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Hope marks meeting of women religious leaders
Aug. 30, 2010
In downtown Dallas Aug. 13, women religious protest against the death penalty in Texas during the annual gathering of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
DALLAS -- U.S. women religious leaders say they are today more spiritually rounded and more committed to their Vatican II vision of church than in any time in recent memory. They also say they have strengthened bonds across congregational lines and with women religious overseas.
They trace these welcomed fresh energies to responses they have been forced to hone out as part of two Vatican investigations into their lifestyles and leadership, responses that have involved many hours of self-discernment and strategic planning.
These findings are based on more than two dozen interviews with U.S. women religious leaders during and after the Aug. 10-13 gathering of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the networking group that represents 95 percent of the nation’s women religious. Some 750 women leaders gathered in Dallas, and throughout the meetings they were focused on the Vatican probes.
Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Marlene Weisenbeck, who stepped down as Leadership Conference president at the end of the meeting, told NCR: “We have been moving for over 50 years through massive renewal and reimagining of religious life. Some call it deconstruction. Now we are in the time of the resurrection waltz of reintegration.”
NCR asked Weisenbeck if, given the energy the Vatican investigations have sparked in women religious communities, she would one day come to see them in a positive light. She responded: “You know, I think we’re quite a ways along the road to that being true already. There was anger at first, but as people are having better experiences with the visits, the mood has been changing.”
Rome sent shock waves through U.S. women’s communities and beyond in January 2009 when it announced it was beginning a three-year apostolic visitation, the highest form of church inquiry, to examine their quality of life. Two months later, the women were hit again as the Leadership Conference learned it was the object of a Vatican doctrinal inquiry.
The moves initially brought anger and heartache to the vast majority of U.S. women religious. Some in the church, however, welcomed the initiatives as efforts to rein in women religious who in the decades following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) had lost their orthodox core.
Meanwhile, the investigations have been viewed as a public slap at the women and another Vatican move to diminish Vatican II influence. As much as any other group in the church, women religious have been seen as an embodiment of council reforms.
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A subtext within the unfolding authority story has been the gender story. The probes were called for, are run by, and will be judged by men; each involves the ways women live out their faith.
The apostolic visitation is in its second year. It is being run by the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and carried out through an office run by an apostolic visitator, Mother Mary Clare Millea, superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The investigation has four phases and it is aimed at nearly 400 “institutes,” or communities.
The first phase involved interviews with congregation religious heads; the second required each community to fill out detailed questionnaires about life in the communities; currently the visitation, in its third phase, involves team visits to roughly a third of the communities; the final phase involves the writing of the report to be sent to Rome.
The Vatican has estimated the three-year study will cost more than $1 million.
The Vatican has told the women they will not be allowed to see or to respond to the findings, a part of the process the women find particularly offensive.
Meanwhile, the visitation has come under fire from laity and religious, who have written letters of support to the women’s communities. Cries for solidarity with the women have also come from women religious overseas. Catholics who do not ordinarily get into church disputes have spoken out against the investigation. The most common question these Catholics ask, sometimes in opinion essays or letters to the editor, is: “Why is the Vatican investigating the women religious and not priests and bishops who have been involved in sex abuse and its cover-up?”
The apostolic visitation has been a major focus -- many say “distraction” -- as each community for the past year and a half has had to ponder its responses. It’s been a lengthy process of discernment. Many communities have met with canon lawyers to assess their legal rights. Some, viewing the questionnaire as too intrusive, chose to ignore it; others turned in partial answers; still others returned copies of their congregation’s constitutions, as if to say answers to the Vatican’s questions are contained in the vows they have made.
From left, Sr. Marlene Weisenbeck, outgoing president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Sr. Pat Farrell, newly elected vice president; and Sr. Mary Hughes, new LCWR presidentSeveral dozen women’s communities have already been visited, with some 80 more slated for visitations in the next few months, as part of phase three. Visits have been largely formal with mixed degrees of cordiality, the women report. Fearful of being seen somehow as self-promotional, the LCWR leadership has told congregation heads not to comment to the media about the visits.
From the investigation’s early days to the Leadership Conference gathering last month, there has been a remarkable shift in the mood among the women religious, many report. Angered at first, they say the investigation has drawn them together, triggered self-reflection, and has led to reaffirmations of religious identity and mission.
