If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission

I was saddened by the distorted viewpoint this book gives about women religious. There ARE ways to do good in the world without breaking with the Magisterium of the Church.

Where were the stories about Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Saint Benedicta, (Edith Stein), and SO many others?

This was centered only on the most radical, the most removed from the Church, other than the story of Sister Dianna, Sister Joanna...the tortured nun, and the nun who helps women of human trafficking.

I was especially horrified by the story of the "nun" who worked for an abortion clinic, thinking the church should allow "choice" when what she was demanding was death.

This book is horrid. If I could give it -a billion stars, I would.

"If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission" by Jo Piazza is an inspiring fast read about the lives of 10 nuns. I'm not going to argue that all nuns are good or most are bad. I don't care. To me, nuns are Catholics who felt a calling and are now nuns. Some, like these nuns, are wonderful and there are others who are mean, nasty, horrid people. Just like people in every sector of life. The nuns in this book are great humans with a lot of love and empathy for their fellow humans on this earth. If anything about them being a nun is special is that they have been allowed to take the time needed to dedicate themselves to the good works they felt the need to do.

These women may be nuns and dedicated to G-d and their faith but, they are also dedicated to the betterment of people and the world. And they are progressive modern women who didn't settle for a quiet convent life and a teaching job at whatever Catholic School uses nuns from her order to fill the positions. These nuns don't simply say that they live by the teachings of the Bible, they are out there living it! They aren't afraid to step on any toes to make things happen and make sure they are accomplishing things for a better world, a better human race. And the nuns are not all "Spring Chickens." One of the nuns in the book is in her 80's and still very much involved in her mission, and being an athlete.

These strong modern women are not all nuns loved and endorsed by the Catholic Church. I suppose you could call them rebel nuns. Makes me want to see a new movie about nuns like one of these nuns called "Rebel WITH A Cause."

This book looked intriguing to me, but I already figured nuns were good people, where’s the news in that? Then I read Nicholas Kristof’s NY Times editorial “Sister Acts” and decided it really needed a slot on my reading list. Good decision!

Each of 10 chapters in “If Nuns Ruled the World” tells the story of a nun following her unique calling. From Sister Madonna Buder, finishing a triathlon at the age of 82 with coaching from “the Man Upstairs” and hoping she will open a new competition category for women over 90; to Sister Megan Rice, who says “Putting trust in weapons is idolatry” as she masterminds a plan to break into the Oak Ridge National Security Complex; to Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, believing the message of the resurrection is that everyone gets a second chance and dedicating her life to making sure ex-convict mothers get their second chance, the nuns’ stories are gritty, uplifting, and truly inspiring. “I want a laundromat,” Sister Tesa comments to God during their running daily conversation, thinking of businesses where reformed felons could earn a paycheck.

You don’t have to be Catholic – I’m not – or even particularly religiously oriented to admire and respect the ways these women are working to improve each of their corners of the world and to feel inspired by them. They are quietly doing earthshaking work simply because when they hear a calling to do the right thing, they believe they should follow it. Their stories have me reexamining my own little corner of the world, knowing there is surely more I could be doing.

In this small but very readable work, author Jo Piazza profiles the lives of ten nuns and the causes in which they dedicate their lives. Note: the author uses the word "nun" interchangeable with "sister". The more commonly defined word that should be used in this work is "sister": women in religious life who are active in missions within the world, such as nursing, teaching, law, social worker, etc. whiles the term "nun" more commonly refers to women in religious orders who live a more cloistered life (sometimes behind the grail); a life dedicated to prayer and works within their cloistered environment. That being said, the women in this book are certainly involved in less-traditional roles than the public might view for a nun, but they are, for the most part, out helping people, whether it be human trafficking, working within the gay community for greater acceptance, to more controversial civil right issues. The author talks briefly about their lives, why they decided to accept the call to religious life and where their journey has taken them. Some may wish these ladies would have taken a more traditional bent and used their energies in the classroom or working in medical fields, as in the past (as our children do need good role models in schools) and people always need compassionate health care givers, but these women have made their choice and feel they are making a difference in the world in different ways. This is a work that takes a liberal view but is important all the same.

