The Messy Work of Transformation

by Susan Rose Francois, CSJP

When a butterfly first stretches out its wings and takes flight, its metamorphosis is complete. The winged beauty emerges from a long and messy transformation process, filled with tight spaces, sticky substances, and the necessary passage of time. Newly transformed and freed from its earthbound structural makeup as a caterpillar, the butterfly can now fly and soar to new heights.

The transformation of human communities from the binding structures of social sin—racism, sexism, and other systems of abuse of power and oppression—is equally messy. This transformative process is an ongoing part of the critical work of establishing God’s reign of justice and peace. Because of our human condition, this transformation takes place over time as the truth of human dignity, equality and goodness overcome the reality of evil. Moreover, it requires the emergence of our individual and collective readiness to see that truth and commit to the hard work of transformation, so that we too, like the butterfly, can reach the full potential God imagines is possible.

Surprising Discoveries

The truth of structural sin, of course, is not always easy to see and can be even harder to own when it hits close to home. I recently made two surprising discoveries in our Congregation archives which illustrate this aspect of transformation. The first was an entry from our Congregation Council minutes in 1923:

“Request of Right Rev. Bishop Crimont of Alaska to admit to this Community an Indian girl (Russian Esquimaux) was considered. This girl was brought up by the Sisters of St. Anne and was 40 years of age. A vote was taken and resulted in one in favor of and four opposed to her admission.” 

I was looking for something else when I stumbled upon this entry, but it stopped me in my tracks. I have since found myself wondering about this unnamed woman, then 40 years of age, yet recorded for history only as an “Indian girl.”

I remember another story of one CSJP sister, now gone to heaven, who shared her sadness that her dear school friend was redirected to look at an African American order when she inquired about joining our community. How many more women of color were barred from entrance to our Congregation over the years? What gifts and challenges would they have brought to our mission of peace? In my lament, I echo the words of Sister Teresa Maya in her 2018 presidential address to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious: “We lost an entire generation of religious because of our prejudice, but our merciful God is givingus another chance!”

In their 1983 pastoral letter Brothers and Sisters to Us, the U.S. Bishops assert that racism “is not merely one sin among many.” Rather, it is a “radical evil” and the struggle against it “demands an equally radical transformation, in our own minds and hearts as well as in the structure of our society.” I lament our history of exclusion, even as I celebrate our increasing diversity and the sisters and associates from a variety of cultures who have joined us in recent years. I commit to the transformation of my own heart and mind as I deepen the understanding of my own white privilege and the damaging effects of unconscious bias. This is the work of transformation.

Our founder Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare, was herself engaged in the messy work of transformation. Her efforts to end systemic injustices, such as extreme poverty, led to struggles with the hierarchy and her eventual decision to leave both the Congregation she founded and the Catholic Church.

I have been drawn lately to dig into some of her writings from the years after her departure. In her 1889 book, Life Inside the Church of Rome—written just one year after she left—I discovered that her challenges with the hierarchy were not limited to political disagreements. A new element of her struggle emerges as she weaves the narrative of her own experiences and efforts to shine a spotlight on the abuse of power by members of the clergy.

She admits that it took her time to see the truth of this behavior. As a new Catholic, when she heard a young woman speak of a priest taking “certain familiarities which she resented,” she was quick to dismiss the accusations as false. “It took a long experience to undeceive me,” she writes.

This experience hit home when her new order was asked by a Bishop “to take charge of a mission where the priest had ruined four of his schoolmistresses, one after the other. His last victim had a child whom she could not support, and so her pitiful story came out.” After Mother Clare pressed the issue, the priest was sent away, “not in banishment … but was simply removed from one diocese to another where he retained his rank and his honours.”

At first his replacement seemed pleasant enough, but then another member of the clergy alerted her that the new priest had recently been in jail for public drunkenness and, “he added significantly,” had a housekeeper. After inquiring and finding the accusations about the special relationship with the housekeeper to be true, she felt obliged to ask the Bishop to assign yet another new priest.

“Here was another flagrant instance of my inability to agree with my ecclesiastical superiors.” She remembers that the Bishop asked her if a bishop is too particular, what is he to do for priests? Nevertheless, he did assign a new priest and the other priest was “honourably removed to a country place, where it was supposed his delinquencies would be less noticed.”

New Light is Shining

No doubt this story was shockingly unbelievable to the faithful in 1889. Mother Clare knew this instinctively, but also recognized that one day the truth would come to light. “It is true that very little comes before the public, for the press is under a control which compels silence, but facts are told in private which one day will be remembered and told in public.” Sadly, today her narrative rings very true and far from an isolated incident. The current wave of the abuse crisis has shone new light on the structures that allowed this evil to pervade into the twenty-first century.

Pope Francis has called for an unprecedented meeting of the Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences from around the world in February 2019. “Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated,” declares the Vatican in a press statement, “and a different treatment for Bishops who have committed or covered up abuse, in fact represents a form of clericalism that is no longer acceptable.”

I pray for the intercession of Mother Clare for true transformation of structures which promote and protect human dignity, equality, justice and peace over and above structural sin and the abuse of power. May we, like the butterfly, emerge from the cocoon, ready, willing and able to commit to the messy work of transformation.

“In accord with our tradition we commit ourselves to promote peace in family life, in the church, and in society. We strive to respect the dignity of all persons, to value the gifts of creation, and to confront oppressive situations. We respond to God’s people in need and promote social justice as a way to peace.” (Constitution 11)

This article appeared in the Autumn 2018 issue of Living Peace.