The Nation : Vatican Envoy Talks to Protesting Nuns

A Vatican emissary spoke with five Carmelite nuns staging a 12-day occupation of their convent in Morris Township, N.J., to protest attempts by a liberal mother superior to modernize their ascetic life style by introducing music and television to their monastery. Through a grill in the convent’s second floor, the nuns began talking with the Vatican envoy, according to a spokeswoman for the sisters. The talks, which reportedly were broken off by the protesting sisters after about an hour, temporarily ended a tense, two-day standoff during which the five Discalced Carmelite nuns at the Monastery of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel had repeatedly refused to discuss their case with Father Kevin Culligan until he produced credentials from the Vatican. Sister John of the Cross, in a telephone interview with United Press International, declined to give details of the talks but said she did not expect a breakthrough soon.