Ultimatum to Nuns

Should a nun be allowed to kick her religious habit and appear publicly in skirt and blouse? Yes, decided Los Angeles' progressive-minded Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who last fall made a number of reforms in their way of life, including the right to wear civilian dress. Although other Roman Catholic orders have modified or dropped their habits without any trouble, none of the changes seemed to please Los Angeles' James Francis Cardinal Mclntyre. He threatened to dismiss the sisters from their teaching posts in parochial schools of his archdiocese. The nuns promptly appealed to the Vatican, which appointed a special four-member commission to investigate.

Last week, after two months of study, the commission, headed by Denver's Archbishop James V. Casey, announced a compromise decision. The commission split the order temporarily into two groups, one progressive and the other traditionalist. The traditionalists, including the 50 nuns who had initially opposed modernization, will be allowed to continue in their schools with Vatican blessings. The 500 progressives, many of whom now work in various Los Angeles ghetto projects, will be given "a reasonable time to experiment, to reflect and to come to a definitive decision concerning their rule of life, to be submitted to the Holy See."

Unmentioned in the commission's ruling was the fact that the Vatican had in the meantime sent the sisters an unpleasant ultimatum. Speaking for Pope Paul, Rome's Sacred Congregation of Religious ruled that if the progressives want to continue as an approved religious order, they must return to wearing "a recognizable habit." Rome also ordered them to restore the traditional discipline of religious life, including the compulsory daily prayer services that the reforming sisters considered in conflict with their work outside the convent.

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