When I picked up “If Nuns Ruled the World,” I expected it to be mostly about historical women. It was a wonderful surprise that all of the nuns are modern day women! Each chapter presents a remarkable woman who could easily be the subject of a full-length book. Despite the brief number of pages spent on each sister, they all felt like new friends and heroines to me. I believe deeply in women’s rights and knew there were tough nuns out there; but I didn’t know just how far some of these ladies were from the stereotypical and the traditional. While I whole-heartedly supported some of the sisters, others I disagreed with on some points. But in every case, I respected them. “If Nuns Ruled the World” is a worthwhile book for anyone, regardless of their gender or religious beliefs, to read.

Have you ever asked someone about their faith, and they explain that they are a 'recovering Catholic'? If not, it's kind of a well known inside joke. If you were raised with Catholicism in the school and/or home, and some of the less than positive aspects stay with you, you often wind up as the 'recovering Catholic'.

People over 40 that went to Catholic grade schools have nun stories. Some are pretty funny, and make great conversation at dinner parties.
Talk out of turn and Sister Mary Francis could whip an eraser at your head faster than Nolan Ryan. Sister Mary Therese had a constant cold, and would blow her nose into a handkerchief, then stuff it back up into it's forever home, the left sleeve of her habit. Chew gum and Sister Mary Catherine would stick her skeletal cold fingers in your mouth, remove it, and make you wear it on your nose. For a week.

Think you know nuns?

Whether you do or you don't, you've GOT to know these nuns!

These are the nuns that you look up to as examples of the LIVING Christ, not the ones that make for funny stories that might not have been funny when you were a child.

If you are looking for an outline of nuns that have only strict traditional views, dare I say strictly patriarchal (after all, early on, women were priests) views of Catholicism, please know that this book does not include them. Many of the abovementioned nuns have done wonderful things, and have been of great service, but this is a book about ten sisters...diverse women, but with the following in common: each feels they are walking with Christ, and they represent a non-traditional representation of what a nun CAN be.

No denying the fact that Catholicism has taken a big hit, and we all know why...no point going into it here. The women here represent a huge shift. That shift is even reflected in the Pope's more open views.
Are 'outlaw' nuns like these 10 necessary to inspire and attract youth and/or heal The Church? I don't know, and won't debate it.
This book happens to center on 'What Would Jesus Do', not 'What Would a Catholic Do'. Is it political? Many of Jesus' acts were.

It doesn't cover every nun currently doing great things or thinking outside of the box. How could it? There seem to be more and more 'Super Nuns' emerging, both singly and collectively. The Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles have put out 5 music CDs since 2011, one that topped the Billboard Classical Music chart for over a month!

Now that I think about it, doesn't that long, flowing habit remind you of superhero costumes?

My knowledge of Nuns is very limited- my nun memories are of my mother telling me to get up and offer my seat on the bus or subway to one of those scary women dressed in black, sometimes with huge headgear and sometimes with a rope like belt tied around their middle.and a large wooden cross hanging around their neck. When young I was so terrified of Nuns that I would cross the street (which I wasn't allowed to do) to avoid them. Today most nuns look like most other people though locally there is a group of French Nuns who still dress as the ones I remember from the 1950's.

This book has a chapter devoted to each of 10 special women who have accomplished remarkable feats. Each of these women happens to be a Nun- what I kept thinking as I read about each of these women is would they have accomplished what they did if they were not Nuns. Did being a Nun make them do what they did or would they have done it anyway? I don't know the answer.

