Sr. Maureen at age 18. |
Sr. Maureen, in fact, sees theology as an exploration and credits the Second Vatican Council with her journey. She wrote 101 Questions and Answers About Vatican II , a Paulist Press book published in November 2002, and will spend her sabbatical next semester working on a second Vatican II book.
She says that without the spirit of openness and renewal of Vatican II, she would not be a religious sister today. She might not even be a Roman Catholic.
“The theology right before Vatican II was pretty much about rules and regulations and hierarchy,” she said. “Jesus was always going for the interior dimension. And that’s what I think Pope John XIII [who convened Vatican II] was going for. A return to a spirituality found in the New Testament that looks inward, not outward. ”
Sr. Maureen grew up in a “rough and tumble Irish ghetto” in Manhattan, where her father still lives. In third grade, she vowed to become a nun—inspired, she says, by the joyful, “ain’t-life-grand” attitude of the Dominican sisters who taught her. A turn as a bridesmaid in high school attracted her briefly to weddings, but in 1965, just a few months out of high school, she made good on her third-grade vow.
“It was a more viable option in those days, right up there with any other career option,” she said. “In fact, it was an opportunity for women. Sisters ran hospitals. They were college presidents. You don’t have to be a nun to do what I do as a theologian, but I see myself—any priest or nun—as a signpost in this world for the kingdom of God.”
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