Refocusing the Vision: Religious Life into the Future

Refocusing the Vision is the revised and greatly expanded version of Barbara Fiand's best-selling book, Living the Vision. Fiand revisits this earlier work with the eyes and experience of ten years. In Living the Vision, Barbara Fiand mapped an agenda for nuns living with the reforms set forth by the Second Vatican Council. These reforms included relaxing the rules regarding dress and living arrangements. Today many nuns live in apartment-style convents and dress in secular clothing. In addition, many nuns have eschewed traditional roles such as teaching and missionary work in favor of more fulfilling careers in social action and spirituality. Many nuns today even run parishes where no priest is available. In this new edition the reader will find three added Appendices, but by far the most revision and expansion will be found in chapter 4. The questions raised there are provocative and may be disturbing to some.