*Times indicated refer to Web version of audio

(01:41–04:02) Music Element
"The Multiples of One" from Awakening, performed by Joseph Curiale

(02:03) A Nun's Habit
A religious habit is the attire traditionally associated with nuns, but it can be worn by both men and women who are members of religious orders. The ensemble is normally comprised of a tunic, a belt or girdle, a scapular, a hood for men and a veil for women, and a mantle. Habits vary in color and style, depending on the order, and are usually white, black, or brown in color.

(02:30) Audio Clip from Meet the Press
Chittister appeared on the weekly news program Meet the Press on Easter Sunday 2006. Also on the panel were Rabbi Michael Lerner, Jon Meacham, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Father Richard Neuhaus, and Pastor Joel Osteen:

Mr. Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press: Are you concerned that some Catholics do not feel welcome in their church because they have disagreements on issues like stem cell research or on gay rights or abortion or death penalty?

Sister Joan Chittister: I'm simply asking that all of us realize that the answers we have right now in those arenas may well not be final answers. That we're all struggling to find the best answers. We all say life is our greatest value, but life has never been an absolute value. Having religion in the public arena is one thing, politicizing it is another. If we do that, we'll lose pluralism for Puritanism. We're risking the country at the same time.

(03:25) The Network of Spiritual Progressives
The Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP) is an interfaith organization that is chaired by Rabbi Michael Lerner, Cornel West, and Sister Joan Chittister. The NSP's goal, as they state it, is to challenge "the misuse of God and religion by the Religious Right, the religio-phobia and hostility to spiritual concerns in some sectors of liberal and progressive culture, and the materialism and selfishness that is the Old Bottom Line of American society." The organization has called for the end of war in Iraq and the reach of the U.S. military across the globe. They also want the leading nations to commit five percent of their gross domestic production to wiping out global poverty in mature and developing countries.

(03:46) Presbyterian Father
The Presbyterian church represents one of the major groups of classical Protestantism that emerged from the 16th-century Reformation. Pastors and lay people lead and govern the church. The modern Presbyterian churches trace their origins to the Calvinist churches of the England. In traditional Presbyterian theology, adherents believe that the glory of God is the purpose of human life. Humans are born sinners and seeking salvation through the gift of the death and resurrection of God's son, Jesus Christ, is the supreme end. God determines who will be saved — sinners choose Christ because Christ has chosen them.

(07:28–08:44) Music Element
"Intonent Hodie" from Legends of St. Nicholas: Medieval Chant & Polyphony, performed by Anonymous 4

(07:40) The Rule of St. Benedict
The Rule of St. Benedict was written by Benedict of Nursia during the sixth century in Europe. "Rule," coming from the Latin word regula, indicates a guide to live by much like, as Chittister describes, a hand railing assists one up and down a flight of stairs. The pope St. Gregory the Great wrote that Benedict "wrote a Rule for monks that is remarkable for its discretion and clarity of language." Consisting of a prologue with 73 chapters, the Rule teaches about the monastic values of humility, silence, obedience, and provides basic instructions for daily living. The first line of the prologue reads:

"Listen carefully, my child, to your master's precepts, and incline the ear of your heart. Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father's advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience."

Originally written for men, the Rule is rarely followed literally by religious orders. Benedictines place an emphasis on work and self-sufficiency of the monastery or priory, which is rooted in its local community. They lead lives of contemplation and celebration of the liturgy, but not to the point of isolation and hermitage. Benedictines are renowned for their focus on education of the young and their dedication to the writings and manuscripts of the early church fathers.

(08:48) Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Sisters of Mercy (R.S.M.) are a global religious community who are devoted to the mission of the Roman Catholic Church. The religious order was founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland on December 12, 1831. It is founded on the teachings and healing ministry of Jesus as is portrayed in the gospels of the Bible. The nuns take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, but center their work in serving "the poor, the sick and the ignorant."

(13:29) "Be All That You Can Be"
"Be All You Can Be" is a advertising campaign of the United States Army that was created in the early 1980s. The slogan proved to be successful and resonated with the country for nearly 20 years before being phased out.

(16:10–16:55) Music Element
"Fagert er Landet" from Himmelskip, performed by Iver Kleive and Knut Reiersrud

(21:39) Reference to Vatican II
In 1962, Pope John XXIII, named Man of the Year in 1963 by Time magazine, opened the Second Vatican Council with the intention of internally renewing the global Roman Catholic church. When asked about his motivation for convening the council, Pope John XXIII moved to the window and threw open the sash — his rationale being, "I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in."

The Council published 16 documents and produced many visible changes in Catholic life and doctrine. Most basically, it began to open up Catholic thought and doctrine, leading to a less hierarchical governance, increased roles for the laity, Masses spoken in native languages rather than intoned in Latin, and an openness to the practice of beliefs and practices of other Christians and Jews — as in the declaration on religious liberty, Dignitatis Humanae. Pope John XXIII died before the Council was concluded. His successor, Pope Paul VI, closed the Council in 1965. The legacy of Vatican II is large, controversial, and still unfolding.

