Agnes Mary Mansour
Encyclopedia
Agnes Mary Mansour was a Catholic nun from 1953 until 1983, when she was forced to resign her vows to retain her position as the director of the Michigan Department of Social Services. Mansour continued as director until 1987. She served as the president of Mercy College of Detroit from 1971 to 1983. In 1988 she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
.
to Lebanese immigrants on April 10, 1931, the fourth of four children in her family, all girls. She was baptized in the Antioch Maronite
branch of Eastern Catholicism.
After finishing St. Charles High School in Detroit's East Side, she graduated from Mercy College in 1953 with a bachelor of science degree in medical technology and chemistry. She entered the Sisters of Mercy
, assuming the name Sister Agnes Mary on September 7, 1953, transferring to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. She continued her education at Catholic University
in Washington D.C., earning a master of science
degree in Chemistry in 1958.
On August 16, 1959, she took perpetual vows to become a nun. Her motto was "Free to be Faithful". She entered Georgetown University
and earned a doctorate in Biochemistry in 1964. Regarding a harmful side effect of the use of chloroquine
in the treatment of malaria
, dangerous to the eyes, she co-authored The Ocular Deposition of Chloroquine, with Howard Bernstein, Nathan Zvaifler and Martin Rubin. The Vatican did not allow nuns to practice medicine at this time or Mansour would have become a medical doctor. After receiving her doctorate, Mansour returned to Chicago and accepted the chairmanship of the Mercy College Department of Physical Science and Mathematics. She also coached the basketball team.
Mansour studied academic administration in the American Council on Education
(ACE) Fellows program at the University of Kentucky
. In 1971, she began serving as president of Mercy College of Detroit, staying in the position until 1983. As president, she greatly expanded enrollment and facilities at Mercy College, doubling the number of degree programs while balancing the budget with increased endowments. After 1987, she served as visiting professor to Michigan State University
and Wayne State University
.
held on August 3. She said of her campaign, "I look at politics as a legitimate extension of my work as a Sister of Mercy." In a field of four Democratic Party
candidates competing for the United States House of Representatives
seat for Michigan's 17th congressional district
, Sander M. Levin
won with more than seven times the votes received by Mansour, who picked up only 6.4% of the electorate.
Mansour's run for office came as a surprise to Edmund Szoka, the Archbishop of Detroit
. At the time, the Vatican allowed members of religious orders to hold political office, but the candidate was required to gain the approval of the local bishop. Mansour did not do so.
She told reporters that canon law was an "old set of rules that are invoked when somebody wants to invoke them, and ignored when someone wants to ignore them." Szoka accepted her excuse that she did not know to ask permission.
, appointed Mansour in December to the directorship of the Michigan Department of Social Services (DSS); Michigan's biggest agency. The administrative position involved oversight of public health programs including disbursement of some $5 million in federal monies from Medicaid
for abortions. To accept the appointment, she asked for and received permission from her order and from Szoka. Szoka asked Mansour to publicly state her opposition to abortion; he said he originally gave his approval on this condition. Mansour did not follow his request. Though she personally disapproved of abortion, she knew that many others felt differently, and she determined that the poor should have equal access to abortion as long as it was legal.
Mansour assumed the directorship on December 29, 1982, pending Michigan legislative confirmation in the position. Pressured by conservative and pro-life Catholics, Szoka hardened his resolve, and with no response from Mansour or her order, on February 23, 1983, he directed the Detroit Province of the Sisters of Mercy to determine whether Mansour was in violation of the teachings of the Church. He told the Detroit Sisters leadership that Mansour no longer had his permission to serve the state, and he ordered them to inform her that she was to resign the state appointment. A few hundred nuns and some priests, including the Detroit Pastoral Council
, protested the directive.
