Plight of Europe’s ‘secret Sisters’ depicted in documentary

[demosincebirth]

The film will be released to ABC-TV stations and affiliates Sept. 13.


Plight of Europe’s ‘secret Sisters’ depicted in documentary
By Carmen Blanco
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Women religious in Central and Eastern Europe who kept their faith alive clandestinely for more than 40 years during communist rule, undeterred by threats of torture, exile and imprisonment, will be featured in a TV documentary produced by three nuns.

Sister Josefa Erdes of Romania is interviewed in a documentary, “Interrupted Lives: Catholic Sisters Under European Communism.”


The documentary focuses on the plight of Eastern-rite and Latin-rite Catholic nuns, many of whom are now in their 80s and 90s. Through extensive interviews with the “Sister survivors,” viewers are brought stories of courage, hope and fidelity during a time of political and religious repression.

“We asked ourselves the question, ‘Who is saving and recording these stories?’” Sister Margaret Nacke told Catholic News Service during a phone interview.

Sister Mary Savoie added, “We were told the accounts couldn’t be preserved in archives. There were no records about what was happening. We thought, ‘This will be a lost history.’”

Sisters Margaret and Mary, members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kan., have been collecting oral histories and researching the experiences of East European sisters for nearly six years. Their findings form the basis of their documentary, “Interrupted Lives: Catholic Sisters Under European Communism,” a project that grew out of their larger project titled “Sister Survivors of European Communism.”

The one-hour documentary “Interrupted Lives” will be released to ABC-TV stations and affiliates Sept. 13. Broadcast is at the discretion of the local station.

“We spent three years just collecting testimonies, photographs and anything we could get a hold of in the five countries we visited. What we found is archived at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union in the Paul Bechtold Library,” Sister Mary told CNS.

The Sisters, who also are the executive producers of the documentary, volunteered in Romania after the fall of Soviet communism and worked in curriculum development. While in Romania, they heard testimonies from the women religious describing their experience during communist times.






http://catholicvoiceoakland.org/2009/09-07/inthisissue13.htm