The Independent News Source
NCR on Kindle - NCR classifieds - YouTube - Twitter - Facebook - Email Alerts - RSS
Printer-friendly version
PDF versionInternational nun's group supports U.S. women religious
May. 26, 2009
IUSG board: Amelia Kawaji, Therezinha Rasera, Ma. Soledad Galerón, Carol Regan, Louise Madore, M. Carola Thomann, Viviana Ballarin, Maureen Cusick (not in the photo).
The Catholic church’s top women religious organization this week issued a strong supportive statement for U.S. women religious congregations under investigation by the Vatican. The organization praised U.S. women religious for living out the mandates of the Second Vatican Council.
“We affirm unequivocally our support for our sisters in the United States,” the statement of the International Union of Superiors General's executive board reads.
“Their response to the mandates of the Second Vatican Council, particularly as stated in Perfectae Caritatis, has been a great gift, not only to the pluralistic society in which they live, but also to the universal church. Our desire is to assist them in facing the challenges which we share.”
Perfectae Caritatis is a Vatican council document, issued in 1965, that called upon women religious to renew their congregations in the spirit of their founders in order to meet the needs of the times.
The work of the renewal took women religious, including U.S. women religious congregations, into many new social ministries. It also led to more collective leadership styles in many congregations.
“As (religious) leaders,” the statement reads, “we are confident that our members all over the world join us in our prayers for success and blessing on the Apostolic Visitation of our sisters in the United States.
The board of the International Union of Superiors General met in Rome last week. The group has roots dating back to the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. It provides an international forum for superiors general of institutes of Catholic women religious worldwide. The union, formalized following Vatican II, became a means of connecting women religious congregations, along with their renewal efforts, with the council fathers.
It was last January that the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life announced that it had begun an Apostolic Visitation, or comprehensive study, of institutes of U.S. women religious.
The action was initiated by the Congregation’s prefect, Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rodé, in a decree issued last December. That decree indicated the Visitation was being undertaken in order to examine the quality of the life of women religious with an eye on learning why their numbers had fallen in recent decades.
Preview NCR's Family Life Issue
Watch this video from NCR Editor Dennis Coday for highlights from our annual Family Life special section.
You won't find these articles on our website. Subscribe now to receive all the content from each biweekly issue.
The Visitation is being conducted under the direction of Superior General of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mother Clare Millea, whom Rodé appointed Apostolic Visitator.
Mother Millea, a Connecticut native, heads the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, an international religious institute headquartered in Rome. For the past few months she has been interviewing leaders of various U.S. women religious orders.
This Apostolic Visitation is the first since the mid-1980s when Pope John Paul II appointed a commission led by then-Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco to study religious life in the United States, with a special focus on women’s communities. That commission filed its report with the late pope in October 1986.
The international union’s statement this week encourages women religious to cooperate fully throughout the visitation phases. “We pray that the visitation will facilitate mutual understanding among all parties involved and illuminate both the vitality and the challenges of religious life in the United States,” the statement reads.
“We recognize that the Apostolic Visitation calls our sisters in the United States in particular to reflect on their recent history and present experience, their concerns and their hopes for the future of apostolic religious life in their country.
“From our perspective as Board of Directors of the International Union of Superiors General, whose membership comprises nearly 2000 leaders of congregations of apostolic women religious, we affirm unequivocally our support for our sisters in the United States.”
The statement indicates that many union members are superiors general of their international congregations. “The diversity of religious life that exists in the church exists also within our congregations. After decades of cross-cultural dialogue and searching together for God’s will in general chapters, the unity of vision and purpose we now experience is indivisible.
“Mindful that the mystery of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth celebrates the meeting of two women, who spoke joyfully, humbly, and confidently of the great things God had done in their lives and would do for others through their YES, we express our loving fidelity to the church and our solidarity with our sisters in the United States as the Apostolic Visitation begins. May the example of Mary and Elizabeth inspire our sisters in that country to share their story with confidence, humility, and joy.”
The international union’s statement is signed by all of its board of directors, including Dominican Sister Viviana Ballarin, (Spain); Notre Dame de Sion Sister Maureen Cusick, (Scotland); Sacred Hearts of Perpetual Adoration Sister Rosa Maria Ferreiro, (Spain); Religious of Mary Immaculate Sister Soledad Galerón, (Spain); Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz Siser Amelia Kawaji, (Japan); Daughters of Wisdom Sister Louise Madore (Canada); Sisters of the Divine Savior Sister Therezinha Rasera (Brazil); Holy Union Sister Carol Regan (US); Franciscan Daughter of God Sister Carola Thomann (Germany); and Daughters of Mary and Joseph Sister Linda Webb (US); as well as by the union’s executive secretary, Religious of the Sacred Heart Sister Victoria Gz de Castejón ( Spain ).
Fox in NCR editor and can be reached at tfox@ncronline.org
Great to read of this support
Great to read of this support from the International Union of Religious Superiors of Religious women. Our American Sisters deserve nothing but praise for taking on Vatican II and working tirelessly in many ministires for the good of our Church.
I don't get it, the review
I don't get it, the review has hardly started. Is there legitimate reason to believe that the process will be untaken sans charity? Rejoice in the Ascension! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Snowdrop, you never fail to
Snowdrop, you never fail to astound me. I'm really at a loss for words. In these days before Pentecost, let us all pray for increased wisdom and understanding.
untaken? oh so, like, it will
untaken?
oh
so, like, it will NOT be taken?
oh, wait.
you mean undertaken, no, my little drop of snow?
Did anyone in this article suggest a lack of charity?
Rather I read the statement referring to the joy of the Visitation of the BVM with Elizabeth, a rejoining of YES to God, a vistiation in which the Blessed Virgin Mary declared that most revolutionary prayer in the entire Bible outside of Isaiah, the Magnificat, which foresaw the powerful and proud would be cast down from the thrones, the rich sent empty away, and the poor filled with good things.