One of the most common words used by the women when they refer to the transformation in their communities has been “solidarity.” In Dallas, the women passed only one resolution, calling upon U.S. women religious to work more closely with women religious overseas.
Meanwhile, most say they want to avoid any confrontation with Rome, even as they admit they do not know where their journey is taking them.
During three days of discussions in Dallas, the women repeatedly affirmed their commitments to an earthy, sometimes messy, Gospel-spawned, Vatican II, pastoral vision of church. It is one they say they have tried to uphold for decades.
Blessed Virgin Mary Sr. Many Ann Zollmann of Dubuque, Iowa, the head of her congregation and a past Leadership Conference president, echoed the sentiments of other women in Dallas, saying the gathering was an energizing experience that had brought her much hope. The theme of the gathering seemed appropriate to the women: “Hope in the midst of darkness.”
“More of us see an energy now because we realize this is not just about us, as women religious,” Zollmann said. “We are using this energy and solidarity to step back to say, ‘What are we learning about who we are and how we want to be as we move forward as women in our church?’
“We are no longer waiting to see what Rome is going to do. We are using this energy, the spirit and the solidarity as we move ahead. There is hopefulness. It happens we are in a visible place.”
Referring to the Vatican doctrinal inquiry, Zollmann, in the 10th year of leadership in her community, said that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is waiting now for a Vatican response to LCWR’s responses. She called it not just a waiting period, but a “fruitful waiting” time, adding, “We are actively creating something together. We want to seize this moment. It is a good moment.”
Zollmann said the spirit she found at the gathering was not that of a beleaguered organization. The contrary was true. She said the gathering was electric, with women affirming commitments and sharing moving liturgies.
She said she returned to her community so excited she was at a loss to find the proper words to describe the events. “Eventually I said, ‘You simply had to be there.’ ”
Franciscan Sr. Pat Farrell, also from Dubuque and the newly elected vice president of the Leadership Conference, said of the Dallas gathering: “There was great energy at the conference and deep connectedness among us. I sensed a galvanized solidarity, ready to extend in more global outreach to women religious around the world.”
Mercy Sr. Camille D’Arienzo, another LCWR past president, said of the meeting: “While we engaged in prayers that upheld the value of hope in the midst of darkness, our liturgies and conversations enveloped us with the bright light of faith.”
Women religious pray during a demonstration against the death penalty in downtown Dallas Aug. 13.Jane Blabolil, head of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis, said it “allowed us to see that something new was happening in our communities. As a result [of the sharing], confidence grew among us,” she said.
Zollmann, asked by NCR if she was ready to see the apostolic visitation in a positive light, responded: “The investigation is not justified, but what is happening is a wonderful unintended consequence.”
Blabolil, referring to the apostolic visitation, said it shows anything can be a blessing. A number of women echoed her, saying God works in unpredictable ways.
Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell, on the opening evening of the assembly, spoke glowingly about the work of women religious. He noted it was women religious who first evangelized the state of Texas, establishing institutions that responded to people’s spiritual and physical needs. He told them the contributions they have made left him feeling honored to welcome them into his diocese. Farrell’s talk reminded the gathered women they have good friends among the bishops.
Another comforting realization for the women was that the pressures they face mirror those faced by others in the church. While this provides solace, it also puts the women in the spotlight. In both private meetings and public presentations in Dallas, women noted that how they respond to the Vatican in the months ahead will help define them and offer a model to the wider church.
Richard Gaillardetz, professor of Catholic studies at the University of Toledo, Ohio, in a keynote address, made these points in his talk.
“The people of God are watching you, looking for a way forward in their own ecclesial difficulties,” he said. “As I am sure you know, you are not the only ones experiencing the pain of ecclesial tensions. There are other faithful Catholics who struggle with abuses in ecclesiastical authority on many fronts.”
He told the women they are on an ecclesial tightrope: “Veer too far toward the assertion of your proper autonomy and you fall into the abyss of sectarian self-righteousness. Veer too far in the direction of a pseudo docility and unthinking obedience, and you fall yet again, this time into the abyss of ecclesial impotence and irrelevance.”
One week before the women met in Dallas the Vatican announced the appointment of a U.S. Redemptorist priest, Fr. Joseph Tobin, as the new secretary for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Tobin is widely viewed as sympathetic to the women. Weisenbeck referred to him as “family.”
