Books provide depth, context to 1989 Jesuit murders in El Salvador

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"La Verdad" and "Blood and Ink" mark the 25th anniversary of the brutal military assassination of six Jesuits in El Salvador, revisiting the case from different but converging perspectives.
Both share the same overall conclusions and make convincing cases for calling the six priests martyrs as the social commitment that made the Salvadoran military consider them subversives and terrorists sprang from their deep faith. Murdered with the priests were Julia Elba Ramos, their cook and housekeeper, and her 16-year-old daughter.

‘Dedicated to God’ author moves to final phase of 10-year project — film editing

(Observer photo by Sharon Boehlefeld)

LANARK—Abbie Reese invited old and new friends to visit at her parents’ home, here, Aug. 1 to learn about her nearly decade-long collaboration with the Poor Clare Colettines of Rockford.
She showed video and talked about the project under a vine-covered trellis in her parents’ backyard.
Reese, author of “Dedicated to God,” the first selection in the One Diocese, One Book project, wants to see the video — some she shot and some shot by the Poor Clares themselves — edited into a full-length feature film, “Chosen.”
To support the project, she’s seeking financial supporters through an Internet fundraiser.
She will meet with One Diocese, One Book readers Oct. 18 at Barnes and Noble at Cherry-Vale Mall in Rockford.
Enter to win a hardcover copy of her book here.


About the photo: Abbie Reese  (seated at table) introduces her work with the Poor Clare Colettines of Rockford to people in her hometown,  Lanark, Aug. 1. She also talked about the final phase of her project, editing hours of video collected over several years, into a feature film, “Chosen.”

An Excerpt from "Dedicated to God"

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Part I: The Calling

Chapter 2: The Claustrophobic Nun

NOTE: Each of the nuns selected pseudonyms to reflect the Poor Clare Colettine value for anonymity and hiddenness.

In childhood, Monica encountered religious figures regularly; nuns taught her at Catholic school, and when the family lived in Rome, the birthplace of the Catholic Church, sisters dressed in the full habit were a common sight in public.

From an early age, Monica wanted a family of her own. She planned to get married and have eight children. “It was a beautiful ideal for me to be a mother and a wife and have a lot of children,” she says. Above all, she wanted to give her life for others. …

Introspective and reflective Monica took stock of all that the cloister denied—traveling, marriage, motherhood, talking to and visiting her parents and siblings. Hugging her loved ones at will. “It just seemed so radical to me and so drastic,” she says, “and I didn’t know if I could do that. In my mind at the time, I’m just working through it and I’m just saying, ‘I’m really attached to my family.’ I’m giving all these reasons to God why this isn’t a good idea.

I’m like, ‘Lord, you know, you know me. You know I can’t do this!’”

Monica’s proficiency with languages offered little solace; rather, it was a lens into yet another obstacle. The words “cloister” and “claustrophobia” derive from the same Latin root, meaning “to close” or “to lock.” “That’s where the word ‘cloister’ comes from—being shut in,” Sister Mary Nicolette says. “That was very ironic. I get claustrophobic in an elevator. So I’m like, ‘Lord, the cloister? I’m going to get claustrophobic!’ That’s the word that comes to my mind. You know being shut in and not being able to travel. I just thought, ‘How am I going to be able to do this, Lord? You’re asking me to do something that’s just completely contrary to my nature.’ ”

-- Provided by Abbie Reese

 

‘Dedicated to God’ launches One Diocese, One Book Program

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Independent scholar Abbie Reese, originally of Lanark, crafted what she learned in eight years of rare access to the nuns at Corpus Christi Monastery to write “Dedicated to God: An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns.”
Published earlier this year by Oxford University Press, it is the first selection for The Observer Book Club’s One Diocese, One Book program.
The Observer’s One Diocese, One Book program is similar to programs around the nation. One Book programs encourage readers in a geographic area — a city, a library district — to read and discuss a particular book at the same time.
In this case, Catholics in the 11 counties of the Rockford Diocese are invited to read  and discuss Reese’s book about the Poor Clares.
Existing book clubs may take part in One Diocese, One Book by discussing the book in their own meetings, then joining us and others to meet the author Oct. 18 for a book discussion and signing at CherryVale Mall in Rockford (see box, left).
Catholics in the diocese are familiar with the Poor Clare Colettine nuns who pray and live simple lives behind the walls of their monastery on Rockford’s south side.
But Reese’s work takes readers inside the walls with the nuns.
Reese’s book, according to  a press release, “is the result of her relationship- and research-based artistic practice.”
She uses methods from oral history, documentary, and ethnography to tell the sisters’ compelling story.
Her oral history and photography exhibit, “Erased from the Landscape: The Hidden Lives of Cloistered Nuns,” has been shown in galleries and museums and she has presented her work at academic conferences internationally.
Look for more about Reese and her book, including a reader’s guide to “Dedicated to God,” in upcoming editions of The Observer and at our book club blog at http://observer.rockforddiocese.org/book-club-blog.
In the meantime, mark your calendar for our Oct. 18 event. And start reading.

— Sharon Boehlefeld

Summer reading: Gripping account tells past, present of monks kidnapped in Algeria

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If you saw the 2010 film, "Of Gods and Men," you know the true story of the Trappist monks of the monastery of Notre-Dame de l'Atlas of Tibhirine in Algeria.
On the night of March 26-27, 1996, seven of the monks were kidnapped during the Algerian civil war. Although this wasn't clear from the film, the monks were held for two months and were found dead in late May 1996. The identity of their killers remains uncertain to this day.
"The Last Monk of Tibhirine" is an account of life in the monastery today and of the lone surviving monk, Brother Jean-Pierre Schumacher, who escaped execution by beheading. If you read this book you will gain a better understanding of the events that preceded the martyrdom of the seven Trappists than one gets from the film -- excellent though it is.

Summer reading: Marvel's 'Miracleman' hard to believe

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"Miracleman," a 1980s British comic currently being reissued by Marvel, was an attempt at deconstructing superhero cliches. Violent and depressing, the series tells a story that's often as dated and hackneyed as the Superman tropes it seeks to dismantle.
It's too graphic and sexualized for young readers, and too weird and overwrought for older ones.
The title character first appeared in the 1950s, as a British version of DC Comics' verbally self-transforming Shazam; Miracleman's own magic cue being "Kimota!" Three decades later, the property was revived by Alan Moore, an eccentric English writer who would go on to create the celebrated graphic novel "Watchmen." Moore's exalted reputation among fans may account for the deluxe reissue of this earlier work.

Summer reading: Engaging book looks at role of clothing in U.S. Catholic history

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When the new Pope Francis discarded the traditional red papal footwear for simple black shoes, he underscored the power of clothing as a cultural symbol.
This is something Catholics, both clergy and lay, have always understood. From priests' Roman collars to nuns' veiled habits to schoolgirls' blue serge jumpers, American Catholics have long worn visually distinctive attire.
Such clothing has helped create a sense of identity and belonging for Catholics, who historically have sought to find their way in a social landscape ruled by Protestants. For instance, in earlier times, when most priests were foreign-born, the characteristic Roman collar and other specialized clothing helped clergy gain respectability.
Sally Dwyer-McNulty, a history professor at Marist College, has given us an intriguing and thoughtful examination of what Catholics were wearing at different times and why.