Sounds like the end of the illegitimate Bush/Cheney regime.
Our priests and religious have been for centuries under mandate to read standing, bowing, crossing themselves, this revolutionary manifesto every evening without fail. May it ever be so. Not the breast-beating, penitential Ave Maria, but the glorious Magnificat.
For the Lord has done great things.
We are the Church.
We are the children.
Snowdrop, let us chant together the mighty Magnificat, with its soaring Antiphons of this Paschaltide! Alleluiah! Alleluia!
To Snowdrop, who writes: Is
To Snowdrop, who writes:
Is there legitimate reason to believe that the process will be untaken sans charity? Rejoice in the Ascension!
Dearest Snowdrop, can you be serious. The very fact that this "process" is undertaken at all of good Catholic women with many God-fearing achievements, when no "processes" are undertaken to expose those who have molested or hidden the serial molestation of scores of young Catholic boys and girls, is definitely "legitimate reason."
If you are cogently following
If you are cogently following the "process" on the actual website and comprehending, the FIRST PHASE of the visitation has already been completed.
The very fact that the Holy
The very fact that the Holy See has the temerity to even undertake such a visitation is evidence to these sisters that the process will be unfair, uncharitable, and another example of the evil patriarchal hierarchy interfering in the sisters' living out their own interpretations of Vatican II. Many of these sisters do not accept the authority of their diocesan ordinaries in most circumstances, so how could we ever hope that they would accept the authority of the Holy See in an Apostolic Visitation. Never mind, of course, that the Holy See has appointed two women religious to supervise and coordinate the visitation. The fact that the Vatican is ordering it means that it must be all about attacking these women, marginalizing them, and oppressing them.
The entire issue here is that these sisters do not believe that the Holy See should have anything to do with their orders. Rather, they believe that they have the right to live any kind of life that they wish and they believe that their promises of obedience extend to their order only (and sometimes, not even that!). They see as illegitimate any attempt to call them to reflection about their charisms and their communal life. They see as an attempt at oppression any move to return them to a more faithful living out of their vows. They see as patriarchal and marginalizing any call to conversion given them by a priest, bishop or Pope.
These women have interpreted Vatican Council II on their own, without any reference to the Holy See and the Magisterium. Many truly believe that they are living as Vatican II called them to live, often because their superiors have convinced them of this, they see others living as they wish, and so they believe that this is the life that the Council and the Church intended to call them to. These women are dedicated to Christ and His Church and would welcome the visitation, if they were not being lied to and manipulated daily.
There are other sisters, however, a more insidious lot, who know that they are being unfaithful to the Church and the Council, but choose to be so anyway because they like the "freedom", the "empowerment", etc. This extremely vocal minority will resist this visitation and implementation of any suggestions and corrections it may make: they do not want to be exposed as the corrupt frauds that they are and they do not want to lose their power. It is these sisters that NCR and others are supporting and trying to protect. It is these sisters who need to be called to account for the slow death that they have led their orders to.
I welcome the Apostolic Visitation, and pray it will bring about the genuine and faithful renewal that Vatican II really called for. Laudetur Iesus Christus!
Dear Mr. Green, My, what an
Dear Mr. Green,
My, what an extensive statement, none of it sourced!
Was this simply a diatribe or can you indicate any scientific, statistical studies supporting the several comments you make here?
Once I can separate what is said in jest from what is overtly in earnest, I am very concerned for what you may take as your status as a practicing Catholic.
These good women have given "all to Jesus through Mary with a smile" and yet you write here the most hateful things about them, failing to provide any specific names of organizations, failing to provide any reliable citations from their official publications and failing to provide any support for these libelous, hateful words. Failing to do so, you speak upon your own pseudo-authority, the first and most treacherous of the Index of Fallacies.
Thak God we have such devote religious women here present as the former head of Benedictine Prioresses, the brilliant and very Rev. Sister Joan Chittister, whose weekly columns upon these pages so illuminate our souls, so comforts our hearts, so guides our tumbling pilgrim way, so open unto us the depth of our Faith in Jesus Christ as we live it faithfully in our Roman Catholic Church. Let us read her together, Brother Clint, and all of her great and solid publications through www.benetvision.org and beyond, in union of prayer (I especially appreciate her beautiful pamphlet on Prayng the Rosary alone and in religious community), and let us recite together that ancient hymn, the Salve Regina, our life, our sweetness and our Hope.
And please do not make such hurtful, unjust statements without some reference to support them. Where in the world did you ever get such ideas?
just wondering
your poor servant,
frere charles
First of all, let me say that
First of all, let me say that I owe you no explanation whatsoever. I could ask you the same question, "where in the world did you ever get such ideas" regarding your comments and thoughts on Sr. Joan and others. It is actually relatively simple to understand where mine came from. I have read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the compendium of the Church's teaching. I have read the much of the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, Boethius, and the writings of the Fathers of the Church. I have read the encyclicals of Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, St. Pius X and others. I am friends with several priests who are excellent theologians and pastors. I have met and talked with Michael Novak and George Weigel, both of whom are excellent Catholic thinkers. When I say that I know what the Church teachers, I am not overstating the case. What do you read? If it is just NCR, then you are not getting much in the way of Catholic writing, since very few of the authors at NCR could actually be considered Catholic.
Having said all of that much of what I write comes from personal experience, witnessing the manner in which these nuns act, the words that they say, the things that they teach, and comparing it with genuine Catholic thought and theology. I say it from experiencing sisters who, at a Jesuit university I attened, actively taught that women should be ordained priests; experience with a sister, the aunt of a good friend, who left her school and her teaching to run off to California and begin a "ministry" in massage therapy; experience of attending Mass at the novitiate of some SSND sisters where we all had to sit on the floor surrounding a coffee table while the priest, in street clothes and stole, and the sisters were asked to read the Gospel and give a "homily" (at least they called it a "reflection").
