Total headcount at the Winona novitiate (including priests) is only 20.
That’s about the same as during seminary breaks (which always leave behind a skeleton crew to keep things running, such as seminarians from overseas, or those doing summer apostolates there). And of course several priests were still there.
But even if that wasn’t the case, the incongruity of implying it wouldn’t be appropriate to have women on site, or that it would be disturbing the peace of a house of prayer, while simultaneously planning to receive hundreds of campers, is hard to miss.
What is more disruptive: 25 women confined to a certain section and floor of the facility while on silent retreat, or a field of campers running in and out of the chapel, bathrooms, bookstore, etc.
It doesn’t add up. It’s an excuse to satisfy Menzingen’s desire to collaborate with the modernists.