In an interview with NCR, several days before the LCWR gathering, Tobin said he wants to make something positive come out of apostolic visitation. It was not immediately clear if the appointment was an attempt by Rome to send a positive signal to the women at the outset of their meeting. The women appeared to hope this is the case.
Officially, according to a statement made by Cardinal Franc Rodé, head of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the apostolic visitation is a response to “concerns expressed by American Catholics -- religious, laity, clergy and hierarchy -- about the welfare of religious women.” He has also said it is a response to “irregularities or omissions” in their communities. “Most of all, you could say it involves a certain secular mentality that has spread in these religious families and, perhaps, also a certain ‘feminist’ spirit,” he said in one interview.
Rodé, at 75, is soon expected to step down as prefect of the religious congregation. His successor will almost certainly have to determine what to do with the eventual findings.
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious continues to face its own investigation. A March 2009 letter to the conference outlined Rome’s concerns, which include issues of homosexuality, women’s ordination, and the primacy of the Catholic church. Last April when LCWR leaders met with Vatican officials in Rome, the Vatican added to its concerns the fact that Leadership Conference of Women Religious had split with the U.S. bishops over health care legislation last spring.
The bishops at the time said a Democratic Party-sponsored bill allowed funding for abortions; the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Catholic Health Association were among Catholic groups who disagreed with that interpretation.
Gaillardetz, in his talk at the Dallas gathering, said the unheralded story of the health care debate was that the U.S. bishops and the women religious agreed on all the moral principles involved.
“What is remarkable to me,” he said, “is that so little has been made of the overwhelming agreement between the Catholic supporters of the legislation and the position of the bishops on every significant moral issue.” The disagreement, he noted, was limited to different interpretations of “exceedingly technical policy jargon.”
At the end of the gathering, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Margaret Brennan was awarded LCWR’s “Outstanding Leadership Award.” Accepting it, the 86-year-old Brennan reminded the women that tensions between the church’s bishops and the women religious go back to the Leadership Conference’s founding. She said these tensions arise out of different roles each has in the church.
“I do believe that the LCWR is gift,” Brennan said, “a gift not of our own making ... but given to us ... and entrusted to us. And I do believe, as well, that this time of apostolic visitation may be one of its finest hours.”
[Thomas C. Fox is NCR editor and can be reached at tfox@ncronline.org.]
Stories in this series
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Did they take any time to
Did they take any time to meet any of their abuse victims? Didn't think so.
Anonymous-August 30th... I
Anonymous-August 30th...
I have been searching for some time now, to discover what it is that angers
SNAP's members so much with LCWR. I did learn that a representative group
approached LCWR to discuss sexual abuse by "Nuns" against minors. As I
understand it that request was refused. The secretary of LCWR responded to the request stating she did not think that LCWR was was the appropriate venue for that dicussion...not that they (LCWR)was refusing to dicuss the topic...
Am I correct so far?... was that the end of the conversation or was a further
request made.... as to what would be the appropriate venue for such a discussion??? I find it very difficult to accept that LCWR would so coldly
and callously ignore this situation...there has to be more to this story...
Dot, there really isn't
Dot, there really isn't more... except to the extent that individual orders don't want to talk about it either!
LCWR is the time and the place because of the very consistent nature of the abuses, that is they tended to be the same across all of the member organizations.
LCWR is the time and the place because of the very consistent nature of the member organization leaders' responses to survivor victims; a response that has been more corporate that an compassionate.
LCWR is the place where, apparently, subjects that apply horizontally across the gamut of women religious are to be raised.
I believe that Pope Pius intended the LCWR to be something more than a mutual admiration society, or a venue for self-aggrandizement. I believe he intended it to be a venue where shared responses to shared issues could be discussed and arrived at.
Why, then, abuse or the enablement of abuse or the faciliation of abuse of children or vulnerable adults by women religious such a taboo at their national conference?
It is not sufficient to just declare that "this is neither the time nor the place" for women religious as a body to hear from survivors. They must answer the question, "If not now, when? If not here, where?" if they are to claim any sort of moral authority.
They have for seven years refused to do so.
And that is why SNAP members stand outside their locked gates, holding the signs that ask to be asked in.
