Nihil Obstat

Rebel Nuns

Yahoo News featured a story this morning about a band of rebellious nuns who were forcibly ejected from a Polish convent they had occupied illegally since 2005. About 150 police in riot gear went into the compound to find the women defiantly singing religious songs and playing musical instruments. Several screamed at the officers calling them “Servants of Satan.” About 65 nuns were involved, many of whom appeared to be in their 20s.

Nuns were photographed carrying out guitars and djembes as they loaded into buses and driven off. The expressions changed with each photo: some were stiff, others smug, a few distressed. A car full of nuns taking pictures of themselves with cell phones looked happy.

The center of the dispute surrounded their charismatic mother superior, Jadwiga Ligocka, who the Vatican sought to replace. Citing “private inspiration by the Holy Spirit” she reportedly sought to convert the order into a contemplative community and made other controversial religious and administrative decisions involving the congregation.

“They were disobedient,” said Mieczyslaw Puzewicz, a spokesman for the Lublin diocese.

Understanding this story is like trying to stare into a fog. There’s nothing solid to see, only phantoms. Did the diocese or Vatican attempt to squelch a popular leader; or was she deranged, manipulative and cultish?

The Vatican has revealed almost nothing about the dispute, and no religious communities, groups or leaders have rallied to their cause.