The National Coalition of American Nuns
(NCAN) organized a protest of some 300 nuns praying at a Detroit church. NCAN co-founder Sister Margaret Traxler
said Mansour "got no hearing, [a behavior which was] typical for this exclusive, apartheid church." Detroit archdiocese spokesman Jay Berman said of the NCAN protest: "Their efforts are confusing Catholics and misrepresenting 2,000 years of church teaching on the sanctity of human life." Szoka told the Pastoral Council that he was disappointed they did not support him, and that he was only asking Mansour to make a statement, not to change her actions. He said, "It is a question of my absolute duty to stand for, to protect and to defend the doctrine of the Church which has to do with human life." On March 4, Szoka met again with the leadership of the Detroit Sisters of Mercy, and he restated his directive. The Sisters determined they did not have to obey Szoka if "a greater good was involved", and refused to force Mansour to quit her job.
On March 8, Mansour was confirmed in her appointment by the Michigan Senate
with a vote of 28 to 9. She said, "I recognize that we live in a morally pluralistic society that government must be respectful of, and that my morality may not be someone else's morality." She told the Senate that she was personally against abortion but that she could tolerate the part of her job involving the disbursement of Medicaid funds to hospitals that performed abortions on women with little or no money. Kenneth Joseph Povish
, the Bishop of Lansing
, where Mansour would have an office, stated his approval of her as Director of DSS. He said, "I would rather have a Sister of Mercy exercising whatever influence she can over that department than some feminist floozy who is an abortion advocate."
On March 10, Szoka reported the situation to the Vatican, telling the Holy See that "Catholic people are confused, disturbed and dismayed by the spectacle of a nun being in the position of director of a department which pays for abortions and refusing to state her opposition to such payments." The Vatican delegated Archbishop Pio Laghi to address the matter, and he sent a message to Sister Theresa Kane, the national president of the Sisters of Mercy, telling Kane that she must convince Mansour to resign as director of DSS. Kane refused, as did Detroit Provincial Superior
Emily George who was the Vice President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Union, and was previously (as Mary Karl George) the president of Mercy College, before Mansour.
On April 11, the day after Mansour's 52nd birthday, Sister Kane requested a formal hearing on the matter from the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, a Vatican body that dealt with nuns and religious orders. On April 16, the Congregation instructed Anthony Bevilacqua, Auxiliary Bishop
of Brooklyn who was visiting Rome with other bishops, that he was "to approach Sister Agnes Mary Mansour directly and to require, in the name of the Holy See and by virtue of her vow of obedience, that she immediately resign as director" of DSS. Around this time, Mansour asked for and received permission for a leave of absence from the Sisters of Mercy, so that she could carry out her state appointment free of conflict with the Church.
Unusually, Bevilacqua sent a letter directly to Mansour without communicating his intention to President Kane or any of the Detroit leaders of the Sisters of Mercy. In the letter, Bevilacqua told Mansour she was to meet him in person, and that she could bring with her two local sisters for moral support. She selected Sister Helen Marie Burns, Ph.D (Detroit Sisters of Mercy) and the order's Provincial Superior, Emily George. On May 9, 1983, Bevilacqua met with the three women and told Mansour she must immediately decide whether to resign the directorship or her vows. Shocked at the sudden demand, for 80 minutes she contemplated the decision, then finally "with deep regret, sorrow, and limited freedom" signed the papers Bevilacqua had provided for requesting dispensation from her perpetual vows, voiding her leave of absence. After nearly 30 years of being in religious orders, she gave up her life as a nun.
Prominent American nuns protested the unilateral action by Bevilacqua. The NCAN joined with the National Assembly of Religious Women (NARW) to issue a joint statement: "The Roman Congregation for Religious in their fear of losing 'authority' has ignored the principle of freedom of conscience." The NCAN and NARW requested sympathetic religious women to take part in a protest on Pentecost Sunday, May 22, 1983, "as a visible witness to the arrogant use of power in a male dominated church." Small protests were organized at cathedrals in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Ms. magazine reported that Sister Donna Quinn, president of NCAN, said that the Pope's demand for obedience "tramples on who we are as women religious in the United States". Ms. writer Mary Kay Blakely added that she thought Mansour was correct in saying that "the Pope doesn't understand the American people, and he doesn't understand the American nun". Divided over the Mansour affair, the Catholic Theological Society of America
passed an unsuccessful resolution asking for dialog rather than simple administrative decisions which "violate both the theological meaning of authority in the church and the sacredness of conscience of church members".