I also say this from experience visiting an Ursuline Motherhouse and attending Evening Prayer, supposedly with the sisters, but in fact with only a few other collegians and the retired sisters, and one retired sister, still in her habit, coming up to me and asking me for prayers because she and those like her who still wore their habits were "being held prisoner here" by the younger, liberal nuns. I say this having discussed and debated sisters (Sisters of St. Joseph and SSNDs) on issues such as inclusive language in the liturgy, male priesthood, the authority of the Holy See, etc. I say this from seeing first-hand how sisters who wear habits are ostracized by their more liberal colleagues in their pantsuits and "witness pins".
I say this from hearing from priest friends of the run-ins they have had with sisters who worked for the chancery and behaved as if the priests were their errand boys. I say this from teaching in a Catholic school with a colleague who was an Ursuline sister and being asked by the pastor to take over her religion classes because she was not teaching in union with the Church, but rather her own beliefs and ideas.
All of these experiences demonstrated to me that, with few notable exceptions, the "old orders" are dying and should be allowed to die. This is only natural, orders that have served their purpose and now find that they have no place in the future Church should be allowed to fade away, while new orders, such as the Missionary of Charity, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, the Sisters of Life, the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters (the Pink Sisters), the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (the "Nashville Dominicans") among so many others, including orders that are cloistered, are experiencing rapid growth in vocations and they should be allowed to supplant the old, dying orders. In the meantime, one can only hope that they do not damage or destroy the faith of too many.
My hope for the outcome of this visitation is that orders that are flourishing will be encouraged, orders whose members know better, but whose leadership is holding them back, will find new leadership, and orders that are fully corrupt and beyond saving will be allowed to die out.
In the meantime, I encourage you, Frere Charles, to expand your horizons and actually attempt to learn the faith that you profess a bit more fully. There is so much more about our faith than just Sr. Joan and her ilk. You might find that Sr. Joan does know so much as she and her followers believe she does about being authentically Catholic.
Clint. Dude. Where's your
Clint. Dude. Where's your love for our Holy Mother, the Roman Catholic Church?
I see from your freely given accounting here how you have fallen into such deep and mortal and schismatic error, as the blind lead the blind.
Mr. Novak? I read of him favorably in the NCR over forty years ago, before he lost his Faith. I remember then his full page photo with long hair and love beads. how unfortunate his reprobation, such a great loss . . .
Your path towards redemption from your great confusion and arrogant sin is to serve three years under the Reverend Sister Mary Scullion RSM at Philadelphia's Project H.O.M.E. You may read about her here on the NCRonline pages, or in Time magazine as one of the year's one hundred most influential people, as you admit you are not an actual NCR reader, and that popular news magazine might be more to your reading level and stringent personal tastes.
If you dislike the NCR so entirely, why then visit these blessed pages with your acerbic, hateful and anti-Catholic comments? As you are so misogynist, why your close fascination with women, your need to control them, so hostiley expressed? Did your mother not serve you properly, coming at your first wail?
just wondering
your poorest servant,
frere charles
Dear Sir, One final question.
Dear Sir,
One final question. If things are as you present them, why is the Reverend Sister Joan Chittister's excellent treatise The Gift of Aging on the best-seller list? Why are so many of her excellent theological works so well received, including the necessary reading The Tent of Abraham? Perhaps you will read with me my most-thumbed book of hers, her brochure on praying the Rosary, in community and alone, as I do.
Meanwhile I again question the holiness of your intent of your participation here upon these glorious and blessed NCR pages, a glowing oasis of Living Waters in this great arid desert.
Dude. Where's the love?
just wondering,
your most concerned servant,
frere charles
Clint, You seem to be
Clint, You seem to be concerned about people accepting the authority of the Holy See. I have the same worries for to accept this authoritarianism goes against the very grain of what it means to be Christlike. We are witnessing authority run amuck and ethical Catholics and Christian must do more than question this system that has led to such poor leadership in current Catholicism. To do less would make us complicit in the evils of sexual, financial and preludial abuse to say nothing of the lack of sense when our leaders refuse to listen to their own most prominent theologians, scientists and philosophers. It would be to support the borderline personality problems of the current leadership. Those who love truth simply must oppose this leadership. God is truth.
My we find peace and understanding,
R. Dennis Porch, MD
There is certainly a disdain
There is certainly a disdain for women religious who opt to wear a religious habit. LittleBear, well know to readers on this website, has referred to those who wear the habit a parading around in a Halloween costume. I stated that I do not consider the Missionaries of Charity who have opted for simple religious garb to be wearing Halloween costumes, but LittleBear continued to malign these holy women. I'm afraid LittleBear represents the voice of the leadership of LCWR. God help us and them!
Snowdrop, Snowdrop falling
Snowdrop, Snowdrop
falling from the skies
hopefully some day soon
you'll open up your eyes.
All of us in the United
All of us in the United States appreciate the solidarity expressed this week by the IUGS board.
Thank you Sisters.
One does wonder, however, would not the Vatican's vast investigative talents be better placed elsewhere at this particular moment in time?
The Roman Catholic communites of both men and women religious in Ireland comes immediately to mind.
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish SNDdeN
Sister Maureen hit the nail
Sister Maureen hit the nail on the head! Of course, that investigation is long overdue, as is an investigation into the complicity of Boston's Cardinal Law.
