In a further analysis of the Boston priests study (Values and Insterest, 1965), Srs. Neal and Clasby report the responses of Boston priests to the questions "What women active in the world today do you most admire?" and "What men active in the world today do you most admire?" They find that while the priests named specific men, they tended to categorize women according to stereotyped roles. They add an analysis of priests' published counsels to women to bolster their argument. Response by Joseph P. Fitzpatrick, SJ, in ibid., 73-77.

"Religious Communities in a Changing World," in The New Nuns, Sr. Charles Borromeo (Maryellen) Muckenhirn, CSC, ed. New York: New American Library, 142-52.

Sr. Neal examines "six conditions in modern society which require changes in the structure of religious orders": 1) the transition from tribal and feudal to modern industrial, bureaucratic social structure; 2) the gradual move from spontaneous to planned change; 3) the switch to an international focus; 4) the new possibility of meeting the economic needs of all people in the world; 5) the legitimacy and centrality of governemtal activity in education, health care and welfare; 6) the greater need for communities without walls.

"The Value of Religious Community," in Vows But No Walls, Eugene Grollman, ed. St. Louis: Herder, 128-70.

The world needs new forms of community to counter the negative effects of bureaucratization. Religious orders have the ability to experiment with new forms of community. The family comnand-obedience structures can no longer serve as a model for community. Adult reciprocity and dialog is needed. Religious belief should not be used as a means of separation from or exclusion of others. The work of a religious congregation should be measured in terms of social justice and charity.

1969 "The Signs of the Times and the Implementation of Chapter Decrees," in Proceedings of the CMSW Annual Assembly 1968. Washington, DC: CMSW Secretariat, 61-81.

Data from the 1967 Sisters' Survey can be used to aid in the self-examination needed for the preparation of new chapter decrees. Sr. Neal points to the data on sisters' choice of works, from the traditional to the radically new, and correlates these with sisters' attitudes and orientations to change. She makes mention of the 1968 Assessment of Life and Works for assessing the effectiveness of apostolic work, but does not give further details.

"Stirrings in Religious Life," Sister Formation Bulletin 16/1: 7-13.

Sr. Neal draws on the 1967 Sisters' Survey data to examine the implications they have for the selection and formation of the candidates for religious orders who are needed to meet the requirements of post-Vatican II renewal. She compares data for experimenting and non-experimenting orders.

"The Future of the Missionary Sister," in The Church as Mission. London, Geoffrey Chapman.

1970 Final Report on the Survey for Contemplatives. New Melleray Abbey, Dubuque, IA: The Scriptory.

Sr. Neal's interpretive report includes descriptions of the Sisters' Survey and the Contemplative Survey.

1971 "A Theoretical Analysis of Renewal in Religious Orders in the U.S.A.," Social Compass 18/1: 7-27.

Sr. Neal chronicles the developing awareness of the need for structural reform in the Church and in religious orders. An increased awareness and acceptance of humanistic critique of the Church was made possible in part through the Sister Formation program. Friction between younger sisters formed in this program and older sisters showed the structural limitations of religious orders. Sr. Neal points to the Sisters' Survey as the basis for her analysis.

"The Relation Between Relgious belief and Structural Change in Religious Orders: Developing an Effective Measuring Instrument," The H. Paul Douglas Lectures for 1970, part I. Review of Religious Research 12/1: 2-16.

In the first of her Douglas lectures Sr. Neal provides the background and rationale of the Sisters' Survey. Then she discusses the development of the instrument and the construction and reliabilty of the scales. Tables provide the results of the Kuder-Richardson formula-20 test of inter-item reliability and scale to scale correlations based on a random sample of 2792 taken from the Sisters' Survey population.

"The Relation Between Relgious belief and Structural Change in Religious Orders: Some Evidence," The H. Paul Douglas Lectures for 1970, part II. Review of Religious Research 12/3: 154-64.

In the second lecture Sr. Neal tests her hypothesis about the relationship of belief and readiness for change by comparing data from orders with varying levels of experimentation. Her analysis is accompanied by tables and graphs presenting data gathered through the Sisters' Survey.

The South African Catholic Education Study. Durban: South Africa: Catholic Education Council.

This is the published interpretive report of Sr. Neal's findings delivered to the South African Education Council.

"Women in Ordained Ministry: A Sociologist Raises a Question," in Women in Ministry, Chicago: National Association of Women Religious, 119-22.