In 1983, Mansour was offered money for the film rights to the story of her life. She said that she would accept on condition that the money was enough to balance Michigan's state deficit, $900,000,000 at that time. No film rights were obtained. Mansour remained director of DSS until 1987. Under her leadership, the department's error rate dropped to its lowest levels in awarding food stamps
, Medicaid funds, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC). She increased the investigation and conviction of fraud cases, and she achieved the highest national record of locating deadbeat parents for collecting child support. She streamlined office procedures, and she initiated programs to curtail teenage pregnancy and to assist teenage mothers. She broadened the state program benefiting victims of domestic abuse.
Mansour served on many executive boards, including PSRI, Sisters of Mercy Health Corporation, Women's Economic Club, Michigan Bell Telephone
, the National Bank of Detroit
and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
.
", asking for Catholic discussion about abortion and requesting religious pluralism
in Catholicism.
Mansour and the Sisters of Mercy made their 1980s decisions based on the promise of freedom of conscience described in the Second Vatican Council
of 1962–1965 which said, "Let there be unity in what is necessary, freedom in what is unsettled and charity in any case." Mercy nuns believed that they held greater rights than simple obedience to authority. Pope John Paul II
's relatively quick and decisive action against Mansour signaled his retreat from the more liberal mid-1960s Church position which had allowed for differences of opinion on many topics including abortion. On November 27, 1983, the 1983 Code of Canon Law
went into effect, eliminating the option of political office for Catholics under vows to religious orders.
and survived treatment for it. When the cancer returned a decade later, spreading to her bones and lungs, she was invited to stay at McAuley Center, in Farmington Hills, Michigan
; a rest home operated by the Sisters of Mercy. Facing death, Mansour said she was not bitter about the Vatican's action, only hurt. She wanted to be remembered, "as someone who cared deeply about the benefits of education and service, and concern for those less fortunate".
, in the Sisters of Mercy cemetery plot. Sister Linda Werthman, the President of the Detroit Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy, said, "She never stopped being a Sister of Mercy in her heart and many of us never stopped thinking of her in that way. Throughout the years, her commitment to serving those who suffer from poverty, sickness and lack of education has been unwavering."
Theologian Richard A. McCormick
wrote in 2006 that Church officials abused their authority in the Mansour case, and brought "the teaching office into disrepute". Author Kenneth A. Briggs, former religion editor for The New York Times, wrote that the Mansour case "was in many respects the most dramatic, but not the only, instance of a particular nun singled out for punishment". Theologian Margaret Farley, a Sister of Mercy and a professor at Yale University
, said, "It was a painful truth that [Mansour] had to leave, that the church declared her officially not a member. There was suffering in the community, and also for her. When she left she was quoted as saying that she would always be a Sister of Mercy in her heart. And that has absolutely been the case. She continued in works of mercy all her life."
Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
The Michigan Women's Hall of Fame honors distinguished women, both historical and contemporary, who have been associated with the U.S. state of Michigan. It is housed in the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame building, located at 213 W. Malcolm X St. in downtown Lansing, Michigan...
.
Education and religion
Josephine A. Mansour was born in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
to Lebanese immigrants on April 10, 1931, the fourth of four children in her family, all girls. She was baptized in the Antioch Maronite
Maronite Church
The Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome . It traces its heritage back to the community founded by Maron, a 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. The first Maronite Patriarch, John Maron, was elected in the late 7th...
branch of Eastern Catholicism.
