Hidden Life of Nuns Story aired: Tuesday, July 20, 2004
In 1965, there were 180,000 Catholic nuns in the U.S. Today, that number has dropped to 73,000. Little attention has been paid to this vanishing subculture, and maybe because those that are cloistered are so hard to observe.
Nuns who are modern are so hard to detect. Only 30 percent of nuns still wear the telltale flowing black habits and stiff wimples. Who are these women, these sisters, who have given up sex, money, and relationships with men to dedicate their lives to God?
When investigative journalist Cheryl Reed was little she was afraid of nuns, but fascinated by them. Reed has turned that curiosity into a book, "Unveiled: The Hidden Lives of Nuns."