In her study of change in women's religious orders, Sr. Neal has noticed a pattern of response to renewal, "first to focus on dress, then on life styles, then on choice of ministries, with the recurring refrain: 'But what about prayer?' She raises the question of ordination for women through an anecdote about an experience at a conference of campus ministers. The present worship of the church, she concludes, reinforces a will to repress the poor. There is a need for transformation in role relations.

1972 "How Prophecy Lives," Sociological Analysis 33/3: 125-41.

Appears as chapter 6, "Prophecy and the Call to Action," in A Socio-Theological Theory of Letting Go (1977), and as chapter II, "The Prophetic Tradition," in The Just Demands of the Poor (1987).

1974 "Sociological Implications for a Renewal in Religious Life," in Widening the Dialogue, Reflections on Evangelica Testificatio. Ottawa: Canadian Religious Conference, 61-98.

Sr. Neal sets out to assess "the social implications of the document [Evangelica Testificatio] for the groups that will be affected by its contents," and "in the light of known research, to determine whether or not the directives proposed can effect the ends intended." Her finding is positive for the directives on chastity and poverty, but negative for the vow of obedience, which is too dependent on the family, parent-child model. "Such a structure is related to the abuses of treating persons as things, exploiting the poor, selfishly providing for a life of oneself, and providing structures which result in the co-opting even of religion, education, and art to the interests of the advantaged classes." She claims to base her analysis on "the extensive study of the renewal of religious orders in the United States that I have been involved in during the past seven years." She also draws on the South African Catholic Education Study.

1975 "Women in Religion: A Sociological Perspective," Sociological Inquiry 45/4: 33-39.

Sr. Neal explores the question of why sociological scholarship of religion has not paid sufficient attention to the role and contributions of women, especially the recent changes in the roles of women in religion.

"Cultural Patterns and Behavioral Outcomes in Religious Systems: A Study of Religious Orders of Women in the U.S.A.," in CISR (Conférence International de Sociologie de Religion/International Conference for the Sociology of Religion): Acts of the 13th Conference. Lille, France: Édition du Secrétariat CISR, 59-86.

Using data from the 1967 Sisters' Survey and the 1973 Analysis of Chapter Decrees, Sr. Neal does a comparative study of two groups of religous women which emerged in response to the Vatican II renewal initiatives: the Loose Federation and the Consortium Perfectae Caritatis, the first more concerned with achieving significant structural change in religious orders than the second, which originated in opposition to the first. The analysis is supported by data tables.

1976 "Civil Religion and the Development of Peoples," Journal of Religious Education

Appears as chapter 3 in A Socio-Theology of Letting Go (1977).

"Civil Religion, Theology and Politics in America," in America in Theological Perspective, Thomas McFadden, ed. New York: Seabury Press, 99-1220.

Excerpted in chapter 2 of A Socio-Theology of Letting Go (1977).

"A Sociological Perspective on the Moral Issues of Sexuality Today," in Sexuality in Contemporary Catholicism (Concilium: Religion in the Seventies), Franz Böckle and Jacques-Marie Pohier, eds. New York: Seabury Press, 61-70.

"What religion celebrates...it celebrates for its relevance to ultimate survival. When a given role appears on reflection to be irrelevat to survival, religious commitment to it dies; when a given relationship appears finally irrelevant, the religious symbols embodying it become meaningless."

1977 A Socio-Theology of Letting Go: The Role of a First World Church Facing Third World Peoples. New York: Paulist Press.

Sr. Neal argues that the current social structure "den[ies] the poor access to the resources that belong to them," and therefore must be changed. She critiques the "civil religion" which serves to perpetuate and legitimize the current unjust system. She sees the papal social encyclicals of the last century as a prophetic call. The church must stand with the poor and dispossessed as they demand and take what is rightfully theirs. At the same time there should be developed for the non-poor a theology of relinquishing power and property. Sr. Neal makes the suggestion of a sabbatical year which each person in the world society dedicates to service. The book includes excerpts from previously published articles: "Civil Religion, Theology and Politics in America" (1976), "Civil Religion and the Development of Peoples" (1976), and "How Prophecy Lives" (1972).

1979 "The Comparative Implications of Functional and Conflict Theory as Theoretical Frameworks for Religious Research and Decision-Making," Review of Religious Research 21/1: 24-50.

Sr. Neal compares Marxian and Parsonian theories of social change and evaluates their usefulness for religious decision makers.

