On April 18 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
issued an Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
This Assessment followed three years of
reflection with LCWR. The Assessment expresses, in general, three concerns:
LCWR assemblies and conferences, policies of corporate dissent, and radical
feminism. It names five areas for review, and appoints a three-man committee of
bishops, chaired by Archbishop Sartain, to “oversee” and “reform” its
operation.
Click here to read an article on the subject in the NCR.
CMCR invites you to respond to the following questions.
A team will review your input for points of
convergence, and help formulate a possible response for consideration at the
CMCR June 22 meeting.
QUESTIONS:
-
WHAT IS
YOUR PERSONAL REACTION TO THE LCWR ASSESSMENT?
- WHAT ARE
YOU HEARING ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT FROM PEOPLE IN THE PEWS, IN YOUR
COMMUNITY, AND FROM OTHERS?
- WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE CMCR’S ROLE TO BE IN THIS
ONGOING PROCESS?
Thanks for your response, and for the ensuing conversation! Click on "comments" below to post, or to read others' comments.
Anonymous 5/10/12
ReplyDeleteI am feeling a profound sadness that these loyal women, who have served the Church for so long and so well, could be made to suffer public scrutiny.
Bernadette Hart, 5/10/12
ReplyDelete#1 – My personal reaction – I am not surprised; when the inquisition began three years ago it was an affirmation that those American bishops who had never embraced the message of Vatican II had decided to flex some muscle and bring those ladies into line. I concluded by the action regarding the LCWR that no “hangable” crime had been detected so they had decided to go on a witch hunt of the leadership. The handwriting has been on the wall for several years – there are those in positions of authority who wish to turn the clock back.
#2 – Reactions of others – My personal experience is that people fall into two groups; those who understanding the significance of this action and those who have no clue. Those who understand are quite concerned and are supportive of women religious; those who have no clue are saying “what’s the big deal”
#3 – Role of the CMCR – This needs to be kept in the public eye; this is an ongoing inquisition/witch hunt; Sartain’s marching orders have a five year life span; the church is notorious for secrecy. Has anyone seen the final report from the original inquisition? Those involved will want to keep this under the radar. The role of the CMCR should be to keep it constantly in the public eye; updates, editorials, questions, so that people do not forget what is happening.
Sr. Jeri Renner, OP, 5/12/12
ReplyDeleteThank you for your affirmation of our Sisters. It is very difficult to be judged unfaithful after 66 years in religious life.
Fr, Jerry McCLoskey, MAy 15, 2012
ReplyDeleteMany of us were educated in Catholic grade and high schools by the “good nuns.” Many of us were born in Catholic hospitals run by the nuns, or were patients in those same hospitals in later years. Women religious were among the first missionaries to our part of the country. We have all, in one way or another, been touched by these valiant and courageous women. They women deserve our thanks. These women deserve our support.
Now those women, who have given so much to the Church and to society, are under siege. They are beset by the same forces that investigated Archbishop Hunthausen, that silenced theologians like Hans Kung, that drove visionaries like Matthew Fox out of the church. And they are besieged not because of their dedication, their spirituality, their proven record of unselfish service, but because they have not toed the line regarding Vatican-defined “orthodoxy.”
These valiant women deserve more. I would like to propose a National Day of Support for Women Religious. I have neither the expertise nor the connections to promote such an event myself, but I hope there might be someone (preferably on the national stage) who would spearhead such a movement. If I had thought of this sooner, I would have suggested it happen on April 29, the feast of St. Catherine of Sienna, one of the great women of history, one who stood up to the Pope himself. The next choice might be October 15, the feast of St. Theresa of Avila, another woman religious who stuck her neck out at great risk to work for reform within her own religious order and within the Church.
In addition, each of us can express our thanks and support individually to those nuns who have made a difference in our lives, those women whom we all too often take for granted.
Fr. Roger G. O'Brien, May 15, 2012
ReplyDeleteThe recent CDF censure of the LCWR struck me as unfortunate and as a pastoral disaster, both in the way it took place (the USCCB receiving notice prior to the LCWR leadership), in the allegations raised (silence on certain issues being interpreted as dissent, unspecified charges of ‘radical feminism’. LCWR’s raising of some questions being perceived as at odds with doctrinal orthodoxy), and in the tone of the Assessment itself.
A wider agenda seems to be at play concerning power and control, in an unfortunate tug of war that’s been brewing for forty years. I have been dismayed by the pain, confusion, and humiliation the Assessment caused the LCWR and women religious.
My sense is that these are humble, spiritual, faithful women, courageous voices for people on the margins, smart and sensible women who carry on apostolic activities and preaching more successfully by action than most of us priests or bishops do by word.
Clearly we should support the efforts of bishops to preserve and pass on the basics of the faith, with correction of doctrinal error as part of that process. But wouldn’t they be more helpful in doing that, in this instance, if they did not confuse disagreement about public policy with doctrinal dissent, and if they chose to interact with dialogue and conciliation, rather than with reprimand and rebuke? Notre Dame historian Scott Appleby called the sisters’ treatment “inappropriate and humiliating”.
Echoes of that sentiment is what I have heard from couples and individuals I know in a variety of parishes, whose comments range from dismay to outrage. They express disappointment at what looks like a bullying attack. They are baffled that the sisters have, in effect, been told to stop thinking and posing important questions. They ask why the Holy See, apparently pushed by right wing American bishops, finds it a good idea to condemn the LCWR.
A Holy Names sister said to me: “I feel like I have been kicked in the stomach.” An Adrian Dominican, quoted in another blog, says: “It’s very difficult to be judged unfaithful after 66 years of religious life.”
Minimally, it seems to me, CMCR should create and distribute a Prayer for the Sisters, to help them sustain courage and hope as they move forward, with prayer expressed, also, for the bishops and examining team.
Most of our bishops, it appears, are in the grip of dark suspicions that our culture is moving rapidly toward a demonic end. Good Pope John XXIII was more optimistic: “We prefer instead to reaffirm our confidence in our Savior who has not abandoned the world which he redeemed.”