Winner, Conference on the History of Women Religious (CHWR) Distinguished Book Award

Winner, 2014 Catholic Book Award in History presented by the Catholic Press Association

For many

Americans, nuns and sisters are the face of the Catholic Church. Far more

visible than priests, Catholic women religious teach at schools, found

hospitals, offer food to the poor, and minister to those in need. Their work

has shaped the American Catholic Church throughout its history. Yet despite

their high profile, a concise history of American Catholic sisters and nuns has

yet to be published. In Called to Serve, Margaret

M. McGuinness provides the reader with an overview of the history of Catholic

women religious in American life, from the colonial period to the present.

The early

years of religious life in the United States found women religious in immigrant

communities and on the frontier, teaching, nursing, and caring for marginalized

groups. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, the role of women

religious began to change. They have fewer members than ever, and their

population is aging rapidly. And the method of their ministry is changing as

well: rather than merely feeding and clothing the poor, religious sisters are

now working to address the social structures that contribute to poverty,

fighting what one nun calls “social sin.” In the face of a changing world and shifting priorities, women religious

must also struggle to strike a balance between the responsibilities of their

faith and the limitations imposed upon them by their church.

Rigorously

researched and engagingly written, Called

to Serve offers a compelling portrait of Catholic women religious

throughout American history.