An interesting book whether you have ever met a Nun or never spoke to one and been afraid of them as I was.This is the kind of book that you will want to pass on to a friend,

Not all the stories in this collection of essays on remarkable nuns is easy to read, but all are inspirational. Many -- but not all -- of the stories are overtly political and progressive, concerning nuns who are working toward social justice: Nuns on the Bus, ministry for gay and lesbian Catholics, anti-nuclear weapon demonstrations, prison ministry, survivors of political torture and sexual slavery are included. The story of Sister Madonna Buder, born in 1930 (not a typo) and her competition in extreme running, including the 2012 Canadian Ironman triathlon, shows the same determination, but expressed in another form.

The author admits to spending her Sunday mornings reading the New York Times instead of attending church. We find out how and when each woman felt called to enter the sisterhood, but it is part of their background, not the central purpose of each profile. Her outsider perspective keeps the doctrinal arguments somewhat at bay. We hear of objections from the hierarchy, but no in-depth reporting of specific concerns and ethics. I found this perspective refreshing, but conservative Catholics might find it off-putting.

This collection makes a strong case for the determination of Catholic Sisters and their abilities to do the impossible with very little. One gets the impression that if Nuns ruled the world things would get done far more efficiently and compassionately.I wish them well.

These women are extraordinary. Period. We should know about and pay attention to their work, their generosity, and their perseverance. The author plays up the myth-busting angle about nuns from the opening pages. But she also acknowledges a general ignorance in American society about nuns. This ignorance extends beyond nuns to knowledge of religion more broadly, even for those who claim to be religious, but that isn't the focus of this book despite the discussion in the opening pages. I'd like to see the stories of these nuns embedded in a book with broader appeal because they deserve a larger audience than the book title will give them (despite Kristof's plugs in the New York Times). This book is in keeping with a trend in nonfiction for journalists to write long-form works that read breezily as if they were a series of magazine articles (as some are also published). The form makes for an easy read, but I don't understand the purpose of moving the magazine article format into book form. The other aspect of this trend is the breezy interjection of self by the author. Piazza inserts herself and her experience of these women from the beginning as if she's a character in this book, too. I'd prefer the author's motives and experiences to stay in the author's note. It's a mash-up of memoir and long-form journalism that attempts to humanize but only serves to distract and detract from the subject. Just not my taste but may make the book more enjoyable for others.

Jo Piazza is a Catholic herself and understands the demands of the religion. She has known many nuns, and not all of them were the pleasant sisters of this book. This book profiles ten very strong-willed Catholic nuns with a mission to change the world, whether it is to rid the world of nuclear weapons, challenge a Republican presidential candidate, help the homeless or provide care for the sick and dying. Each chapter is devoted to one special nun with a mission to effect permanent change. Some of these nuns are in their 80s and determined to make a difference.

Piazza's writing style is engaging and upbeat. Her quirky dialogues with these women will surely put a smile on a reader's face. This is a fast read that makes you admire these women for their courage and their determination, regardless if you are Catholic or not.

Ten inspiring essays by a self professed agnostic author about Catholic nuns who have dedicated their lives to various causes including human trafficking, women's rights and environmentalism. Whether you agree with their politics on some of these issues or not the one thing that you can not deny is their hard work and passion many times risking their lives to make this a more humane world. Each vignette develops the biography, successes and failures of these ten remarkable women. We should all be so passionate in the way we live.

If these nuns' stories don't inspire the activist within you, nothing will. The older I get, the more I appreciate well-written biographies and memoirs, and while these stories don't exactly come down in either category, they do what the best of the bios and memoirs do - they encourage the question "If they can do this - make a difference in the world...change things for the better", then can't I? Add to the inspiration the "and this is how they did it" and you have a guidebook of sorts. Recommended for all; I think teens will find it particularly compelling.

Jo Piazza's sprightly and insightful "If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission" is the most recent of several books that I have been honored to be asked to review by the publisher or author. As indicated by the subtitle as well as from the subject line of the e-mail I received offering the opportunity to review this book, it deals with "ten bold nuns (who) take on the world." Therefore, I was doubly delighted to have this book appear in my "queue" of the store Vine selections, and will go ahead now and submit the review I wrote when I received the electronic format of this work.

