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

© Ryan Hulvat Kenneth Briggs

Briggs has given us what will almost certainly come to be seen as the definitive history on U.S women religious in the second half of the twenty century. The book highlights the mistreatment of women religious by the Catholic Church as it reveals a history of unfulfilled promises, misuse of clerical power, and a devastating failure to recognize the singular contributions of these women.

The Church in America has lost nearly 100,000 religious sisters in the last forty years, a much greater loss than the priesthood. While the explanation is partly cultural—contemporary women have more choices in work and life—Ken Briggs contends that the rapid disappearance of convents can be traced directly to the Church's betrayal of the promises of reform made by the Second Vatican Council.

Note: Loretto Sr. Mary Luke Tobin, whom Briggs talks about in Episode 2, died Aug. 24, a week after these podcasts were recorded and the day before the podcasts were posted. Read NCR's appreciation of Tobin here: She helped shape the church

Briggs's research provides compelling insights into why the number of religious sisters has declined so precipitously in recent decades. The lessons in this book echo outward, not only pertaining to women religious but also to the ranks of so many demoralized Catholic lay women, and, further, through the lives of laity in general who have invested large portions of their lives, at the behest of Vatican II bishops, in church renewal. These countless souls will now better understand the wider web of their own confusion and the larger dynamics of the tragic double cross.

Briggs has written on religious topics for more than thirty years. He began his career as the first religion writer at Newsday and was the religion editor at the New York Times from 1974 to 1985. He is the author of Holy Siege and has written articles for numerous publications, and has contributed to Beliefnet.com. He lives in Pennsylvania.