I am very grateful to Tom Fox
I am very grateful to Tom Fox for this excellent report. It was well worth waiting for. I admire him for his patience in sitting quietly while the LCWR held their assembly in prayer and quiet, sharing and discussing among themselves, without the media and without "leaks." His zeal and thoroughness in then speaking with so many of the participants when the assembly ended, his care in checking and double checking all the different opinions and the various facts, and his own honesty and depth of insight in analyzing the state of the LCWR and the various phases of its ecclesial commitment are themselves a great gift - to the sisters and the LCWR, to the church in the United States and the rest of the world, to the Vatican and the hierarchy (God grant that they may see and realize that), and to all of us. May the Lord be praised and glorified in Tom Fox and in the LCWR. They truly give us Hope in and for the future.
I am glad that some sisters
I am glad that some sisters have seen some good coming out of the Vatican mandated visitations. But the end doesn't justify the means.
Good can very often come from bad. That doesn't make bad good!
I am waiting for the apostolic visitation of religious communities of men, brothers and prieats, and bishops. I am sure they would benefit from the good coming from these visits.
I think the good sisters are perhaps seeing more good than there is. Wait until Rome does something with their findings. I will not be so quick to come to the defense of these same sisters when they start whining again.
I thought they were against the mandated visitation on principle... seems they were only against them if they went against them... not much principle there, I'm afraid. And there I was thinking that at least here (religious women) we had some people who acted on principle and not just what benefitted them. How sad.
"issues of homosexuality,
"issues of homosexuality, women’s ordination, and the primacy of the Catholic church" These are not unimportant issues/questions. It does seem that the practice of homosexuality has permeated Catholic ministerial and religious orders throughout the world, and this is a grave concern, especially as it relates to the sexual abuse of innocent children and adolescents. Both priests and religious throughout the Catholic Church need to submit to careful examination of their lifestyles. The Catholic Church does not condone homosexuality, so it follows that men and women who practice it cannot enter religious or priestly vocations. Regarding women's ordination - take a look at the liturgical meaning of the mass, of the Eucharistic sacrifice, and it is easy to see why women cannot be priests. And, yes, we Catholics do consider Catholicism to be the one true faith. Muslims and Jews state the same regarding their religions. There's nothing wrong with that. What there IS something wrong with is the notion on the part of priests and religious that no one has the right to question any of them. We don't need priests and/or religious with such attitudes.
The statement that "the
The statement that "the Church does not condone homosexuality, so it follows that those who practice it can not enter religious or priestly vocations" is so judgemental. Firstly, the Church does not condemn homosexuality. It condemns the sexual acts. Just as it equally as it calls it sinful for hetrosexual religious who "break" their vows. Simply because there are men and women in religious life who are gay does not make them ineligible to enter or remain in the the priesthood or convent.
As for practicing homosexuality? Well, does the heterosexual who wrote this "Practice" being straight? Sexuality is part of our nature. God made some of us straight and some of us gay. None of us need to practice it to get it right.
To say that "God made some
To say that "God made some homosexual" is to state that homosexuality is biological. There is not "gay gene." More scientific evidence points to emotional wounds from childhood and adolescence that leads to same-sex attractions. Read "Homosexuality and Hope" by the Catholic Medical Association (www.cathmed.org) to get the true facts.
Homosexuality, OW, and the RC
Homosexuality, OW, and the RC Primacy: You've picked out the same line that stood up for me, but we see it from vastly different vantage points.
Look at these as the triumvirate of RC jargon coming out of the Vatican. It is a divide and conquer trinity:
1. attack gender orientation
2. keep women in their 'place'
3. reassert absolute power
Take a better look at "liturgical meaning" and discover that we are all to mirror "Christ", not the physical appearance of Jesus, who's appearance played into a cultural setting of 1st century Judaism, not the egalitarian model of mirroring, as in "Christ in the world for one another."
If women can't be priests, then they ought not to be baptized either because through our baptism we become "priest, prophet, and king."
As Dylan said: "But I'll learn my songs well before I start singing." Don't fumble through the lyrics... learn the real song that rises through the Holy Spirit.
Dear Anonymous, Perhaps you
Dear Anonymous,
Perhaps you need to do some research and educate yourself about the difference between homosexuality and pedophilia. They are not one in the same. In fact, they are no only quite different, they are completely unrelated.
Get the facts.