"Sociology and Sexuality: A Feminist Perspective," Christianity and Crisis 39/8: 118-22.

The patriarchal family and father right are obsolete forms for church structure and Catholic doctrine. Liturgy, church law and theology need to "celebrate in language and intent" the human development affirmed by council and decree. Only then will questions surrounding sexuality--birth control, abortion, divorce, sexual relations outside a context of love--be resolved. An editorial by Robert G. Hoyt, "The Importance of Being Sr. Marie Augusta: A Footnote by Another Hand," accompanies, pp. 122-25.

"Women in Religious Symbolism and Organization," Sociological Inquiry 49/2-3: 218-50.

1980 "The Challenge of Sociobiology," Christianity and Crisis 39/21: 342-49.

Sr. Neal critiques Edmund O. Wilson's sociobiological interpretation of altruism and questions whether it might have an underlying political motivation.

"Religious Congregational Affiliation and the Political Order," unpublished paper delivered at the Association for the Sociology of Religion.

"The Social Environment: Unmasking Our Ministries," LCWR Newsletter 9/1 (December): 7-8.

The 1980 Sisters' Survey Update shows that sisters are committed to a social justice agenda, but they must welcome the people from the developing world into their ranks.

1981 "The Sisters' Survey," Probe, National Assembly of Women Religious, 10/5 (May/June): 1-7.

Sr. Neal reports on the findings of the 1979-1980 Sisters' Survey Update.

1982 "Commitment to Altruism in Sociological Analysis," Sociological Analysis 43/1: 1-22.

Appears as chapter III, "Commitment to Altruism," in The Just Demands of the Poor (1987).

"The Future of First Amendment Provisions Regarding Church-State Relations," in The Future of our Liberties, Stephen C. Halpern, ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 131-43.

The First Amendment separation of church and state is often used to protect privatized religion, but is also often used to meet "a perceived need to restrain certain effective moral bodies (often the Catholic Church) from disrupting the public conscience." There needs to be protection for a genuine widely shared civil religion which can call the laws of the land to account. Parts of this essay are excerpted in chapter II of The Just Demands of the Poor (1987).

1984 "Altruism and Social Justice," International Schools Journal (Autumn): 13-22.

Appears as chapter VII, "Education for Justice," in The Just Demands of the Poor (1987).

Catholic Sisters in Transition from the 1960s to the 1980s. Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier.

Sr. Neal presents and compares the findings of the 1966 Congregational Survey and the 1982 Congregational Survey Update. The survey instruments and statistical data are found in appendices.

"The Magnificat and the Economy," Sisters Today 56/3: 130-34.

Sr. Neal finds in Luke 1.52-53 a plan for the restructuring of society: "If the mighty are brought down and those of low degree raised up, then no one is at the bottom of the power system and no one at the top....When the hungry are filled with good things and the rich sent away empty, all will be fed, because the newly empty rich will be poor and then, as poor, will share with the previously hungry the right to be fed." This article appears as chapter VIII in The Just Demands of the Poor (1987).

"Social Consciousness and Spiritual Formation, Prophetic Ministry, Risk of Life," Journal of Ongoing Formation 5/3: 355-60.

"Social Justice and the Right to Use Power," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 23/4: 329-40.

Sr. Neal adds a new means of legitimizing the exercise of authority to Weber's list of charisma, tradition and law: the religious imperative of social justice. She makes use of her Boston priests study (Values and Interest, 1965) and gives some background information on the 1968 Contemplative Survey. This article appears as chapter VI in The Just Demands of the Poor (1987).

"Who They Are and What They Do: Current Forms of Religious Life in the United States Church," in Religious Life in the U. S. Church: The New Dialogue, Robert J. Daly, et al., eds. New York: Paulist Press, 152-71.

Sr. Neal presents the background and history of her Sisters' Survey studies to date, then provides a profile of American religious, especially women. She includes data from the 1980 Sisters' Survey Update and the 1982 Congregational Survey Update, as well as from the 1973 and subsequent Analyses of Chapter Decrees. Included also is a description of the change undergone by religious congregations during the course of her research.

1985 "American Sisters Now," in Where We Are: American Catholics in the 1980s: A Celebration for Philip Scharper, Michael Glazier, ed. Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 141-80.

Sr. Neal differentiates between nuns and sisters and chronicles the renewal among American sisters since Vatican II. Statistics from the Sisters' Survey are supplied in footnotes.