It would seem to me that the
It would seem to me that the "visitation" is meant to intimidate women religious whose ministry has taken them to the people of God rather than in the isolated silos of the diceses. Why are not "the boys" also having a visitiation? Why has Bernie Law been rewarded for his complicit and illegal behaviour of many years? Granted it - was not "theological" issues that are in question - just legal. Why that man is walking free is a puzzlement - as it is with some of his minions who harbored criminal behaviour and then rewarded them with promotions not unlike the one that Bernie got.
Women religious are to be admired, emulated and thanked. Enough of this control stuff (strong words come to mind) of the hierarchy - Sr. Clare is a pawn and shame on her for being a part of this charade.
Great question, Sr. Maureen!
Great question, Sr. Maureen! Wonder of wonders...why has the number of women religious decreased to such a degree? (Not to mention the sharp decline in the number of male clergy vocations!)
[The Vatican council document]called upon women religious to renew their congregations in the spirit of their founders in order to meet the needs of the times. Was there (sufficient) nurturing/recognition of this goal??? Let us ask.
I agree Sister. The Vatican's
I agree Sister. The Vatican's focus is a little fuzzy when it comes to the most horrific revelation of modern times. They would rather "mess with" something like this visitation where they can weild a tough stick at religious women in America. Go for it Rome. You are off target again. In other words, more and more are caring less and less, about anything you have to say.
Sister Maureen, you are so
Sister Maureen, you are so very right. This past week was truly heartbreaking. Living in Boston and having had 3 abusive priests in my parish (only one of whom I knew), I feel it is "deja vu". I think that the motivation for this investigative venture was to provide a distraction from the Commission's report which the authorities knew would emerge. It is a revealing exercise to go to the websites of Diocesan Catholic newspapers in this country to search for a reference to the commission's report. Perhaps I am wrong, but the past has taught me to be exceedingly wary.
Interesting that you should
Interesting that you should mention "Distraction," outsidethebox.
It brings to mind the movie, what was it, not "Angels and Demons" but the other one, ah yes, the "Da Vinci Code."
There were so many articles by everyone under the sun who had a title saying this, saying that, blah, blah, blah. Dah, it's a novel.
At the time I thought that all the talks on the radio, tv interviews, articles and blogs were little more then smoke and mirrors, little more than diversionary tactics in order to you know what.
Watch out, Sisters, they're
Watch out, Sisters, they're out to get you. You're telling them, "No More Free Rides,"
and "Enough is Enough," has upset them and your support for the needs of the Laity and full implementation of Vatican II has hierarchy on edge. They know the institution will crumble without you, but that they will lose control if women achieve equality. Watch out, Sisters, Watch out.
Love,
John
What part of the "full
What part of the "full implementation of Vatican II" are you referring to? Please respond citing actual Council documents.
well, dear Anonymous, this
well, dear Anonymous, this article cites one actual Council document at least:
"The organization praised U.S. women religious for living out the mandates of the Second Vatican Council.
“We affirm unequivocally our support for our sisters in the United States,” the statement of the International Union of Superiors General's executive board reads.
“Their response to the mandates of the Second Vatican Council, particularly as stated in Perfectae Caritatis, has been a great gift, not only to the pluralistic society in which they live, but also to the universal church. Our desire is to assist them in facing the challenges which we share.”
Perfectae Caritatis is a Vatican council document, issued in 1965, that called upon women religious to renew their congregations in the spirit of their founders in order to meet the needs of the times."
You might, dear Anonymous, begin there. Reference is also made here in the statement to further "mandates of the Second Vatican Council." Perhaps the full statement by this excellent and international committe of Superiors contains the specific references to "actual Council documents" you require.
Religious, therefore, who are
Religious, therefore, who are striving faithfully to observe the chastity they have professed must have faith in the words of the Lord, and trusting in God's help not overestimate their own strength but practice mortification and custody of the senses. Neither should they neglect the natural means which promote health of mind and body. As a result they will not be influenced by those false doctrines which scorn perfect continence as being impossible or harmful to human development and they will repudiate by a certain spiritual instinct everything which endangers chastity. In addition let all, especially superiors, remember that chastity is guarded more securely when true brotherly love flourishes in the common life of the community.
Perhaps this is one reason they are being investigated--teaching on gay marriage and against priestly celibacy as "impossible."
17. The religious habit, an outward mark of consecration to God, should be simple and modest, poor and at the same becoming. In addition it must meet the requirements of health and be suited to the circumstances of time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved. The habits of both men and women religious which do not conform to these norms must be changed.
I guess reform of the habit meant "scarf and lapel pin."
b) It redounds to the good of the Church that institutes have their own particular characteristics and work. Therefore let their founders' spirit and special aims they set before them as well as their sound traditions-all of which make up the patrimony of each institute-be faithfully held in honor.
Dear Anonymous, you who
Dear Anonymous, you who demand specific sources, kindly provide the source for your first paragraph which you seem to have directly quoted from somewhere one hundred years ago at least, and please also cite your source for the scurrilous allegations that our religious communities are preaching "on gay marriage and against priestly celibacy."
You do provide some slight indication of source for the following paragraph with the naked number seventeen. Please look at the photo which accompanies this fine article. Where do you find any incomformity to the paragraph which you cite from such an unmentionable source?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Your final paragrpah passes mysteriously from the numerical labelling to the alphabetical, still from an unmentionable outline. And for what purpose do you cite this edifying paragraph (edufying despite the paternalistic reference to patrimony)? How do you find the fine and holy religious women here assembled any lesser?
And in any case, who are you to judge? Judge not lest ye be judged. If you are so busy so uncharitably judging others, you are not keeping your own pants on. Do not mock the speck in another's eye while ignoring the plank in your own.
Let's see where did I get
Let's see where did I get this "over one hundred year old paragraph"? Was it the Council of Trent? No. Was it from Pope Pius IX? No....It is the actual words of the document you supposedly have read, Perfectae Caritatis. Once again please read the words of the Council before pretending to know what they mean.
