++ Join us in showing our appreciation for Catholic women religious (aka nuns or "sisters") on Thank-a-Nun Day, May 9. Click HERE to send a thank-you note online. ++
Silly and serious, strict and kind, profoundly faithful and sometimes hilarious — Catholic nuns are evergreen characters on the big (and the small) screens. Here's a list of some of our favorite portrayals of Catholic women religious from film and television.
1. Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) in Dead Man Walking
2. Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) in The Sound of Music
3. Sister Bertille (Sally Field) in The Flying Nun
4. Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) in Doubt
5. Mother Superior (Ellen Burstyn) and Sister Sunday (Marley Shelton) in The Mighty Macs
6. Sister Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) in The Bells of St. Mary's
7. Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg) and Sister Mary Patrick (Kathy Najimy) in Sister Act
8. Sister Luke (Audrey Hepburn) in The Nun's Story
9. Sister Agnes (Meg Tilly) in Agnes of God
10. Sister Mary Stigmata aka "The Penguin (Kathleen Freeman) in The Blues Brothers
+Contains coarse language, but Sister Stigmata sets Jake and Elwood straight+
Cathleen Falsani is Web Editor and Director of New Media for Sojourners. Follow Cathleen on Twitter @GodGrrl.
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