National Catholic Reporter

The Independent News Source

Sisters' Stories

Pope Francis expresses gratitude for global sisters, stresses obedience

by Joshua J. McElwee

Pope Francis told leaders of global orders of Catholic sisters that the lives of consecrated persons are a "light in the world."

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Sisters grasp the extended hand

by Thomas C. Fox

Commentary: The time Cardinal João Braz de Aviz spent with women religious is a sign of good intent and a step into greater communication.

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Global sisters' leader: Dialogue with Vatican is key

by Joshua J. McElwee

Q and A: Attempts by U.S. sisters to pursue dialogue with Vatican officials could strengthen relations with sisters globally.

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Vatican religious prefect: 'I was left out of LCWR finding'

by Joshua J. McElwee

The Vatican's decision to criticize the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was made without the knowledge of a key Vatican office, its leader said Sunday.

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Franciscan sister dedicated her life to teaching, health care

by Zoe Ryan

Sr. M. Patrice Kerin, a Franciscan sister in Sylvania, Ohio, who served as general superior and established the health care system Franciscan Services Corporation, died April 7 after a brief illness. She...

Pope Francis reaffirms critique of LCWR, plan for reform

by Joshua J. McElwee

A year ago, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the US sisters' work contained "themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." Pope Francis has reportedly reaffirmed the assessment.

Maryknoll gives Bourgeois notice of removal from order

Joshua J. McElwee | Mar. 29, 2011

Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois, the longtime peace activist and founder of SOA Watch, has received a letter from his order giving him 15 days to “publicly recant” his support of women’s ordination or face dismissal from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.

The letter, which is dated March 18, is signed by Maryknoll Fr. Edward Dougherty, the order’s superior general, and Fr. Edward McGovern, its secretary general, and warns Bourgeois that his dismissal will also be forwarded to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith “with a request for laicization.”

NCR received the letter in a fax from Bourgeois this morning.

Bourgeois, who attended and preached a homily at the ordination of Roman Catholic Womanpriest Janice Sevre-Duszynska in August, 2008, was notified by the same congregation shortly after that event that he had incurred a latae sententiae, or automatic, excommunication for his participation.

Women seek to bridge farming's gender gap

Latinamerica Press | Mar. 22, 2011

Lima, Peru -- Latin American women comprise one-fifth of the region´s farmers, but they face inequalities such as obstacles to land ownership, loans and farming supplies, putting a crimp in food production, according to a new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO.

According to its State of Food and Agriculture 2010-11 report “Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development,” published on March 7, women farmers work more temporary or seasonal jobs and with lower income compared with their male counterparts.

Woman deacon recants, seeks reunion with church

Zoe Ryan | Mar. 14, 2011

A California woman who participated in a Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordination ceremony to the diaconate in 2007 has publicly recanted that decision in order to return to the church.

Norma Jean Coon of San Diego released a statement Feb. 8 on her Web site.

Attack highlights all too common African violence

Christina S.N. Lewis | Feb. 4, 2011

ONGATA RONGAI, KENYA -- In the cool early morning hours of Jan. 14, I was awakened by piercing screams. Again and again, the women screamed.

I did not know it then, but gunmen had broken into the complex of the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary, an African order of Catholic sisters where I was spending the night.

When the men came to her door and demanded money, Sr. Levina Kalikwela grabbed a small, gold-veneered framed picture of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus.

“They entered and I held it,” the sister told me the next day, standing in her destroyed bedroom. “I said, ‘God, we’re finished,’ And I just held it lake this.” She grasped the picture in both hands and held it over her head.

The men hit the picture with their knife, breaking it, Kalikwela told me.

“They were asking me,” said Kalikwela, her voice cracking. “And I was telling them I have no money. I have no money.”

Sisters hopeful on Tobinís role in Vatican probe

Michael O'Malley The Plain Dealer | Jan. 4, 2011

The recent appointment of an American archbishop to the Vatican office overseeing a wide-ranging investigation of U.S. nuns has the sisters and their supporters breathing a little easier.

Archbishop Joseph Tobin has already acknowledged the “anger and hurt” among U.S. nuns caused by the probe in his new role as the secretary, or No. 2 official, of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Tobin, who grew up in Detroit, has said he will work to heal any rifts between American sisters and the Catholic hierarchy in Rome. He also hopes to lift a shroud of secrecy surrounding the probe.

“We’re very excited by his appointment,” said Sr. Mary Ann Flannery, director of the Jesuit Retreat House in Parma, Ohio. “He’s coming from an American culture that believes you have a right to defend yourself, a right to have your voice heard.”

The investigation, officially known as an “apostolic visitation,” is meant to “look into the quality of life” in sisters’ religious communities, according to the Vatican.

Vatican official speaks of a 'strategy of reconciliation' with women religious

John L. Allen Jr. | Dec. 7, 2010

ROME -- Rome must acknowledge the “depth of anger and hurt” provoked by a visitation of American nuns, the Vatican’s number two official for religious life has said, saying it illustrates the need for a “strategy of reconciliation” with women religious.

Archbishop Joseph Tobin, Secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said that he does not expect any “punitive” fallout from the visitation, and that before any decisions are made, women’s communities should have a chance to know the results and to respond.

Pope has 'no authority' to ordain women

Rita Fitch Catholic News Service | Dec. 1, 2010

VATICAN CITY -- In his latest book, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed that the church has "no authority" to ordain women as priests and rejected the idea that the rule was formed only because the church originated in a patriarchal society.

Martyred women are 'old friends' to composer

Retta Blaney | Nov. 30, 2010

Her piano is surrounded by folders of musical works in progress. All are important to her, but one in particular stirs her soul. Acclaimed composer Elizabeth Swados, like many people around the world, was touched deeply by the rape and murder of four American churchwomen in El Salvador on Dec. 2, 1980. Their stories of faith and commitment forever altered her consciousness and now, for the 30th anniversary of their deaths, she is composing an oratorio that will remember the tragedy while celebrating the positive changes it brought about.

'The women won't let us go'

Cheryl Wittenauer | Nov. 30, 2010

Isabel Legarda was only 8 years old when the abduction, rape and shooting death of four American churchwomen 30 years ago in El Salvador drew the world’s attention to the tiny Central American country, raised questions about U.S. support for rightist forces there, and inspired a movement of religious activism.