Perfect Charity? AS in Love
Perfect Charity?
AS in
Love one another, as I have loved you?
As in
Love thy enemy?
AS in washing the other's feet?
AS in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving sanctuary to the illegal alien?
As in going to Calvary?
Dude.
Where's the love?
Where is the Perfect Love?
just wondering
your poorest servant
frere charles
Dear Anonymous of May 26th,
Dear Anonymous of May 26th,
Who in her/his right mind would do your homework for you? If you're truly interested to refute a statement you don't agree with or to corroborate a statement it's up to you to supply your own research. The documents of Vatican II are many and diverse. If you want to substantiate "full implementation" of the documents or if you've decided this is a statement made in error don't ask the rest of us to do your "scut work" for you. It is certainly not appreciated.
You can't prove a universal
You can't prove a universal negative, except by looking at the whole set of possible evidence. If I say "there are no white crows," I couldn't prove that by pointing to a crow that isn't white. I would have to point to all crows and show that none of them are white. I could show you millions of non-white crows, and it would mean nothing. On the other hand, if I were to say "There are white crows," I could prove it, by pointing to the existence of white crows.
So, if someone says "X is a mandate of Vatican II," and someone else says "No it isn't," the only way to settle the argument is to show where X is mandated, rather than to show where it isn't. (If X isn't mandated, then there are a lot of places where X isn't mandated, and showing them all would be tedious). So, if someone says that abandoning habits and cloisters is a mandate of Vatican II, then they should be able to show it, because there should be some place in the documents where it is mandated. You can't show where it isn't mandated, except by pointing to literally every single word of literally every single document.
Anonymous of May 26th makes a very good point. People who talk about the "spirit of Vatican II," the "mandates of Vatican II" etc. frequently do so without any reference to the documents.
On the other hand, the burden for showing that abandoning habits and cloisters is not a renewal of "their congregations in the spirit of their founders" would fall on someone like Anonymous of May 26th. It would not, however, be a terribly difficult argument, since many founders of women's religious orders did wear habits and live in cloisters.
Where was the cloister of
Where was the cloister of Saint Francis of Assisi? Did he not rather, upon returning on bare feet from praying with the Muslim leader in a time of Crusade, climb upon the roof of the new "Franciscan" cloister, tearing it apart tile by tile in shame and in holy rage?
You say Many founders had such things, but, despite the impeccable logic of the balance of your comment, you name no such founder. Yet upon your own authority you claim many did.
Which many?
St. Francis did not found the
St. Francis did not found the Poor Clare nuns. St. Clare did. Their cloister was San Damiano, in Assisi.
I didn't cite specific examples because I presumed, apparently wrongly, that people knew something about the history of women's religious orders. Why do you wish to downplay the importance of women religious? Why do you wish to write St. Clare out of the history? Are the nuns not legitimate if they weren't founded by a man? It strikes me as incredibly patronizing, chauvinistic and misogynistic to talk about Claretian nuns as if they were founded by a man. Why should the Clares imitate a man? Why can't the Clares imitate Clare?
Dear Jamie, In reviewing my
Dear Jamie,
In reviewing my prior comment for revision and correction according to your strenuous indications I find I made no claim that Saint Francis of Assisi, who courageously spoke in respectful peace with the Muslims as our brave President did in these days, also founded the Poor Clares.
Forgive me please and my incapacity to find as you did any place where I in any way claim that Francis founded the Poor Clares and regret your misreading very much. I spoke in general terms of founders, and certainly those orders which Francis in fact founded have been some of the most widespread in modern times.
Put on therefore a ragged habit which no one would want to steal from you and a frayed rope belt, with no footwear, and go forth to preach the Good News to the Poor.
your poorest servant
frere charles
I am so pleased to see this
I am so pleased to see this vote of confidence coming from the international group. The sisters in the U.S. have worked long and hard at their ministries and I am sure that the visitation will document the results. God willing we will move forward together with support from the Vatican in all our efforts.
What a beautiful statement of
What a beautiful statement of solidarity from the international community of women religious! I continue to pray that the apostolic visitation will be undertaken in a spirit of charity and will be a wonderful opportunity for women religious in the United States to share how they have spread the Gospel through word and deed.
I humbly suggest that another
I humbly suggest that another investigation should be undertaken prior to that of women's religious organizations.
It would simply be an investigation of the Vatican, the Curia, the College of Cardinals and every consecrated bishop concerning the most horrendous moral deception by the Catholic hierarchy of our time, the world-wide pedophile scandal.
When did they know about it? what did they do to combat it? and how vigorously have they made efforts to own up to their negligence in allowing known pedophile priests to be moved from parish to parish without notifying the laity? and that would be the first item on the agenda.
The investigation would be conducted by informed lay Catholic representatives from every corner of the world.
You are right on target and I
You are right on target and I couldn't agree more. The scandal in Ireland
fills my heart with sadness for all those children affected. What a crime to have their childhoods taken away and nothing done about it.
add a few CPA's to look into
add a few CPA's to look into the Vatican Bank and the complicity of each of these gentlemen as well . . .
WE should PRAY for them (both
WE should PRAY for them (both SAINTS and SINNERS),
not "hound" them.....
WE are the Church, and we are a Church of Sinners.
The only prayer that JESUS taught us includes:
"FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US"....
If we cannot accept the second part of this prayer, we ought to pray.
