I was raised Catholic and am now an atheist. Every now and again when I’m really depressed, I think for a minute about finding a local social justice-oriented congregation nearby because the ritual, etc. is actually very soothing to me but then I remember how much the Church hates women and I’m like NOPE and go on a…

If you want to get even more pissed off at the Catholic church, note that priests have successfully negotiated to have social security withholding paid on their behalf for YEARS. Even the nasty ones who get kicked out for child molestation get to keep their Social Security when they retire.

I grew up in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s, and as a consequence it always surprises me when people think of nuns as anything other than abusive tyrants.

I think a lot of problems your mother faced were products of the time, plus it seems hers was a more cloistered order.

The treatment of nuns is why I am no longer a Catholic. I grew up in the faith, attending parochial school and going to church every Sunday with my grandmother. But when I was confirmed, I started looking around at the weird pageantry of the church. Little girls wearing wedding dresses for their Communions. Nuns…

I was raised Catholic and spent several years being taught by nuns in Catholic school. While most of them were unobjectionable, there were always a few who were evil scions of Hell. I’m sure they went into teaching purely to give maximum expression to their innate sadism.

Wondering how many of the comments will be a version of yours: “your mother’s experience is likely unrepresentative. Instead of listening to her story, let me tell you about these other awesome nuns I know.”

Oh, oh, I have an asshole-nun story.