africa, Asia and other parts of the developing world

The author of the article said that what saddened her most was that some nuns she spoke to were ‘rarely invited to sit at the table they serve’ and made to eat in the kitchen on their own. 

One told the journalist that her fellow sisters who had PhDs had been ordered to carry out domestic work and chores that had ‘no relationship to their intellectual formation’.

The nuns’ experiences could be transformed ‘into a richness for the whole Church, if the male hierarchy sees it as an occasion for a true reflection on power’, the article continued. 

Only a handful of women hold senior positions in the Vatican hierarchy, including Barbara Jatta, who last year became the first woman to head the Vatican Museums. 

Pope Francis, unlike his predecessors, lives in a Vativan guest house which is run similarly to a hotel 

Pope Francis, unlike his predecessors, lives in a Vativan guest house which is run similarly to a hotel 

The late Pope John Paul, who reigned from 1978 to 2005, had a team of five Polish nuns who ran his household in the papal apartments in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace

The late Pope John Paul, who reigned from 1978 to 2005, had a team of five Polish nuns who ran his household in the papal apartments in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace

A number of nuns have senior roles in the Vatican departments that look after religious issues. 

Pope Francis, unlike his predecessors, lives in a Vativan guest house which is run similarly to a hotel. 

He takes his meals in the main dining room, which is staffed by paid waiters. 

The late Pope John Paul, who reigned from 1978 to 2005, had a team of five Polish nuns who ran his household in the papal apartments in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

The household of former Pope Benedict, who resigned in 2013 was looked after by about eight female members of a lay Catholic organization known as Memores Domini.



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