After finishing St. Charles High School in Detroit's East Side, she graduated from Mercy College in 1953 with a bachelor of science degree in medical technology and chemistry. She entered the Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
, assuming the name Sister Agnes Mary on September 7, 1953, transferring to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. She continued her education at Catholic University
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
in Washington D.C., earning a master of science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree in Chemistry in 1958.
On August 16, 1959, she took perpetual vows to become a nun. Her motto was "Free to be Faithful". She entered Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
and earned a doctorate in Biochemistry in 1964. Regarding a harmful side effect of the use of chloroquine
Chloroquine
Chloroquine is a 4-aminoquinoline drug used in the treatment or prevention of malaria.-History:Chloroquine , N'--N,N-diethyl-pentane-1,4-diamine, was discovered in 1934 by Hans Andersag and co-workers at the Bayer laboratories who named it "Resochin". It was ignored for a decade because it was...
in the treatment of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, dangerous to the eyes, she co-authored The Ocular Deposition of Chloroquine, with Howard Bernstein, Nathan Zvaifler and Martin Rubin. The Vatican did not allow nuns to practice medicine at this time or Mansour would have become a medical doctor. After receiving her doctorate, Mansour returned to Chicago and accepted the chairmanship of the Mercy College Department of Physical Science and Mathematics. She also coached the basketball team.
Mansour studied academic administration in the American Council on Education
American Council on Education
The American Council on Education is a United States organization, established in 1918, comprising over 1,800 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education-related associations, organizations, and corporations....
(ACE) Fellows program at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. In 1971, she began serving as president of Mercy College of Detroit, staying in the position until 1983. As president, she greatly expanded enrollment and facilities at Mercy College, doubling the number of degree programs while balancing the budget with increased endowments. After 1987, she served as visiting professor to Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
and Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
.
Public service
In 1982, Mansour ran for political office, losing in the primary electionPrimary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
held on August 3. She said of her campaign, "I look at politics as a legitimate extension of my work as a Sister of Mercy." In a field of four Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidates competing for the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
seat for Michigan's 17th congressional district
Michigan's 17th congressional district
Michigan's 17th congressional district is an obsolete United States congressional district in Michigan. The first Representative to Congress elected from the 17th district, George Anthony Dondero, took office in 1933, after reapportionment due to the 1930 census. The district was dissolved...
, Sander M. Levin
Sander M. Levin
Sander Martin Levin, generally known as Sandy Levin, is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1983, and the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee...
won with more than seven times the votes received by Mansour, who picked up only 6.4% of the electorate.
Mansour's run for office came as a surprise to Edmund Szoka, the Archbishop of Detroit
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne...
. At the time, the Vatican allowed members of religious orders to hold political office, but the candidate was required to gain the approval of the local bishop. Mansour did not do so.
She told reporters that canon law was an "old set of rules that are invoked when somebody wants to invoke them, and ignored when someone wants to ignore them." Szoka accepted her excuse that she did not know to ask permission.
Michigan Social Services
After the general election in November 1982, the incoming Michigan governor, James BlanchardJames Blanchard
James Johnston "Jim" Blanchard is a politician from the US state of Michigan. A Democrat, Blanchard has served in the United States House of Representatives, as the 45th Governor of Michigan, and as United States Ambassador to Canada....
, appointed Mansour in December to the directorship of the Michigan Department of Social Services (DSS); Michigan's biggest agency. The administrative position involved oversight of public health programs including disbursement of some $5 million in federal monies from Medicaid
Medicaid
Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
for abortions. To accept the appointment, she asked for and received permission from her order and from Szoka. Szoka asked Mansour to publicly state her opposition to abortion; he said he originally gave his approval on this condition. Mansour did not follow his request. Though she personally disapproved of abortion, she knew that many others felt differently, and she determined that the poor should have equal access to abortion as long as it was legal.
