ABOUT
NUN HABITS
April, a high school senior discovering her sexuality, befriends a bisexual nun, Sister Cecilia.
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Together, they go on a journey to discover where they fit into traditional Catholic teaching.
SYNOPSIS
April has always gotten straight A's, until she starts failing math after her mom dies. With a strict Catholic father and no friends to turn to at school, she finds comfort in art and weed.
When she skips a school assembly to get high between classes, she encounters a Nun visiting her school, Sister Cecilia. They split a joint and begin an unlikely friendship.
As April struggles with a growing crush on her classmate, Megan, Sister Cecilia struggles with the Catholic Church's strict teachings on homosexuality. Determined to help April at all costs, Sister Cecilia pursues their friendship against the wishes of her mentor, Sister Agnes.
A NOTE FROM THE CREATOR
When my best friend was a senior in high school, she came out to me and immediately started crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me she was afraid that she was going to offend me because of my faith as a practicing Catholic.
It devastated me that she viewed my faith as a reason I wouldn't accept her and, furthermore, that it would be offensive to me. I couldn't believe she would think someone who loves her like family would be offended that she loves another person. My understanding of Catholic teaching is that God loves the whole person as they were created and meant to be. After all, God created everyone to be the perfect version of themselves. I also believe that at the core of the LGBTQ+ community is this same love of the whole person. In both communities, it is unconditional, supportive, and infinite.
However, the Catholic Church paints homosexuality as an offense. Homosexual acts are, according to the catechism, “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to natural law.” By extension, any orientation other than heterosexuality is seen as “objectively disordered.”
It became clear to me that the LGBTQ+ Catholic community did not have a voice representing it to break through the negative language surrounding these issues. Furthermore, any individual identifying as part of either community was being pitted against the other, seeing the opposing side as closed-minded and hateful. I decided to write a story showing my friend and everyone struggling with the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality that the two are not exclusive and, in fact, are working together to create a world of love and community.
The goal of Nun Habits is to create a dialogue between these communities. Hopefully, from this dialogue, we can generate some progressive, positive change where the LGBTQ+ Community and the Catholic Church work together, celebrating their shared values.
-Monica Arsenault, Nun Habits Creator