God works in mysterious
God works in mysterious ways!! These women have given me hope for OUR church, and strengthened my faith, at a time when the clerical administrators had all but trampled it into the dust. It is a joy to see a faith that works -- although I do not mean to imply any lack of understanding the very real pain and anxiety that they are still suffering. Thank you all for your courage, integrity, and trust in the Holy Spirit.
What a slap in the face of
What a slap in the face of these Women!!! What a slap in the face of these Saints!!! What a slap in the face of Christ!!!
Chuck from Minneapolis
Exactly Chuck.
Exactly Chuck.
will the church ever own up
will the church ever own up to it's own "constitution" the Gospels ?
The Vatican has told the women they will not be allowed to see or to respond to the findings,
what does the Vatican fear of openness ?
I'm all for the leadership of
I'm all for the leadership of the LCRW to continue to "live in hope", resurrection, whatever. Let them alone; don't "tread" on them, Roma.
Time and attrition will solve this.
Where the Holy Spirit is at work, the consecrated religious life will flourish, maybe not in incredible numbers nor a great "work force" for the male hierarchy.
But let's let the weeds grow amongst the wheat. That's our Lord's answer to it, no?
Let's check back in, say, ten, twenty years.
It's the Gamaliel answer: in the Acts of the Apostles...if God is for this, you cannot stop it; if He isn't it will destroy itself.
I'd wager on the latter rather than the former.
Because these gals are not Christians, much less Catholic, anymore.
And time and the good Lord will prevail.
God bless the LCWR and God
God bless the LCWR and God bless the women religious who are the only authentic Christian Catholic leadership left.
Dear Amadeus, your comment is
Dear Amadeus, your comment is much like one of the people your name conjures up (Mozart). That is, it twists back on itself.
On the one hand you imply we should be willing to wait to see "if God is for this" but on the other you take it totally out of God's hands, therefore setting yourself up as judge: "...these gals are not Christians, much less Catholics...."
You're right at the end though: "the good Lord will prevail."
Yes, He will, Joan Krebs,
Yes, He will, Joan Krebs, yes, He will...
Better hide Amadeus because
Better hide Amadeus because God will prevail.
LOL
Amadeus, you are correct. If
Amadeus, you are correct. If it was my way, there'd be a lot of weeding done, a long time ago, but thankfully, I am not God.
This is a bit daft though, from the article:
''more committed to their Vatican II vision of church than in any time in recent memory''
In their blindness they can't see that by dumping the Magisterium, the Pope and Bishops teaching in union with him, they are going their own way in the darkness to ultimate destruction.
Amadeus on Aug. 30, 2010.
Amadeus on Aug. 30, 2010.
You stated:
"I'm all for the leadership of the LCRW to continue to "live in hope", resurrection, whatever. Let them alone; don't "tread" on them, Roma.
Time and attrition will solve this.
Where the Holy Spirit is at work, the consecrated religious life will flourish, maybe not in incredible numbers nor a great "work force" for the male hierarchy.
But let's let the weeds grow amongst the wheat. That's our Lord's answer to it, no?
Let's check back in, say, ten, twenty years.
It's the Gamaliel answer: in the Acts of the Apostles...if God is for this, you cannot stop it; if He isn't it will destroy itself.
I'd wager on the latter rather than the former.
Because these gals are not Christians, much less Catholic, anymore.
And time and the good Lord will prevail."
-----------------------------------------------------
Neither is the Pope or the Curia (arch/bishops) Christians, much less Catholic. Where are they LIVING the Gospel-live style? They live in beautiful villas away from the people that they serve. They should be living in apartments in Rome among the people. They can still have their offices in the Vatican to do their work.
Their clothing is that of medieval nobility---rather than simple clothing. I am not implying that they should wear the robes that Jesus, Apostles and Christians of Century 1 people wore. But they should not be wearing the expensive jewerly (rings, cufflinks, pectoral crosses, lace, fine silks) that they do.
And where are they out among the people---to really know what their life is like? They left home as 12-13 year old----and have been living in an ecclesiastical Never-Never Land since.
Whether or not folks get on websites such as NCR or others or not, there are more people who have been touched positively by the reforms of Vatican II, than not. Too many are disguisted with what they are seeing in the highest levels of Church Leadership. And yes, God is prevailing!
The most common question
The most common question these Catholics ask, sometimes in opinion essays or letters to the editor, is: “Why is the Vatican investigating the women religious and not priests and bishops who have been involved in sex abuse and its cover-up?”