1986 "Linking the Poor and the Non-Poor Through Education," Momentum 17/3: 35-38.

"Social Justice and the Sacred," in The Sacred in a Secular Age: Toward Revision in the Scientific Study of Religion, Phillip E. Hammond, ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,

"The Values of American Culture as Reflected by Women Religious," LCWR Newsletter 13/1: 5-7.

The Sisters' Surveys show that American sisters differ in their values from America in general chiefly in their commitment to altruism. But while they agree on their mission, they do not always agree on how the mission should be carried out.

1987 The Just Demands of the Poor: Essays in Socio-Theology. New York: Paulist Press.

Sr. Neal provides a sequel to her A Socio-Theology of Letting Go (1977). She now finds a positive role for civil religion in calling nations to account for their unjust laws. She explores the value of altruism, critiquing the sociobiological theories of Edmund O. Wilson. She also rejects a "lifeboat ethic," arguing that the world is capable of sustaining its current and projected population. The problem of world poverty is not biological or technological, but social and moral. Some of the chapters in this book were previously published as "Letting Go: A Sociotheology of Relinquishment" (in Presbyterian Women, n.p.), "How Prophecy Lives" (1972), "Commitment to Altruism" (1982), "Social Justice and the Right To Use Power" (1984), "Altruism and Social Justice" (1984), "The Magnificat and the Economy" (1984).

1990 The Church, Women and Society: The Third Annual Lecture in Catholic Studies. Colchester, VT: St. Michael's College.

The patriarchal structure of the chuch, based on a feudal social structure, has been rendered obsolete by changes in society and is not adequate to meet the social justice agenda called for by church pronouncements. For this a structure based on peer relations is required.

From Nuns to Sisters: An Expanding Vocation. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications.

Sr. Neal gives the background for and chronicles the renewal of religious life for women. The current renewal involves especially a new understanding of the vow of obedience. The focus of the renewal is a preferential option for the poor and draws its inspiration from papal pronouncements. The Boston priests study (Values and Interest, 1965) and the Sisters' Survey are "the instruments used to generate the data for and to establish the validity of the conclusions reached in this study."

1991 "American Sisters: Organizational and Value Change," Religion and the Social Order 2: Vatican II and U.S. Catholicism. Helen Rose Ebaugh, ed. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 105-121.

Sr. Neal reviews the Sisters' Survey research and incorporates the 1989-1990 Update into an assessment of changes among American religious women's groups.

"A Report on the National Profile of the Third Sisters' Survey" (n.p.)

This self-published report contains a history of the whole Sisters' Survey project, including an explanation of the development and use of scales.

1992 "Democratic Process in the Experience of American Catholic Women Relgious," in A Democratic Catholic Church, Rosemary Radford Ruether, ed. New York: Crossroad/Continuum. 172-88.

1994 "Meeting the Challegne of the New Century: Through the Eye of the Needle," in Religious Life: The Challenge for Tomorrow, Cassian J. Yuhaus, ed. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 127-42.

Affirming that "today the link of the renewal of religious life with the social justice agenda of the church is an accepted fact," Sr. Neal looks at the findings of the 1989-1990 Sisters' Survey Update in relationship with the findings of Anne Munley's LCWR study Threads for the Loom (1992) and David Nygren and Miriam Ukeritis' study on The Future of Religious Orders in the United States (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1993) to "examine the present situation in apostolic institutes of women and speculate on their future."

"Feminism: A Critique from a Sociohistorical Perspective," Defecting in Place, Adair Loomis, Allison Stokes and Miriam Therese Winter, eds. New York: Crossroad, 234-40.

Sr. Neal comments as a consultant to this study of feminist spirituality groups. She feels the study confirms and reinforces the results of the Sisters' Surveys.

1996 "Ministry of American Catholic Sisters: The Vowed Life in Church Renewal," in Religious Institutions and Women's Leadership: New Roles Inside the Mainstream, Catherine Wessinger, ed. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 231-43.

Sr. Neal reviews the history of the movement from nuns to sisters and discusses the situation of women religious today. She presents the history of the Sisters' Survey and cites data from the 1989-1990 Update.

Index :

 Neal, Marie Augusta. 
 Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Women's Institutes in the United States of America.
 
 Leadership Conference of Women Religious of the United States 
 
 Jesuits. Oregon Province. 
 Jesuits. California Province. 
 Notre Dame, Sisters of 
 Women in church work -- Catholic Church. 
 Women in the Catholic Church. 
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