Women Religious: Lives of mercy and justice

Thank you. Really looking forward to the wonderful stories that will be shared with us of women who serve our dear Lord and is creation. The whole world will be enriched by such. I hope also that you will consider the contributions of women who are not Roman Catholic who also give ourselves to God.

This is a fabulous idea; I also think of the Fransiscan Sisters of Mary in St. Louis who spearheaded medical care for so many years; I think of the Benedicitine sisters in Clyde, Missouri who now reclaim the praire since "fiddle back" vestments no longer pay the bills.

Sadly I think the concern over "lack" of numbers of women religious has nothing to do with the loss of charism. There are many new groups developing and many women in community exploring precisely what a call in Christ should look like in the modern world. The bishops are simply mourning the lack of work horses that they never adequately supported nor adequately respected. Perhaps rather than investigating, bishops should take up some of this work themselves - fundraising so that they might pay people or actually hopping in trenches to get the important jobs done. That is waht women have always done. Perhaps it is time for men to follow suit.

If our bishops had done half as well with as few rescources as the women - the church would be motiviated, well maintained and hard at work - no one would have enough time to simply wander to ask why work is not being done.

Thanks to the all the women who have given their lives that Christ might be served by them and in them.

linda, osc

Thank you so much for this series. The women in the church need recognition, not investigation! If only the Papacy would learn to say "thank you." Sue

Hurray for NCR and this new initiative! I think that it is long overdue. I myself have worked in Burkina Faso with Sisters of various congregations for half a century, and have only praise for them, working as they do in very trying and sometimes dangerous situations. May their story continue to be told, and I certainly hope that NCR will do them justice.

Thank You!

Outstanding. Worthy; timely; brilliant. Brilliant.

Good idea. I know that the Religious women and all women of the church need a boost in the face of the INVESTIGATIONS now going on via Vatican men. I firmly belive that it is the religious women and women in general that are really the backbone of the church. Go Women of Religious communties,single,and married and those seeking priesthood as well!!! Thank you NCR

Good on y'all! Thank you!

Cardinal George et al. should say NO to the Vatican re being asked to pay for the 3 year investigation of American Sisters. They wanted it, let them pay for it!!

This is not a comment but a question.

As an old European Catholic who PREPARED Vatican II, I am very upset - like many prople - with the way the Vatican treats the REligious ladies.
BUT I AM EVEN MORE UPSET by the terribly wrong way many NCR-type cathOlics advocate women-priests.

For many years I coined the slogan "No Women Priests! Women Carcinals!" when I fell on Gisbert Greshake, a German Roman theologian who told me he had published an article on this issue.

I WOULD LIKE TO WRITE A TEXT ON THIS ISSUE for the NCR:
1. There are many profond theological arguments against women priests - there are no arguments against Women CArdinals as the cardinals were created in the 11th century.
2. In advocating women cardinals, we would get the upper hand, theologically and culturally. The advocates of women-priest are REALLY STUPID. They tender all the arguments to their opponents, who then can pursue disgusting anti-women strategies, of which they themselves are not aware.
3. And then let me point out that women are to become priests during the time when priests have lost all power and rank in society! Just like women became school teachers at the end of the 19th century, when teaching went downhill and finance uphill!
And then Why are advocates of women-priests so ignorant of what is going on in society?
4 Finally, I am against women priests because it prevents us from recognizing the special and higher position of the Woman in theology: see Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of Jesus
See evdokimov: Woman and the salvation of the world.
St Vladimir Seminary press Originally published in French in 1959, by the very Catholic publisher Casterman....(no comment!)
5 I am also against this "women priest blabber" because (unconsciously) it puts the post-modernist anti incarnational mono-gender view of the Anglosaxon analytic materialist world at the foundation of our Culture and Weltanschauung. Horrible: it furnishes so many atomboms to the "Vatican Maffia" against the VAtican II Church. And indeed, given this horribly Monogender abstract anti-humanist view of humanity, it is the pope's duty to go against "woman-priest". This then helps all those who are against women theologians and Cardinals, - without realizing themselves that they also destroy the Christian view of "Man"
6 A more general comment: Man, (Mensch) a word that does not exist in English. Why is the Anglosaxon" English the ONLY language in the world that has no word for the "human" except that abstraction?.
Do we Catholics (Western and Eastern) really want to help distroy non-analytic non-abstract languages and cultures (which might ultimately save us??)
Why does English not have a word for "Anthropology" = our knowledge of the Mensch? why does the English usage deteriorate Anthropology, the Science of Humanity, into "intercultural ethnology, what anthropology has become in English? Why is there no Institut des Sciences de l'Homme in the US? why is there no "Homme" no Mensch? and hence no Science of Man, No anthropology. Only analytic abstract particular "social sciences"?
THIS FOUNDATIONAL THEME IS DEEPLY LINKED TO THE QUESTION OF "no women Priests but women cardinals".
7 And alas, none of the advocates of "women priests" realizes the depth of all the issues they mishandle. Which is a further argument against Women thinkers....

SO ARE YOU INTERESTED IN A TEXT LIKE THIS?
Of course, it would have to be rewritten and some issuesw dropped.

woehrling@verizon.net

I have recently read that the reason the Vatican is now "studying" the women religious is about what is always is about, "MONEY." They want to discover the assets of the the nuns and use them to get out of debt. I wouldn't be surprised at all!

Ah, yes, we know Rome is always up to no good! Here's another example of why Rome has lost its credibility! My amazement is always that Rome--Benny and the others---actually think they are fourth members of the Trinity and can do whatever they wish with absolutely no accountability to anyone---including God! Such arrogance deserves eternal punishment!