What they should be asking is "“Why is the Vatican investigating the women religious and not priests and bishops who have ALSO been involved in sex abuse and its cover-up?"
And the answer is that the women religious involvement with abuse and covering it up isn't a concern--- either to them or to the Vatican. Only issues of doctrine apparently concern the Vatican.
"Zollmann said the spirit she
"Zollmann said the spirit she found at the gathering was not that of a beleaguered organization. The contrary was true. She said the gathering was electric, with women affirming commitments and sharing moving liturgies."
Well, I wonder what the "spirit" will be in twenty-give years when the majority of those in the LCWR will have passed away and little to no new members have taken their places? The time of the Apostolic Visitation is indeed a "finest hour" for religious life, for those who have been faithful to the Church will continue to thrive and those who haven't, well, as Douglas MacArthur said, "Old soldiers never day; they just fade away."
Sister Margaret Brennan said, "“I do believe that the LCWR is gift." Is there some reason why there is an omission of the article "a," just as so many of these folks like to refer to "being church" as opposed to being "THE Church"? Weird.
TNCath - I agree with you
TNCath - I agree with you about the language issue. My guess is it in service of an intentional focus on relationship and process (whihc I think is consistent with the very heart of Roman Catholicism) but I do experience it as tiresome and, ironically (I believe), clubby language. In its "bastardization" of the English grammar, it is subtly coded and - in my experience with deeply faithful and open-minded though less educated Roman Catholics - it leaves vast numbers irritated and not very interested in learning more. I find that most "get" it that language is being used as protest, as challenge and I find that they don't respect it and are not attracted to it and find it more than a little obnoxious. Many others of us are attracted to the idea and practice of language as a subversive and tranformative tool for the conscious and intentional construction of reality, but I find that most people just aren't that engaged with language in that way. So talking about the movement of the Holy Spirit as "gift" rather than as "a gift" just ends up being alienating to the many, many Catholics out there who are hungry for spiritual guidance in their Roman Catholic faith tradition, not to mention the reality that use of "gift" in that way is lingusitically awkward and cause for any teacher to circle the word in red pencil with a question mark. It is a shame and so not necessary.
Wouldn't you know that these
Wouldn't you know that these holy and beautiful women would see their cup as half filled instead of half empty?!
JR
It was Pope Pius XII who told
It was Pope Pius XII who told the nuns back in the forties to bring their mission out of the monasteries and into the world. He also told them to get out of their "unhealty and unsightly" clothing. They have done both. Most of them, I feel, share with me the thrill of becoming born-again Catholics after Vatican II. If I wish to see the embodiment of the gospel in this world, I would look to the women religious and take not a peek at the hierarchy. The greatest impediment to women joining the religious is the hierarchy itself. Words like "sexist' and "chauvanistic" are bouncing around inside my head. Being investigated but not being allowed to know any of the findings and recommendations is a veritable slap in the face, it is being put in your place and don't you forget it. In a world where women are beginning to find their place in this world, why would they commit to a world where they're told to shut up and do as you're told. One of the finest offerings we Catholics have for the rest of the world is the efforts and results of these women in making this world a better place to live.
The fact that women religious
The fact that women religious came out of their monasteries and changed their habits is good. The problem is that many went to far and became radical leftist feminists who espouses new age religions, promoted homosexuality, and all but threw out church teaching. This is why most young women who are interested in religious life are not joining LCWR communities. They are joining communities that are true to the teachings of the Catholic church.
All this talk about energy
All this talk about energy and solidarity among LCWR communities is a smoke screen. The fact is they are still dying out. They only reason why they are banning with overseas communities is because they have very few vocations. Only the provinces from Africa and Asia are getting vocations. Thus the LCWR has to ban with them to get any young people among their numbers. Even the visitation and investigation are useless since most of the communities will be extinct in 20 years. I believe the church could be using its time and resources better. Let the nuns die in peace.
The nuns and their religious
The nuns and their religious communities are committed to the reforms of Vatican II but the hierarchy appointed by JP II and B16 are not. There in is the conflict.
What is the whole point of an
What is the whole point of an evaluation if the results are not shared with the ones evaluated???
Answer -- when it is a Vatican Curial-run witch-hunt against vowed US female religious...