All of the sisters whose stories Piazza tells are still living, and remain active in their specific chosen ministries - even Sister Madonna Buder, who in her 80's has a unique ministry of running endurance races, including the Iron Man Triathlon! Each of these stories is a gem of a character study, as well as dealing with incredibly vital issues that face us in modern times, including human trafficking, torture, incarceration of women, gay and lesbian rights, corporate ethics, and - since these are all Catholic women - the terribly short-sighted attitude of the Vatican hierarchy with respect to the ordination of women to the priesthood.

Although I was partially familiar with several of the nuns included in Piazza's study, and very much aware of the contributions of Sister Jeannine Gramick because of my own long-term involvement with gay rights issues, I believe that this is an extraordinarily informative book, and extremely valuable because of both the depth and breadth of the stories told. Jo Piazza also includes a great deal of personal reflection in her narrative, which adds immediacy and color to what might otherwise have been a bit too objective. Since Piazza is a self-characterized agnostic, she insists that she is not coming at her narrative from an overly-spiritualized perspective, so her sincere respect for the women she describes and their own obvious faith perspective is clearly authentic.

At this point, however, having given the "casual reader's" perspective on Jo Piazza's book, I'd like to offer a few personal reflections of my own. I was a convert to Catholicism as a young adult, at the time of Vatican II which the author notes was extremely pivotal in the perspective of the sisters she interviewed. This was a time of great excitement and hopefulness in Catholicism; it seemed as if the windows Pope John XXIII threw open really would bring the much-needed changes to Church doctrine and discipline, including of course and most importantly from my perspective, a recognition of the actual teaching of Jesus with respect to the equality of all human persons regardless of gender, national origin, and so on.

My own personal area of greatest concern was doctrinal intransigence on matters of sexuality, which included contraception and same-sex relationships. I attended two conferences, one in Chicago in 1984 and the second in Cincinnati in 1987, of what was then called "Woman Church". I had already become aware at this point that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy was viciously opposed to any relaxation of the discipline of clerical celibacy or the strictures against birth control, despite the terrible fall-out that has subsequently occurred in terms of the loss of vocations, clergy sex abuse of children, and of course the fact that a vast majority of Catholic couples simply ignore the prohibition of contraception completely.

Piazza notes that the push for the ordination of women is the key issue in terms of beginning to develop a truly humane church community to replace the current power politics of the 100% male organization. However, I think her narrative has a subtext that is equally important. Jesus very clearly, in the description of the "temptation in the wilderness", as well as in the Beatitudes which one of the sisters quotes, made the point that the human power-and-domination urge is absolutely contrary to the cosmic plan for human survival. Jesus taught and demonstrated that the ultimate value for right human relationships is compassionate and healing service. Women in general, and nuns in particular, have heard this Gospel message, and continue to live it out in their own myriad and individual ways. Indeed, if nuns - that is, those who understand and believe in the concept of loving service, not exploitative domination - became the models for human relationships and our relationship with our planet, then we would indeed have what Jesus described as a "New Creation".

This is a book with 10 different biographies of nuns who are standing up for what they think is right and are, in some cases, being imprisoned or investigated by the very church they are supporting.

The author is a journalist and each biography is written almost like a magazine article or news story about the nun. I have really enjoyed reading their stories. These are women who simply want to love and help humanity. They are, or should be, good examples of looking beyond assumptions and into the heart of an issue.

Ten good stories, well told. Serialized set up is easy to pick up and put down for a commute, etc. Covered the last 40 years of history and the Western hemisphere relatively well. I enjoy non-fiction that uses personal stories to communicate history/politics. Also, these women are tough mother f>(&3ers.

Like many non-Catholics, I was fascinated by nuns while growing up, and always liked a good nun movie. Probably because all nuns in the movies were good. At least that was true for movies made before the 1980s. I would like to add I always liked a good nun book, too, but I can remember few nun books I have read, and remember hardly anything in the ones I do remember. Maybe that's fantasy meeting reality.