(22:24–23:39) Music Element
"Hymn: Jesu Corona Virginum" from Hildegard von Bingen: 11,000 Virgins, performed by Anonymous 4

(22:46) International Conference on the Ordination of Women
Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW), an international network of national organizations working for women's ordination, held its first conference in 2001 in Dublin, Ireland. Over 350 people from 26 countries participated in the event. The National Catholic Reporter reported (July 13, 2001) that the Vatican sent letters to Chittister's superiors warning her that she could possibly "be expelled from her religious order or excommunicated" if she participated in the event.

A November 1995 ban on discussing women's ordination by the Vatican was based on Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter, "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis," which reserved ordination of priests to men alone:

In fact the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles attest that this call was made in accordance with God's eternal plan; Christ chose those whom he willed (cf. Mk 3:13-14; Jn 6:70), and he did so in union with the Father, "through the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:2), after having spent the night in prayer (cf. Lk 6:12). Therefore, in granting admission to the ministerial priesthood, the Church has always acknowledged as a perennial norm her Lord's way of acting in choosing the twelve men whom he made the foundation of his Church (cf. Rv 21:14). These men did not in fact receive only a function which could thereafter be exercised by any member of the Church; rather they were specifically and intimately associated in the mission of the Incarnate Word himself (cf. Mt 10:1, 7-8; 28:16-20; Mk 3:13-16; 16:14-15). The Apostles did the same when they chose fellow workers who would succeed them in their ministry. Also included in this choice were those who, throughout the time of the Church, would carry on the Apostles' mission of representing Christ the Lord and Redeemer.

Chittister's superior, Sr. Christine Vladimiroff, did not deliver the the order. Instead, she wrote a letter to the Vatican with the signatures of 127 Benedictine nuns from Chittister's priory. The community gave her a special blessing and "had dinner together," as Sr. Vladimiroff said, because "that's what families do."

Chittister went on to address the conference in "Discipleship for a Priestly People in a Priestless Period." She quotes the poet Basho and cites Old and New Testament teachings on service to the poor and the ongoing development of the church itself:

Discipleship and faith are of a piece. To say that we believe that God loves the poor, judges in their behalf, wills their deliverance but do nothing ourselves to free the poor, to hear their pleas, to lift their burdens, to act in their behalf is an empty faith indeed. To say that God is love and not ourselves love as God loves may well be church but it is not Christianity. To proclaim a theology of equality — to say that all persons are equal in God's sight and at the same time to maintain a theology of inequality, a spirituality of domination in the name of God that says that women have no place in the dominion of the church and the development of doctrine is to live a lie.

But if discipleship is the following of Jesus, beyond all bounds, at all costs, for the bringing of the reign of God, for the establishment of right relationships, then to ground a woman's calling to follow Christ to her inability to look like Jesus obstructs the very thing the church is founded to do. It obstructs a woman's ability to follow Christ to the full to give her life for the others, to bless and preach and sacrifice and build community "in his name" — as the documents on priesthood say that a priestly people must. And it does it for the sake of religion and in defiance of the gospel itself. How can a church such as this call convincingly to the world in the name of justice to practice a justice it does not practice itself?

(23:22) Reading from Chittister's Keynote Speech at the NCEA
The National Catholic Educational Association invited Sr. Chittister to be a keynote speaker at its annual convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in April 2001. As a result, bishops and administrators from the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Peoria, Illinois; Lincoln, Nebraska; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and LaCrosse, Wisconsin asked their teachers and school administrators to boycott the conference because they disagreed with Chittister's support of women's ordination within the Roman Catholic church.

She was warmly welcomed. The following passage is excerpted from Chittister's closing address, titled "Leading the Way: To Go Where There Is No Road and Leave a Path":

Benedict of Nursia assessed his world — asked why the few controlled the many and envisioned a whole new way of living that was the antithesis of the hierarchialism of roman patriarchy.

Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marrillac assessed their world — asked who would help the helpless in it and envisioned a whole new kind of security for the poor.

Mother Jones who at the age of 80 was called by a us congressman "the most dangerous woman in America" assessed her world — asked how power could be redistributed and helped to shape an economic world where worker's had the right to unionize.

Oscar Romero assessed his world — asked where political legitimacy was and lost his life to stop oppression.

Indeed, the tradition is clear: spiritual leadership is about assessing reality, about reclaiming the cosmic vision, and about being courageous enough to ask the right questions along the way.

(24:09–24:50) Music Element
"Hymn: Jesu Corona Virginum" from Hildegard von Bingen: 11,000 Virgins, performed by Anonymous 4

(24:42–27:00) Music Element
"Del Close" from Unspeakable, performed by Bill Frisell

(27:05–28:04) Music Element
"Fagert er Landet" from Himmelskip, performed by Iver Kleive and Knut Reiersrud

(29:07) Quatrain by Alice Duer Miller
Chittister recites Alice Duer Miller's poem, "Feminism," which appeared in the 1915 volume, Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times. Alice Duer Miller (1874–1942), a satirist and feminist, supported the suffrage movement and published many of her poems in her column in the New York Tribune as a rebuttal to anti-suffrage arguments being made.

