The Nation - News from Oct. 26, 1988

Three dissident Carmelite nuns who, along with two other nuns, have locked themselves in their convent in Morris Township, N. J., for three weeks have filed suit demanding the ouster of the prioress, whom they accuse of disrupting their life of prayer, lawyers said. The suit filed in Morris County Superior Court accuses Mother Teresa Hewitt, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson and other church officials of seeking to take “unlawful possession and control” of the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel. The Discalced Carmelite sisters said they acted to prevent their eviction by the prioress, whom they accuse of disrupting the convent with such modern amenities as television, sweets and magazines.