Jo Piazza's If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission was an interesting read, but it's also not going to linger in my memory for too long. The author tells the stories of ten nuns, many who are working for very good causes, some working for very controversial causes, all working for one thing or another. Nuns apparently work hard and can't rest until they are too old to work. The stories are highly readable, the nuns are highly interesting, but that nun magic just isn't there like it was in the movies. (And probably only someone who was not raised a Catholic would make such a statement!:) One wonders, though, would Ms. Piazza have thought the women in this book were so amazing if they had not been nuns? Still impressed, probably yes, but amazed? (Sister Madonna Buder, the 84-year-old nun who competes in triathlons, is excluded from that question! :)

This is intense reading for all, Catholic or not. These are women of courage who indeed are on a mission. There's hope for this world we live in when there are brave and dedicated women around. This is a must read regardless of your religious stance.

Jo Piazza ("Celebrity Inc.," "Love Rehab") has written long and well about the glamorous and the wealthy (and the intersection between the two). The former gossip columnist has turned her eye on a seemingly-anti-glamorous contingent, modern-day nuns. "If Nuns Rule the World" may not be a scholastic tome or academic treatise, and it may come across as skin-deep heroine-worship, but Piazza has undeniably selected ten wonderful case studies of the benefits of a purpose-driven life.

INRtW is a light, breezy book (around 250 pages) that can be easily digested in tidy chapter-sized bites. Her introductory chapter describes the world of the modern nun - freed from the cloisters, the penguinish habits, and the stereotypical vocation of beating terrified schoolchildren with yardsticks. Today's nuns are educated and dedicated to solving the world's real problems by living among the afflicted, whatever the afflication may be. In a saying that the religious might recognize, if you're going to be a shepherd, eventually you're going to smell like sheep. These nuns believe in the crazy notion that in order to improve the lives of the downtrodden, you must live and fight side by side with them rather than living above like so many other religious figures do.

And perhaps it comes as no surprise that today's nuns aren't exactly fully endorsed by today's Catholic leadership . . . a group that, shall we say, is not exactly balanced in gender composition. Piazza finds ten nuns who have found their calling nonetheless, and Piazza tells their stories in ten brief but moving chapters.

These nuns range from the defiant - taking on global inattention to torture and sex trafficking to denying the reality of age by running Ironman Triathlons at the tender age of 83 - to the compassionate - caring for children born in prison as well as their mothers, or ministering to young women exercising their legal rights to have abortions - to the brilliant - using the church's status as a prominent investor to push corporations toward adopting more ethical business practices. These nuns may come from different starting points, but they each found the same path to the Church. And they love it, in spite of its flaws.

Piazza makes the compelling case that these ten nuns are solving problems through investing their lives in the solutions. These are not women who pay lip service to anything. If these nuns ruled the world, actions might be valued a little more highly than a PR slogan.

Of the tens of thousands of Catholic clergy, the author, with a Progressive agenda, shines the spotlight on these ten nuns who thumb their noses at Catholic Canon. That's great, but they are trying to make the Catholic Church into something resembling the Unitarians. As a Catholic I accept the dogma of the Church. I, and the overwhelming majority of my fellow Catholics support the Church as it is. If you don't like it--leave. I really don't care if the Church is "relevant" to today's world. Today's world is one of wickedness and immorality. I'm glad my Church stands with GOD against the evil of the Progressive agenda. As for the wickedness of corporations, what a load of crap. Let's go back to the time before corporations when there were essentially two socio-economic groups in the USA and Europe: the very small aristorcracy (which unfortunately included the Church) and the vast majority of farmers, laborers and small -time shop owners. Poverty and starvation stalked these have nots on a daily basis. Corporations, provided jobs and the basis of equality based on money versus birth. Yes, Corporations do evil things, but for the most part, the vast majority of us who live a middle-class existence with enough food on our tables and access to education, is due to corporations. The alternative-centralized economies--which have failed miserably and did not provide a route for upward mobilitly. Sisters, put down your protest signs and grab a rosary and repeat after me, "Ave, Maria...."