WHY NOT SPEND ALL THIS TIME, MONEY AND EFFORT INTO CLEANING UP THE CLIMATE OF MORAL COWARDICE AMONG THE HIERARCHY WHICH REPEATEDLY COVERED UP VIOLENT FELONY CRIMINAL BEHAVIORS???
THOSE ARE THE REAL SINNERS, NOT THE NUNS!!!
A message of hope for all of
A message of hope for all of us especially after Paul Hwang's lament of the Asian Lay Congress seemingly becoming a Roman Lay Congress. Thank you, Mr. Fox.
What I related to mostly in this article was the repeated reference to solidarity and its importance in the church's (small c) for the third millenium.
IN THE END, the Vatican
IN THE END, the Vatican intends to make sure that no independently thinking woman ever again becomes a nun. If there are no nuns, the Vatican does not particularly care. That's obvious.
Henry, I totally agree with
Henry,
I totally agree with you. I commen the sisters for seking solidarity with women religious in other countries. What I would LOVE to see is women religious help unite all of us who believe in the Church of Vatican II. This is what Rome is trying to supress. Come on, sisters, HELP us out.
This whole assertion of power
This whole assertion of power is very obvious: make a big point about women and homosexuals so that the only ones left are men in authority. One has to wonder what's wrong with people to not see this so plainly. And, the next logical thought necessarily is, why does anyone stay in the face of this obviously impious charade!
So many sheep; so few real shepherd/esses!
One, who remembers when, gets
One, who remembers when, gets the feeling that some would like to have the sisters return to the kitchens and laundries where they pampered (and mightily served) their clergy. It was not right then and certainly is not today, especially considering what they have brought to the world since!
Anon - I sincerely and
Anon - I sincerely and respectfully believe that a person would have to be very determined and work very, very hard to "get" the impression that the Vatican would have "the sisters return to the kitchens and launderies" from anything that has actually been published or spoken recently by the Vatican or more orthodox women religious. I anticipate that your statement is hyperbole and, if so, I believe it is destructive of the meaningful dialogue about the role of women (religious) in the Church, diaogue which is certainly needed and desired by many.
As a woman discerning
As a woman discerning religious life, I am relieved to read these relatively more reflective and centered statements about and engagement with the Visitation. The reactivity and panic I encountered in the media's quotations and portrayals of many religious women and communities was deeply unnerving to me.
Again and again, I asked myself "where is the evidence of the centering influence of prayer and faith in God and the Holy Spirit? Where were the calls to the Roman Catholic layperson to remain engaged in community without vilifying some in support of others? Where was the long view?"
I am not an idealistic 20 year old nor am I a disillusioned middle-aged woman seeking a safe haven in prayerful passivity. I am a middle-aged, deeply-engaged-for-decades social justice activist who is attracted to the possibility of counter-cultural engagement in the complex conflicts and paradoxes of our times and our lives as Catholic Christians.
I am both believer and advocate for liberation theology and, in the - frankly - stunningly reactive and anticipatory anger and panic so widely articulated and published, I could find little to suggest that vowed life might offer a pathway to that counter-cultural engagement with contemporary conflicts and us-vs-them responses to conflicts.
Yet, I also increasingly observe that we Americans are often so "down for the protest" that we engage in premature, anticipatory, cathartic and frequently ignorant and judgmental speech and action that makes a mockery of the deep value and profound power of protest, civil disobedience, the tenets of liberation theology and , perhaps most particularly, "speaking truth to power". For that last action - "speaking truth to power" - to be meaningful, we must first discern that what we speak ***is****, indeed, a truth that will survive our emotional and panicked reactions and the bright and prayer-filled light of discernment and dialogue with God and others as our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Thus, I was unnerved by the emotional and panicked pitch of a year's worth of reaction and commentary that, again and again, I contemplated ending my discernment with LCWR communities (and, thus, religious life entirely since I do believe I am called not to CMSWR-type congregations but to LCWR-type life). I could not detect in the articulated notable examples are Sister Sandra Schneider and, perhaps especially, Sister Fran Ferder in her US Catholic reflection on scriptural Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth as model for the Apostolic Visitation (Sr Fran takes it upon herself to make the anticipatory declaration that the visitation teams would fail in their role, a declaration that was sincerely stunning to me, give that it was asserted by a clinical psychologist/religious sister).