Mansour assumed the directorship on December 29, 1982, pending Michigan legislative confirmation in the position. Pressured by conservative and pro-life Catholics, Szoka hardened his resolve, and with no response from Mansour or her order, on February 23, 1983, he directed the Detroit Province of the Sisters of Mercy to determine whether Mansour was in violation of the teachings of the Church. He told the Detroit Sisters leadership that Mansour no longer had his permission to serve the state, and he ordered them to inform her that she was to resign the state appointment. A few hundred nuns and some priests, including the Detroit Pastoral Council
Pastoral Council
Not to be confused with Parish councilIn Catholic dioceses and parishes, Pastoral Councils may be established by the diocesan Bishop or pastor. They are consultative bodies which serve to advise them regarding pastoral issues....
, protested the directive.
The National Coalition of American Nuns
National Coalition of American Nuns
The National Coalition of American Nuns , since its inception has been an advocate for social and structural change inside and outside the Catholic Church. It is said to officially represent from 500 to 2,000 U.S. women religious....
(NCAN) organized a protest of some 300 nuns praying at a Detroit church. NCAN co-founder Sister Margaret Traxler
Margaret Traxler
Margaret Ellen Traxler was a prominent women’s rights activist and nun with the School Sisters of Notre Dame.- Biography :...
said Mansour "got no hearing, [a behavior which was] typical for this exclusive, apartheid church." Detroit archdiocese spokesman Jay Berman said of the NCAN protest: "Their efforts are confusing Catholics and misrepresenting 2,000 years of church teaching on the sanctity of human life." Szoka told the Pastoral Council that he was disappointed they did not support him, and that he was only asking Mansour to make a statement, not to change her actions. He said, "It is a question of my absolute duty to stand for, to protect and to defend the doctrine of the Church which has to do with human life." On March 4, Szoka met again with the leadership of the Detroit Sisters of Mercy, and he restated his directive. The Sisters determined they did not have to obey Szoka if "a greater good was involved", and refused to force Mansour to quit her job.
On March 8, Mansour was confirmed in her appointment by the Michigan Senate
Michigan Senate
The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. The Senate consists of 38 members, who are elected from constituencies having approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents....
with a vote of 28 to 9. She said, "I recognize that we live in a morally pluralistic society that government must be respectful of, and that my morality may not be someone else's morality." She told the Senate that she was personally against abortion but that she could tolerate the part of her job involving the disbursement of Medicaid funds to hospitals that performed abortions on women with little or no money. Kenneth Joseph Povish
Kenneth Joseph Povish
Kenneth Joseph Povish was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Crookston and Bishop of Lansing .-Early life and education:...
, the Bishop of Lansing
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing
The Catholic Diocese of Lansing is located in Lansing, Michigan. It encompasses an area of 6,218 square miles including the counties of Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Shiawassee and Washtenaw...
, where Mansour would have an office, stated his approval of her as Director of DSS. He said, "I would rather have a Sister of Mercy exercising whatever influence she can over that department than some feminist floozy who is an abortion advocate."
On March 10, Szoka reported the situation to the Vatican, telling the Holy See that "Catholic people are confused, disturbed and dismayed by the spectacle of a nun being in the position of director of a department which pays for abortions and refusing to state her opposition to such payments." The Vatican delegated Archbishop Pio Laghi to address the matter, and he sent a message to Sister Theresa Kane, the national president of the Sisters of Mercy, telling Kane that she must convince Mansour to resign as director of DSS. Kane refused, as did Detroit Provincial Superior
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
Emily George who was the Vice President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Union, and was previously (as Mary Karl George) the president of Mercy College, before Mansour.