*****************************************************************************
Karl Adam in his book: Spirit of Catholicism addressed this very issue:
"Therefore the men through whom God's revelation is mediated on earth are by the law of their being conditioned by the limitations of their age. And they are conditioned also by the limitations of their individuality. Their particular temperament, mentality, and character are bound to color, and do color, the manner in which they dispense the truth and grace of Christ. And these influences will operate also in their hearers, that is to say in the "learning Church" as well as in the "teaching Church." So it may happen, and it must happen, that pastor and flock, bishop, priest, and layman are not always worthy mediators and recipients of God's grace, and that the infinitely holy is sometimes warped and distorted in passing through them. Wherever you have men, you are bound to have a restricted outlook and narrowness of judgment. For talent is rare, and genius comes only when God calls it. Eminent popes, bishops of great spiritual force, theologians of genius, priests of extraordinary graces and devout layfolk: these must be, not the rule, but the exception. God raises them up only at special times, when He needs them for His Church. We may and should pray for them, but we cannot reckon on their coming. And so as a rule it is the ordinary and average man who bears God's truth and grace through the world. The Church has from God the guarantee that she will not fall into error regarding faith or morals; but she has no guarantee whatever that every act and decision of ecclesiastical authority will be excellent and perfect. Mediocrity and even defects are possible. "The weak and the little hath God chosen that He may confound the strong." It is true that the power of divine truth and grace is manifested all the more gloriously because of this weakness. But reflective Catholics must feel and be pained by the conflict which arises out of the contrast between the sublimity, depth and power of divine revelation and the weakness of the human, too- human factor. The same phenomenon is repeated in the history of the Church throughout the centuries which so tragically moulded the relation of our Lord to His disciples. They were unable in their small mirrors to receive all the rays of light which went forth from His divine Person and to transmute them without loss into living forces."
"Still more palpable and painful does the conflict between the power of God and the weakness of man become when the in-streaming life of grace and truth is checked by human passions, by sin and vice, when Christ as He is realized in human history is dragged through the dust of the street, through the commonplace and the trivial, and over masses of rubbish. That is the deepest tragedy, the very tragedy of the Divine, when It is dispensed by unworthy hands and received by unworthy lips. An immoral laity, bad priests, bishops and popes—these are the saddest wounds of the Body of the mystical Christ. This is what grieves the earnest Catholic and inspires his sorrowful lamentation, when he sees these wounds and is unable to help."
http://www.ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/SPIRCATH.HTM#13
God bless,
Moses
I agree this is the
I agree this is the investigation that is needed. Women religious have been quite dutiful to and with the church.
With all that has bee about with the hierarchy ... one would think ...
Where is the investigation of all that happened in Boston? Why not bring (cardinal? Can we really use that title anymore, even "father" is a stretch!)(cardinal) Law under investigation? When? I ask again, when? they maybe the people of God might take their church more seriously until then, the scandal is with the hierarchy rewarding people like Law. Shame on anyone who had anything to do with that appointment.
Nice for the International
Nice for the International group to lend their supposrt, but this witch-hunt (apologies to the hunted) ia appalling. The reasons for the problems in the Church can ALL be traced back to two things: clericalism and religious fundamentalism. The religious sisters of the USA are guilty of neither. The Holy See would do well to clean up its own backyard before it goes on this witch-hunt!
The collegial and inclusive
The collegial and inclusive direction in which women religious have evolved since "Perfectae Caritatis" should be emulated by the rest of the church at every level of the hierarchical ladder. The old feudal model is no longer plausible to Catholics who live in a post-modern world. Instead of investigating women religious, we should ask them to
tutor the rest of us.
Can't help but smile a
Can't help but smile a little. Maybe they are trying to decipher how these women can remain faithful in spite of exclusion; reconcile mission with context of subservience; persist in the face of their "brothers" and "male superiors" abuses, and still smile in the service of Christ in the world. Their numbers are down, yes but they have endured cataclysmic changes. They lost the hospitals, the schools where they thrived, left their "burkhas" and braved new challenges; managed all the while being used and abused. They are aging, but in that calm of self-search and reflection they are finding their place, gradually as equals yes but also leaders and models.
With respect, I suggest that we watch the women. Like the "toads" (forgive me sister) they are barometers of the environment.
Thank God, for the
Thank God, for the International Union of Superiors General to give support to the women's religious communities in the US. The hierarchy in Rome (and a number in the US) are nervous, because the Sisters can see through their hypocrisy. The Sisters have worked with the Laity, know their needs, respect their abilities----but the hierarcy (for the most part) only respects the laity's contributions. The hierarchy can't sneer at the Sisters' lack of knowledge of the Church, theology, spirituality, canon law, liturgy---no! The Sisters can match them (and in many places surpass them). This makes the hierarchy very nervous.
As John Chuchman stated about the Sisters the hierarchy "know the institution will crumble without you, but that they will lose control if women achieve equality" Yes---Sisters---Watch out! And God bless you!
The Vatican should be
The Vatican should be investigating the Irish Christian Brothers and priests who covered-up and allowed to continue the horrendous abuse of so many children in Ireland at schools run by Christian Brothers.
That ought to be investigated, not American nuns.
Is the U.S.A. nun investigation just to distract from the Irish Christian Brothers Schools Scandal ?
Mr. Lovejoy is right, start by investigating the pope, the Vatican which sent out written directives to cover-up the priest pedophile scandal, to silence and stall the victims,
Pope JPII and Ratzinger ignored the pedophile and embezzlement scandals of Fr Maciel Delagodo, Legion of Mary leader, reported first in 1979 directly to Pope JPII again in 1989, 1994 and recently.
Wow, someone on this board
Wow, someone on this board who doesn't have the facts! Who would have thought it? One of the first things Pope Benedict did was to remove the faculties of the founders of the Legionaries.
Dear Anonymous, Cardinal
Dear Anonymous,
Cardinal Ratzingr should have done this job decades earlier when the first complaints began to appear. It was swell of him to do as Pope after so much damage had been done!
please anonymous! Follow the
please anonymous! Follow the chronology! And all that really happened was the very elderly and infirm Marcial, already ready for retirement, was advised to dedicate himself to a life of prayer and reflection. What recommendation did the Pope give the schismatic priests? None. Not even a call for repentence for their schism. None.
