An official Vatican publication has exposed the widespread economic exploitation of nuns for cheap or free labor by the Catholic Church’s male hierarchy. It called for an immediate end to the servitude.
‘The (nearly) free work of the nuns’ was published in the March edition of Women Church World – the monthly magazine on women distributed alongside the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. The article includes accounts from several nuns, using pseudonyms, on their experiences working for free or little money in the Catholic Church.
One nun called Sister Maria, for the purpose of the article, said several nuns work long hours in the homes of bishops and cardinals, cleaning and cooking, and are not invited to share meals at the same table. “They are deeply frustrated but they are afraid to speak because behind everything there can be very complex stories,” Sister Maria explained.
