Renegade Ex-Nuns Raise Hell In Poland

Posted by Zuzu at 5:53 AM on October 11, 2007.

This post, written by Zuzu, originally appeared on Feministe

You gotta love any story that involves the phrase "rebellious ex-nuns." And it's kind of a doozy, too.

KAZIMIERZ DOLNY, Poland (AP) -- Police evicted 65 rebellious ex-nuns Wednesday from a convent they illegally occupied for two years after defying a Vatican order to replace their mother superior, a charismatic leader who had religious visions.

The defeated nuns walked out in their black habits -- some carrying guitars, drums and tambourines -- after a locksmith opened the gate to the walled compound and police in riot gear rushed in and arrested the mother superior. A former Franciscan friar who had locked himself away with the nuns also was taken into custody.

Several nuns, many of whom appeared to be in their 20s, screamed at police, calling them ''servants of Satan," as they were escorted out and into waiting buses.

God forbid that a bunch of nuns might have some opinions on who to follow:

The women took over the convent in Kazmierz Dolny in eastern Poland in rebellion against a Vatican order in 2005 to replace Jadwiga Ligocka as mother superior.

"They were disobedient," said Mieczyslaw Puzewicz, a spokesman for the Lublin diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican formally expelled the women from their Sisters of Bethany order last year, but has revealed almost nothing about the dispute.

The problem, apparently, is that Ligocka has become a powerful figure to these nuns. Er, ex-nuns. Because once you start being disobedient, you have no place in the Catholic Church hierarchy.

The Vatican likes its female saints tractable, self-sacrificing, and most importantly, obedient. And it likes them to inspire obedience in others. And to refrain from having dangerous and unsanctioned thoughts:

Lublin Archbishop Jozef Zycinski called the police operation a last resort meant to help the ex-nuns.

"Today's police intervention was a sort of act of desperate aid for people who for the past two years have lived in very unusual conditions, in a closed environment, in seclusion, in uncertainty, where various forms of thought take shape," the PAP news agency quoted Zycinski as saying.

"One could clearly see that tension and aggression during today's intervention."

Far be it from me to take religious visions at face value, or to ascribe any sort of divine power to them. But I thought that visions were supposed to be a good thing, what with Mary busily appearing in trees, chocolate, windows, pretzels, underpasses and grilled cheese sandwiches (though I *still* maintain that it's Jean Harlow in the grilled cheese sandwich), pizza pans, among other, traditional locales like fountains and pastures.

Turns out, the Church fathers seem to be uncomfortable with unsanctioned visions (i.e., any visions that didn't happen a hundred or more years ago and which haven't been officially recognized), and more importantly, with the allure that Ligocka had for the women who followed her into the convent:

Mother Jadwiga is a charismatic figure who claimed to have religious visions and was reportedly attempting to transform the convent into a contemplative order.

The Lublin diocese hinted at that portrait in a statement on its Web site that said: "Mother Jadwiga's private revelations, and the fact that she made it a guideline to stick by them, caused unease to the Congregation."

The Vatican, which has authority over all convents, has traditionally been wary of people claiming visions, in part fearing others could be drawn in.

Guess they don't like anyone working their side of the street.

Tagged as: religion, catholic church, nuns

Zuzu is a regular blogger for Feministe.