On April 11, the day after Mansour's 52nd birthday, Sister Kane requested a formal hearing on the matter from the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, a Vatican body that dealt with nuns and religious orders. On April 16, the Congregation instructed Anthony Bevilacqua, Auxiliary Bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
of Brooklyn who was visiting Rome with other bishops, that he was "to approach Sister Agnes Mary Mansour directly and to require, in the name of the Holy See and by virtue of her vow of obedience, that she immediately resign as director" of DSS. Around this time, Mansour asked for and received permission for a leave of absence from the Sisters of Mercy, so that she could carry out her state appointment free of conflict with the Church.
Unusually, Bevilacqua sent a letter directly to Mansour without communicating his intention to President Kane or any of the Detroit leaders of the Sisters of Mercy. In the letter, Bevilacqua told Mansour she was to meet him in person, and that she could bring with her two local sisters for moral support. She selected Sister Helen Marie Burns, Ph.D (Detroit Sisters of Mercy) and the order's Provincial Superior, Emily George. On May 9, 1983, Bevilacqua met with the three women and told Mansour she must immediately decide whether to resign the directorship or her vows. Shocked at the sudden demand, for 80 minutes she contemplated the decision, then finally "with deep regret, sorrow, and limited freedom" signed the papers Bevilacqua had provided for requesting dispensation from her perpetual vows, voiding her leave of absence. After nearly 30 years of being in religious orders, she gave up her life as a nun.
Prominent American nuns protested the unilateral action by Bevilacqua. The NCAN joined with the National Assembly of Religious Women (NARW) to issue a joint statement: "The Roman Congregation for Religious in their fear of losing 'authority' has ignored the principle of freedom of conscience." The NCAN and NARW requested sympathetic religious women to take part in a protest on Pentecost Sunday, May 22, 1983, "as a visible witness to the arrogant use of power in a male dominated church." Small protests were organized at cathedrals in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Ms. magazine reported that Sister Donna Quinn, president of NCAN, said that the Pope's demand for obedience "tramples on who we are as women religious in the United States". Ms. writer Mary Kay Blakely added that she thought Mansour was correct in saying that "the Pope doesn't understand the American people, and he doesn't understand the American nun". Divided over the Mansour affair, the Catholic Theological Society of America
Catholic Theological Society of America
The Catholic Theological Society of America is a professional association mostly in the United States and Canada. It is a "Catholic" organization that was founded in 1946 to promote studies and research in theology within the Catholic tradition...
passed an unsuccessful resolution asking for dialog rather than simple administrative decisions which "violate both the theological meaning of authority in the church and the sacredness of conscience of church members".
In 1983, Mansour was offered money for the film rights to the story of her life. She said that she would accept on condition that the money was enough to balance Michigan's state deficit, $900,000,000 at that time. No film rights were obtained. Mansour remained director of DSS until 1987. Under her leadership, the department's error rate dropped to its lowest levels in awarding food stamps
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
The United States Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , historically and commonly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal-assistance program that provides assistance to low- and no-income people and families living in the U.S. Though the program is administered by the U.S. Department of...
, Medicaid funds, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children
Aid to Families with Dependent Children
Aid to Families with Dependent Children was a federal assistance program in effect from 1935 to 1996, which was administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services...
(AFDC). She increased the investigation and conviction of fraud cases, and she achieved the highest national record of locating deadbeat parents for collecting child support. She streamlined office procedures, and she initiated programs to curtail teenage pregnancy and to assist teenage mothers. She broadened the state program benefiting victims of domestic abuse.
Poverty alleviation
In 1987, Mansour accepted an executive adviser position with Mercy Health Services Special Initiative to the Poor. In 1988, she founded the Poverty and Social Reform Institute (PSRI) with the mission of helping increase the health and education of children living in poverty. PSRI established two child care centers in Detroit, named "Leaps and Bounds".Mansour served on many executive boards, including PSRI, Sisters of Mercy Health Corporation, Women's Economic Club, Michigan Bell Telephone
Michigan Bell
Michigan Bell is the subsidiary of AT&T serving the state of Michigan. Following the Bell System divestiture on January 8, 1982, the company became a subsidiary of Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company that served the midwestern United States...
