By Sujata Jena
Bhubaneswar: If I were to design religious life anew for our day and time, I would propose a fourth vow — against gossip.
I am a final professed sister of the congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. I am convinced my vocation to religious life comes along with an abundance of God’s unconditional love, mercy and blessings.
We sisters respond to the gratuitous call of God through the public profession of temporary vows (nine years maximum) and then perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.
Add to that the vow against gossip, a modern curse.
What is “gossip”? The Oxford dictionary defines it as informal talk or stories about other people that may be unkind or not true. Merriam-Webster defines a gossiper as a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others.
How are religious men and women engaged in gossiping? In religious communities, it usually consists of one or more members talking about someone’s limitation in her/his absence. An inner dynamism forms within the group, and judgment is passed on the victim of the gossip.
Sometimes, in our community gatherings we talk less about ourselves, the people we serve, or the challenges in our lives; rather, we talk about others, even those not necessarily members of our community. Someone brings up a topic that engages others, who become active or passive gossipers.
We know gossip is undesirable and fruitless, and yet we engage almost spontaneously — perhaps, in many cases, because we have nothing much to do.
Why should we take a vow against gossiping? Gossip is unbecoming to our religious life. We are not encouraged to talk one way about people in front of them and a different way behind their backs. Gossip humiliates and demeans a person. Gossip annihilates and assassinates their character.
On January 21, 2018, Pope Francis addressed some 500 contemplative nuns and urged them not to succumb to gossiping in their convents, comparing it to terrorism.
“Gossip is like a bomb. … [One] throws the bomb, destroys and calmly walks off,” he said.
Gossip destroys people’s lives. I know that we have lost some religious as a result — they left communities as they no longer wanted to be victims of gossip. Besides that, it wastes the gossiper’s time and energy and weakens the very purpose of religious life just for a meaningless pastime that becomes a habit.
Everything we have is a gift from God. As stewards of these gifts, we must spend our time, gifts and privileges in building a rightful relationship with God, sisters/brothers, and Mother Earth.
Pope Francis summed it up on September 6, 2020: “Please, brothers and sisters, let’s try not to gossip. Gossip is a plague worse than Covid. Worse. Let’s make a big effort: no gossiping!”
(Sujata Jena is a human rights activist, a freelance journalist and an advocate with a special interest for the cause of the poor, Dalits, tribal women, children, minorities and migrants. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been actively involved in the safe return of the migrants and continues to work for their rights through advocacy and lobbying through networking with government administrations and civil society groups. Currently, she is working as the deputy director of the Excellent IAS Academy in Bhubaneswar in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. She is the coordinator of the social projects of the congregation. This column first appeared in Global Sisters Report on August 30, 2021)