Secret life of nuns: a look behind convent walls a photo essay | Religion

A nun on a bike ride in Łowicz. Photograph: Valeria Luongo

Photographer Valeria Luongo’s long-term project explores the daily life of nuns at the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary convent in Rome. It was born out of a fascination with the women who choose to eschew conventional modes of living. What exactly does a nun’s life entail, and what happens in their tight-knit community?

by Valeria Luongo

• A nun during a quiet moment of prayer

In 2015, I began what was to become a long-term project exploring the lives of nuns in the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary convent in Rome. My interest was focused on stories of people who live “radical” lives, those who decide to exist outside standard modes of living and make choices that influence their entire way of being. I would often walk around Rome, my hometown, and see nuns going about their daily lives. Though they are a common sight in the city, their existence within the walls of the convent had remained relatively obscured from public view. What exactly does a nun’s life entail? And what is life like inside their community? With more than 750 female religious institutes based in the city, Rome was the ideal location to find answers to these questions.

• Ravasco nuns singing together

• Left: for Easter at Ravasco, nuns and novices reenact the Passion of the Christ; right: after more than 20 years working as a nun mainly in Bogotá, Sister Martha is now being sent to Albania

• Ravasco nuns chat with young Catholic girls who have been sent by their families to study in Rome

The community I visited for more than three years is also known as Sisters Ravasco House in honour of its founder, Eugenia Ravasco, and it is famous for its commitment toward pedagogy. Sister Ravasco convents can be found all over the world, though its main headquarters is in Rome, near the Vatican. The community is composed of approximately 20 women of various nationalities. Some have spent the majority of their lives in the community, as in the case of Sister Odilla, who is in her 80s and started her process to become a nun when she was 13. The community becomes the principal family of these women because once they join they are permitted to visit their relatives only once a year if they are Italian. If a nun is from a foreign country they can visit family once every three years.

• Sister Pina shows novices photos of the Easter Passion

These women must learn how to adapt and live together. Many have never left their towns before joining the convent, and now they have suddenly found themselves living intimately with people from different countries and of various ages. Those who are physically able are moved to different headquarters around the world approximately every two to three years, sometimes in countries in which they do not speak the language. Elderly nuns are more likely to remain in the same convent and then retire to a specific house in the mountains of Abruzzo, where they will spend the rest of their lives.

• Sister Odilla shows photos of her youth as a nun. She joined the convent when she was 13 and is now in her 80s

• Sisters Annunziatina and Erminia read in the meeting hall

• Sister Erminia and Sister Pina in the community car on their commute to feed the homeless

In 2018 I met Sister Martha, a Colombian nun in her 40s who was staying in Rome while awaiting her new documents to move to Albania, after more than 20 years of living in the Ravasco convent in Colombia. Martha was worried as she could not speak Albanian and she knew she would have to pass through a process of integration.

• Łowicz, Poland, July 2016. An intense moment of prayer with Catholic devotees and nuns from across the world. Right: Italians celebrating mass in Łowicz during World Catholic Youth Week in 2016

I wanted to understand the different activities the nuns performed beyond prayer and how their typical day was shaped. They would wake up, pray and then begin their individual routines. Everyone within the community has a specific role. There is a nun responsible for the garden, one who takes care of the expenses and the administrative issues, one who is in charge of the laundry. The nuns would take time each day to ensure they have performed their particular individual role, while also performing their daily communal activities. On Mondays they go to feed the poor, every Thursday they all meet for a discussion, and so on. From time to time, they also join religious events, both nationally and abroad.

• Above: Sister Francesca poses in the wooden village of Maurzysce, Poland, during World Catholic Youth Week. Francesca was one of the youngest nuns inside the community. In 2017, she abandoned the community to return to a secular life. Below: Nuns in Łowicz play basketball with a group of young Catholics. Sometimes they practise sports together or with other people related to the church

In 2016, the nuns attended World Youth Week, a festival for young people organised by the Catholic church that takes place every two to three years. They were excited by the idea of travelling outside Italy and meeting people from all over the world.

That year the festival took place in Poland and more than 3 millions pilgrims celebrated the event. The week was filled with a series of religious meetings and group activities that concluded with the Pope’s public appearance in Kraków. For the nuns, this was a rare chance to spend time away from their strict routine. “The best thing was to walk around and meet people from everywhere. Even if we couldn’t speak the same language we were all there for the same purpose and it was good to stay together,” said Sister Francesca.

Between the frequent sessions of prayer, the nuns took the opportunity to interact with young people and other nuns from around the world, playing sports and sightseeing.

• St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, from the convent laundry room

• A nun gets ready early in the morning. Nuns are obliged to wear their ecclesiastic clothes at all times. The only time they do not wear their tunics is when they are sleeping

As the years passed and I became more familiar with the intricate details of the nuns lives, I started to see beyond the surface level – a life characterised by prayer and strict routine – and gained a deeper understanding of their journey. Once they have joined the convent, the women cast aside their individual desires and begin to live a communal, collectivist life based on a shared devotion to God. However, the responsibility and motivation for being there always lies with the individual.

At the end of every year, each nun must present a written report that underlines their desire and motivation to continue living in the community. If the nun understands that she no longer wants to continue on that path she will return to the secular life after a process of consultation with the Mother Superior.

• Sister Beatriz celebrates her 30th birthday

During these years, I met only one nun who chose to interrupt her religious path. When I asked her about this choice she said: “I would repeat the experience of being a nun, because I grew spiritually, personally and as a human and I learnt how to see things from a different perspective, I learned how to see the deepest aspects of human life, the ones you don’t normally stop to notice.”

The bond created inside the community, that of women helping and supporting each other, seems to be a source of strength to continue this journey.

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