, the National Bank of Detroit
National Bank of Detroit
The National Bank of Detroit , later renamed NBD Bank, was a bank that operated mostly in the Midwestern United States. Following its merger with First National Bank of Chicago, the bank was ultimately acquired and merged into Bank One, at which point the NBD name was discontinued...
and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
Founded in 1976, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities is an organization of private US colleges and universities...
.
Position on abortion
Mansour personally disapproved of abortion. However, she held the belief that, because abortion was legal, it should be equally available to all women, poor and rich. In July 1982 during her unsuccessful political campaign, Mansour wrote a "Position Paper on Abortion and Legislation". In late summer 1984, she joined 96 other leading theologians, nuns and priests who signed another position paper titled "A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and AbortionA Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion
A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion, alternatively referred to by its pull quote "A Diversity of Opinions Regarding Abortion Exists Among Committed Catholics" or simply "The New York Times ad", was a full-page advertisement placed on October 7, 1984 in The New York Times by Catholics for...
", asking for Catholic discussion about abortion and requesting religious pluralism
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is a loosely defined expression concerning acceptance of various religions, and is used in a number of related ways:* As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and true values...
in Catholicism.
Mansour and the Sisters of Mercy made their 1980s decisions based on the promise of freedom of conscience described in the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
of 1962–1965 which said, "Let there be unity in what is necessary, freedom in what is unsettled and charity in any case." Mercy nuns believed that they held greater rights than simple obedience to authority. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
's relatively quick and decisive action against Mansour signaled his retreat from the more liberal mid-1960s Church position which had allowed for differences of opinion on many topics including abortion. On November 27, 1983, the 1983 Code of Canon Law
1983 Code of Canon Law
The 1983 Code of Canon Law is the codification of canonical legislation for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church...
went into effect, eliminating the option of political office for Catholics under vows to religious orders.
Illness
The Sisters of Mercy did not honor Mansour's 1983 resignation of her vows. They continued to consider her a member of the order. Around 1993, Mansour discovered breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
and survived treatment for it. When the cancer returned a decade later, spreading to her bones and lungs, she was invited to stay at McAuley Center, in Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a community in southeastern Michigan. It is the largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census...
; a rest home operated by the Sisters of Mercy. Facing death, Mansour said she was not bitter about the Vatican's action, only hurt. She wanted to be remembered, "as someone who cared deeply about the benefits of education and service, and concern for those less fortunate".
Death and legacy
Mansour died on December 17, 2004, aged 73. She was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield, MichiganSouthfield, Michigan
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 0.04% is water. The main branch of the River Rouge runs through Southfield. The city is bounded to the south by Eight Mile Road, its western border is Inkster Road, and to the east it is bounded by Greenfield Road...
, in the Sisters of Mercy cemetery plot. Sister Linda Werthman, the President of the Detroit Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy, said, "She never stopped being a Sister of Mercy in her heart and many of us never stopped thinking of her in that way. Throughout the years, her commitment to serving those who suffer from poverty, sickness and lack of education has been unwavering."
Theologian Richard A. McCormick
Richard A. McCormick
Richard A. McCormick S.J. was a leading Catholic moral theologian who reshaped Catholic thought in the United States. He wrote many journal articles on Catholic social teachings and moral theory...
wrote in 2006 that Church officials abused their authority in the Mansour case, and brought "the teaching office into disrepute". Author Kenneth A. Briggs, former religion editor for The New York Times, wrote that the Mansour case "was in many respects the most dramatic, but not the only, instance of a particular nun singled out for punishment". Theologian Margaret Farley, a Sister of Mercy and a professor at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, said, "It was a painful truth that [Mansour] had to leave, that the church declared her officially not a member. There was suffering in the community, and also for her. When she left she was quoted as saying that she would always be a Sister of Mercy in her heart. And that has absolutely been the case. She continued in works of mercy all her life."