I had deep compassion and concern for these panicked sisters, leaders and congregations. But, I asked myself again and again, "where is the ballast of faith, of hope, of charity in these one-sided anticipatory conclusions about a future shared experience"?
I was dumb-founded and sincerely confused to discover a response that seemed so familiar in its secular dynamic, so much what like what I am accustomed to encountering in those societal and cultural contexts where - by civil law or custom - God and faith must be leavened out of the dialogue and, thus, so often the dynamic itself.
Mercifully, then, I have discovered communities and leaders who, from the beginning, recognized what these prominent sisters are now articulating: that all experience can be transformative if **we** - each and everyone of us - consent to engage and lead with a clearly articulated spirit of hope and faith and with an equally well-articulated spirit of trust that, through God, through the Risen Christ, we always have access to communion-in-the-presence-of-conflict. Thus, they immediately acknowledged again and articulated in new ways and forums the value of self-reflection and the value of fresh observations and new eyes and the often-difficult-but-always-desirable search for more complex and freshly discovered truths.
Many of these congregations and leaders also articulated fears and anger and frustrations but they led with their faith that each of us remains a dwelling place for Christ and, thus, each of us is accountable - in every moment, in every act and word - for preparing the way for communion in the midst of conflict. It is that leadership - and not reactive, defensive, anticipatory-of-failed-communion - that supported my continued discernment and, at this moment, engagement in applying to enter a congregation and community led by those more grounded-when-in-conflict leaders/writers.
And I am grateful and relieved for all those whose fear led them to such public and panicked reactivity that they are finding center and look forward to ongoing community with them, either as sister in religious life or sister in God.
Perhaps one awareness and lesson women of my age and experience - women who have been engaged in activism and ministry in the strictly secular
world - and who have lived secular lives and are now considering vowed life is that the more reactive of secular patterns of relationship in times of conflict are satisfying, mainly, only in the moment and tend to tie communities, large and small, in knots of angry, resentful, reactive speech and action that cannot be "taken back" from awareness and memory (even if and when forgiven), with the painful result that relationships as well as people are scarred.
An observation: articles
An observation: articles about women religious and the Church that are filled with anger; anticipatory and derogatory declarations about the failure of the Vatican and priests and any prominent women religious who do not choose sides; or the spectre of fissure draw hundreds of blog responses. Hundreds of angry, win-lose, divisive, gender-based, ideological and often ultimately ugly blog responsees from BOTH camps.
articles about women religious and the Church that do not contain those elements draw few responses of any stripe from EITHER camp.
to me, that raises the possibility that there is a dynamic here that is not, at root, healthy or spiritual or of God at all. American dialogue tends, at this moment, tends to mirror all the qualities of the most heavily-trafficked articles/response-threads here: most public American dialogue is increasingly filled with anger; anticipatory and derogatory declarations about the failure of ______ and _______ who do not choose sides; or the spectre of fissure draw hundreds of blog responses. Our cultural dialogue is charactrized by angry, win-lose, divisive, gender-based, ideological and often ultimately ugly responses from BOTH camps.
There are real issues in the Roman Catholic community. The role of women seems to be one of the more significant to most people, regardless of what they believe that role should or can be.
But I sincerely question whether the rage - and I do mean rage - that is elicited by the response-generating articles here is really about the issues or a belief that unbridled anger (either NCR's, the sisters' or the responders) is actually a productive tool in service of change. These outraged response to the story of the Apostolic Visitation, I am coming to believe, may be far less about the issue than about the contemporary American's preference for blood in her/his dialogue.
In my mind, very few of these articles and the responses they elicit resemble the "violent love" of Blessed Oscar Romero and his ongoing transformation of our consciousness of the present moment as potential ground for the Kingdom of God, if only all consent to be accountable.
Even though he knew that it would likely result in thousands of brutal murders, even though he did not have the support of the hierarchy, Romero called the people of El Salvador to Mass, to the Eucharist, to communion so that they might choose to live, moment by moment, the violence of God's love even for those who would and did persecute them.
In short, I am no at all convinced that all this rage has been about much more than, as I said above, our American taste for blood-drawing dialogue.
When the same issues are probed and discussed without any inludgence of and expression of the human urge toward conflict and name-calling and belittling, there is little response whatsoever.
It seems important to, at the very least, be curious about that reality.
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