c. 1996 Religion News Service

(RNS)-The nuns are annoyed.

The satire in “Nunsense” seems a generation outdated. The insipidness of Sally Field in “The Flying Nun” still makes them cringe.

And the hapless convent dwellers in “Sister Act” may be great as foils for Whoopi Goldberg, but they insult a cadre of women who rank among the best-educated in the world.

Catholic sisters say they are weary of being mocked and patronized. Granted, few groups like their depiction in the mass media. But if you let this rough cultural shorthand be your guide, you would assume nuns were either young and dumb or old and mean.

“I think if what was being put out there was in the ballpark, we wouldn’t be so concerned,” said Sister Nancy A. Schreck, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 90 percent of the Catholic sisters in the United States. “We are women who stand for something, and one way to take away the strength of what we stand for is to trivialize us, mock us and undercut our characters.”

Nuns in Cincinnati bought a newspaper ad recently declaring “They’re Imposters” next to a cast picture from “Nunsense.” Beneath, portraits of six sisters ran under the rubric “We’re the Real Thing.” These featured a Hispanic nun who builds houses for the poor and a 50-year-old widow who has just joined a convent.

In Cleveland, 20 distinct congregations of nuns have decided to give local editors, reporters and producers a fresh impression. They have organized a seminar for media workers later this month as part of a Positive Image of Religious Life Project.

“Let me give you an example,” said Sister Maureen McCarthy, who leads the Ursuline sisters in Cleveland. “We were having a religious leadership meeting with 50 or 60 women, and a local television station came because they were filming a day in the life of Bishop (Anthony) Pilla. Only six women at the meeting were in headdress, but the camera focused immediately on these few.”

The vast majority of Catholic nuns work in street clothes. They characterize their civilian attire as part of being among God’s people, not separate from them-a notion that flowered after Vatican II.

Like other American women, sisters have poured into untraditional careers: law, hospice ministry, occasionally construction.

“When people see images of nuns in habits playing volleyball, it’s very little-girlish, very demeaning,” said Sister Chris Schenk of Cleveland. “People immediately trip back to Sister Mary Holy Pictures who rapped them on their knuckles in third grade. And that is so far removed from our reality.

“I find that religious women are doing some of the most exciting work in our society-from ministry with the homeless to helping broaden our sense of who could be ordained. But we are so busy in our daily work that we rarely pause to get our stories out.”

A national survey of American sisters identified four important career trends:

-Less work among children and more work with adults.

-Less service to the middle class and affluent and more work among the materially poor.

-Less official church-sponsored work.

-Less work in institutions.

The nuns who once served as the backbone of parochial schools and church hospitals are being eclipsed by a new breed, sisters say. And while the ranks of American sisters have shrunk 40 percent in the last three decades, many who remain report joy and challenge in their tasks.

“I wish the public could understand how committed sisters are, how concerned they are about the people at the fringes of society and how hard they work to tell the Gospel, to tell the good news,” said Sister Jeanean Merkel from her Leadership Conference office in Silver Spring, Md.

The film “Dead Man Walking” wins kudos from a variety of nuns as the best depiction of a contemporary sister put on screen.

In an Oscar-winning performance, Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen Prejean, a crusader against the death penalty. This screen nun is no luminous Mother Teresa or tuneful Maria Von Trapp. Sarandon’s character is beset by self-doubt, fear and criticisms-even as she is borne up by her faith, her friendships and her sense of humor.

Sarandon refused to wear the habit originally assigned to her character because Prejean doesn’t cover her head. The script was rewritten to show Sarandon’s character explaining that her order, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, hasn’t worn the headress for 20 years.

“The sisters were grateful that she didn’t fall into the cliche,” said Karen W. Hurley, communications director for the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati. “The habit is a very powerful symbol, and the symbol has been captured by `Nunsense’ and `Sister Act.’

“Because there is no counter-symbol for nuns today, people don’t recognize us and have this idea that all the sisters are dying out.”

American Catholic sisters number 92,107 now, down from 173,866 three decades ago, according to the Leadership Conference tally. One of the reasons for speaking out now about public misperceptions is to attract new members.

“I doubt that we’d do this just to increase vocations,” Schreck said, “but if you’ve got something good, you want to get the word out.

“Our lifestyle is enjoyable, enriching and growth-producing, a lifestyle that can bring true depth and spiritual beauty. And there is a power for good when groups of women gather.”

There are also elements of diminished power in a sister’s lot. The Vatican declared in November that discussing women’s ordination is out-of-bounds.

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Sisters Lora Ann Quinonez and Mary Daniel Turner describe nuns as “institutionally disenfranchised” in their 1992 book, “The Transformation of American Catholic Sisters.”

Some of the hostility aimed at nuns is apiece with the hostility aimed at women generally, Schreck said. And some of their low status in the culture is linked to their low status in the church, argue Quinonez, Turner and other scholars.

Catholics will make priests of those who are unlike Jesus in race, age and religion, but draw the line adamantly at gender, notes feminist theologian Rita Nakashima Brock.

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Still, nuns persist in their work and prayer. Sister Marian Durkin directs an AIDS/HIV ministry in Cleveland.

“People come here and really appreciate the fact that I am church-affiliated and recognize their struggle,” Durkin said. “I teasingly say, `In my other life I was a teacher.’ I loved teaching and everything about it.

“But the wonderful thing about my work now is I feel I am always being stretched. I find it a real privilege to walk with people as they journey a very difficult path.”

Durkin said, “I’ve moved beyond the tradition I’d grown up with-out of the classroom and into the world.”

MJP END LONG