"Mother, what is a Feminist?"
"A Feminist, my daughter,
Is any woman now who cares
To think about her own affairs
As men don't think she oughter."

(35:35–36:08) Music Element
"Quia ergo femina" from Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy, performed by Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music

(36:00) Reference to Tao Te Ching and Sufi Mystics
Taoism (or Daoism), translated as Teachings of the Way, is both a religion and a philosophy. A distinctively Chinese religion, Taoism has had a profound impact on Chinese thought and history over the past two millennia. One of the basic and earliest texts is the Tao Te Ching, translated as The Classic Way and Its Virtue, based on the teachings of Lao-tzu, who some maintain was a contemporary of Confucius. It advocates preserving and restoring the Tao in the body and the cosmos. In order to live in harmony, one should allow the Tao to determine the course of one's life. An individual lives passively. Wu wei, or inactivity, allows nature to control events and ultimately leads to harmony — a peacefulness, stillness, and oneness.

(37:16) Women's Global Initiative
Chittister co-chairs The Global Peace Initiative of Women. This international group aims to unite female leaders of many faiths for building peace reconciliation in areas of conflict. Women from the religious, governmental, and civic sectors of society provide alternative resources — spiritual, economic, or educational — to aid in healing conflict. They also help relieve the social and economic stresses that often lead to violence.

(40:58) Moral Values and the 2004 Elections
For an in-depth discussion on the debate that took place over the role and definition of "moral values" in the 2004 U.S. elections, check out the Speaking of Faith episode, "The Future of Moral Values," with former US News & World Report editor and Beliefnet founder, Steven Waldman.

(45:23–46:17) Music Element
"Thomas Albert: Thirteen Ways - IV. (Sensous, Relaxed)" from The Sunday Sessions: Full Measure, performed by Eighth Blackbird

(46:10) Declining Numbers in Religious Orders
The number of Roman Catholic nuns in the U.S. peaked in the 1960s totaling more than 200,000. Since that time, numbers of dropped by 50 percent. A 2004 survey by Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Almanac showed there were approximately 71,486 nuns in the United States, with an average age of 70 years old.

Since 1993, the Catholic World News reported that there has been a slight decline in members of religious orders. What's revealing is the breakout of female and male members of Catholic religious orders. Women outnumber men by a ratio of nearly four to 1, with more than 776,269 female members as compared to 192,029 male members.

(48:35–49:25) Music Element
"Corrente Italiana" from Missa Mexicana, performed by The Harp Consort

(49:30) Reading from Speech by Chittister
The following passage is excerpted from Chittister's closing address at the 2001 National Catholic Educational Association convention, titled "Leading the Way: To Go Where There Is No Road and Leave a Path":

In the mid-17th century Spanish seafarers sailed up the west coast of the Americas to what is now known as the Baja peninsula. The cartographers of the time, aware of the drake expeditions and good Cartesians as well simply drew a straight line up from the strait of California to the strait of Juan de Fuca between Vancouver island and Washington state.

Consequently, the maps that were published in 1635 show very clearly that California was an island.

Now that might be only a quaint story if it were not for the fact that the missionaries of the time were using that map to travel inland.

So, given the information on that map, they developed the first great pre-fab boat construction project in human history. They cut their flatboats in Spain, shipped them over in pieces and then, on the shores of Monterey, California put them all back together again. To be transported on the backs of mules to the other side of California. Then they carried those boats 12,000 feet up the Sierra Nevada mountains for passage across the great strait, which the map showed ran from the Baja to Puget Sound.

But lo and behold the other side of those mountains was no seashore at all. It was what is now the state of Nevada and the beginning of the great American desert. California was the mainland!

It would be a rather funny story except for one thing that makes it tragic: when the missionaries wrote back to tell the cartographers and the crown that California was not an island no one — no one — believed them. In fact, they insisted that the map was certainly correct: it was the missionaries who were in the wrong place!

What's more, in 1701 — almost 70 years later — they reissued an updated version of the same map.

For fifty years, then — the years of the most constant, most crucial explorations of the California coastline — those maps went unchanged because someone continued to work with partial information, assumed that data from the past had the inerrancy of tradition and then used authority to prove it.

Finally, after years and years of new reports a few cartographers — the heretics, the radicals, and the rebels, I presume — began to issue a new version. And in 1721, the last mapmaker holdout finally attached California to the mainland.

But — and this is the real tragedy perhaps — it took almost a hundred years for the gap between experience and authority to close. It took almost a hundred years for the new maps to be declared official. Despite the fact that the people who were there all the time knew differently from the very first day.

Point: vision is the ability to realize that the truth is always larger than the partial present.

(50:43–52:45) Music Element
"Rob Roy" from Where in the World?, performed by Bill Frisell Band