Meanwhile how are the good and holy victims of the CDF's unjust interrogations treated: Father Schillebeeckx, Father Kung, Firar Boff, Father Curran and the rest of these good and holy priests? Where may I attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered by great, courageous and holy priests like Father Miquel D'Escoto MM (Padre Miguel), the Reverend Father Ernesto Cardenal (whose Novice Master in Gethsemane was Father Thomas Merton)? Where is the love for our great modern martyrs, including Sister Ita Ford, Sister Maura Clarke, Sister Dorothy Kazel, Jean Donovan, Father Ignazio Ellacuria, Father Ignazio Baro and companions, and the Blessed Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero? If Father Ellacuria and companions were not Basque, would the right wing and Francoist Opus Dei permit them some slight recognition for their ultimate sacrifice?
just wondering
your poorest servant
frere charles
Wow. Alot of things need to
Wow. Alot of things need to be said. I can understand emotions are running high and all folks. Several things that need to be said:
1) The pedophile/homosexual sex scandals WERE SATANIC. There is NO WAY to say it other than satanic. When Pope Paul VI stated that the "smoke of satan has entered the Catholic Church",even though he was refferring to liturgical abuses, he was right (his quote could definitely be applid to this).
2) But let us not villify the Vatican. Rome is looking into the religious orders, just as it did the seminaries, to see if they are following the Catholic faith. The contributions of the sisters are amazing and must be praised! Yet in recent years why have the number of sisters gone down so much? What about the Catholic faith in their lives?
I remember going to a farm that was owned by a group of Dominican sisters.It was operated by their lay followers but founded and patronized by these sisters. It grew food and was all about social justice and sustainability and feeding the neighboring poor. A noble effort which I commend. But spirituality? NO! I was informed by a lay follower that celebrations of the vernal equinox and native American pagan rituals were something they held dearly to. I do not recall seeing a cross or a Bible anywhere. Though I did see plenty of radical feminist theology "when God was a woman" and various other books which clearly had influences which were not Catholic. Doing social jutice is good...BUT WHAT ABOUT SPIRITUAL JUSTICE?! What about the salvation of souls and praying to CHRIST!?
I remember walking away from that experience rather confused and even disturbed. Are we not Catholics?
There is nothing wrong with
There is nothing wrong with having respect for the beliefs of others and vice versa. Our spiritual lives are rewarded by what we do. There are no "pagan" rituals where people sincerely practice good deeds. The Bible and cross are Christian symbols. Statues of saints in Catholic churches could also be viewed as "idols" adored in the "rituals" practiced year round.
Faith in the mystery of creation is not owned by any one religion. "God" is only our limited expression for it. Just look out into the Universe.
Amen to you, James. The
Amen to you, James. The pedophile scandal has made me
consider whether this is the church I wish to belong.
The hierarchiy is wearing blinders when it comes to
the lives of so many innocent children. We need the voices
of women in the church.
I totally agree with you
I totally agree with you James.
What a smoke screen the Vatican has erected to divert attention from the sex abuse scandal of priests. Why not investigate the culture of the priesthood ans seminaries.
Thank you IUSG for supporting our amazing women religious.
Mark 8: 38 - "Whoever is
Mark 8: 38 - "Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
The Vatican ought to intiatiate an INVESTIGATION as to why MOST American Bishops are "ASHAMED" of their HOMILIES and AVOID/EVADE/SHY AWAY from posting their Homilies online as in the ARCHDIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE?
Perhaps, they ought to ask Archbishop Timothy Dolan - New York, NY for help.
******************************************************************************
http://www.archmil.org/default.asp
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is now on Facebook and Twitter!
Join the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s group page on Facebook to participate in discussion boards, receive updates on archdiocese happenings, post a farewell message for the archbishop, keep tabs on Archbishop Dolan after he leaves Milwaukee and receive news on Milwaukee’s next archbishop (as it becomes available).
Follow this link www.facebook.com to sign up and join the archdiocesan group page. Once you have signed into to Facebook, search for “Archdiocese of Milwaukee” and check the All Results tab or Group tab.
Facebook is a social networking service that keeps you connected with friends, family, co-workers, companies and organizations through web pages you set up.
Join Twitter to get short, late-breaking news on what’s happening in the Milwaukee Archdiocese. Sign up now to ensure you receive your tweet when the new Archbishop of Milwaukee is named! Get other important archdiocesan announcements via Twitter. Also, you will be able to receive live updates from New York about Archbishop Dolan’s installation.
To join Twitter and follow archmil, click on www.twitter.com. Once you have signed into Twitter, use the search link on the bottom of the page (not the Find People search at the top) and type “archmil” or “Archdiocese of Milwaukee.”
Twitter is a social networking site which allows you to stay connected to your friends, “followers” and organizations through short text messages called Tweets which contain 140 characters or less. You can view the text messages on your cell phone, online in your Twitter account or through third-party applications like Twirl, Snitter and Twitterfox.
Hope to see you online!
******************************************************************************
Mark 8: 38 - Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
***************************************************************************
Luke 17: 15-18 - "And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
******************************************************************************
Here are the OTHER NINE:
Here is a PARTIAL list to help VATICAN get started in "ENERGIZING" those, who lack "INITITATIVE" and "COURAGE" to post their Homilies online:
Cardinal Justin Rigali - Philadelphia, PA; Chairman, USCCB Pro-Life Committee
Cardinal Francis George - Chicago, IL; President, USCCB
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (Archbishop Emeritus) - Philadelphia, PA
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo - Houston, TX
Archbishop Donald Wuerl - Washington, D.C.
Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk - Cincinnati, OH
Archbishop Edwin O'Brien - Baltimore, MD
Archbishop John C. Nienstedt - St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN
Archbishop Joseph Naumann - Kansas City, KS
Archbishop John J. Myers - Newark, NJ
Archbishop Alfred Hughes - New Orleans, LA
Archbishop José Gomez - San Antonio, TX
Archbishop Charles Chaput - Denver, CO
Archbishop-Elect Robert Carlson - St. Louis
Archbishop Eusebius Beltran - Oklahoma City, OK
Archbishop Daniel Buechlein - Indianapolis, IN
Bishop Thomas Olmsted - Phoenix, AZ
Bishop Thomas Doran - Rockford, IL
Bishop William E. Lori - Bridgeport, CT
Bishop Robert Lynch - St. Petersburg,
Bishop Thomas Wenski - Orlando, FL
Bishop Gerald Barbarito - Palm Beach, FL
Bishop Frank J. Dewane – Venice, FL
Bishop Michael Sheridan - Colorado Springs, CO
Bishop George Lucas - Springfield, IL
Bishop Victor Galeone - St. Augustine, FL
Bishop Anthony Taylor - Little Rock, AR
Bishop Robert Baker - Birmingham, AL
Bishop R. Walker Nickless - Sioux City, IA
Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger - Evansville, IN
Bishop John D'Arcy - Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN
Bishop William Higi - Lafayette, IN
Bishop Paul Coakley - Salina, KS
Bishop Michael O. Jackels - Wichita, KS
Bishop Glen Provost - Lake Charles, LA
Bishop Sam Jacobs - Houma-Thibodaux, LA
Bishop Alexander Sample - Marquette, MI
Bishop John LeVoir - New Ulm, MN
Bishop Bernard Harrington - Winona, MN
Bishop John Gaydos - Jefferson City, MO
Bishop Robert Finn - Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO
Bishop James V. Johnston - Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO
Bishop Robert Hermann - St. Louis, MO
Bishop Joseph Latino - Jackson, MS
Bishop Michael Warfel - Great Falls-Billings, MT
Bishop George Thomas - Helena, MT
Bishop Peter Jugis - Charlotte, NC
Bishop Samuel Aquila - Fargo, ND
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz - Lincoln, NE
Bishop John McCormack - Manchester, NH
Bishop Joseph Galante - Camden, NJ
Bishop John Smith - Trenton, NJ
Bishop Nicholas Di Marzio - Brooklyn, NY
Bishop William Murphy - Rockville Centre, NY
Bishop Leonard Blair - Toledo, OH
Bishop George Murry - Youngstown, OH
Bishop Edward J. Slattery - Tulsa, OK
Bishop Robert Vasa - Baker, OR
Bishop Edward Cullen - Allentown, PA
Bishop Joseph V. Adamec - Altoona-Johnstown, PA
Bishop Donald Trautman - Erie, PA
Bishop Lawrence Brandt - Greensburg, PA
Bishop Kevin Rhoades - Harrisburg, PA
Bishop David Zubick - Pittsburgh, PA
Bishop Joseph Martino - Scranton, PA
Bishop Richard Stika - Knoxville, TN
Bishop Emeritus John Yanta - Amarillo, TX
Bishop Gregory Aymond - Austin, TX
Bishop Reymundo Pena - Brownsville, TX
Bishop Paul Loverde - Arlington, VA
Bishop David Ricken - Green Bay, WI
Bishop Jerome Listecki - La Crosse, WI
Bishop Robert Morlino - Madison, WI
Auxiliary Bishop Roger Gries - Cleveland, Ohio
Auxiliary Bishop John Dougherty - Scranton, PA
Auxiliary Bishop James Conley – Denver, CO
Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantú - San Antonio, TX
What is the purpose of this
What is the purpose of this post? You have too much time on your hands if you want to read all these homilies.
Absolutely, #1Milbo!! All we
Absolutely, #1Milbo!!
All we really need to read each week, and several times each week, is the sermon posted here from His Eminence Bishop Thomas Gumbleton's Pulpit of Peace, this week with a beautiful prayer of the Ascension!
What are these orders so
What are these orders so afraid of? I've never heard so much whining and sniveling in my life!
Everyone in the world knows that the number of vocations is down, way down so why wouldn't everyone want to cooperate to stop doing what isn't working and figure out what might work??
If people have nothing to hide or be ashamed about then what's the problem?
Friar Boff had absolutely
Friar Boff had absolutely "nothing to hide or be ashamed about"
The Reverend Father Edward SChillebeeckx had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about"
The Salesian Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about" and very much to be thanked for.
The venerable and Reverend Father Tissa Balasuriya had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about"
The great questioner and quite Reverend Father Hans Kung had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about"
Our fine and eloquent moral theologian, the Rev. Father Charles Curran had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about"
The brilliant and Reverend Father Jon Sobrino had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about" as he courageously proclaimed the martyrdom of his people, friends, companions and Archbishop.
So very many good and holy and faithful Roman Catholic souls have had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about."
and, yet, the Ratzinger regime has made it appear so, at a great loss to our Church.
Weeping is heard in Ramah, Rachel has lost her children.
And so our holy Sisters rightfully wonder at the intent here, too.
Political control. The repression of the truly apostolic and dangerous work for peace and of justice. the persecution of our faith under a constantinian compromise with the Empire.
Bishop Morlino.
Why did the Apostles hide in the Upper Room, awaiting without knowing the strengthening visitation of the Holy Spirit?
They, too, had "nothing to hide or be ashamed about" and yet lived in fear for their very lives, and thus the failure of their divine mission confided to their weak and very human hands.
Very nicely put!
Very nicely put!
Dear kvk, Vocations are not
Dear kvk,
Vocations are not grown in seminaries or convents---they come from families! It is not the Sisters' fault if girls/young women do not wish to be Sisters.
1) Parents do not encourage their daughters to consider religious vocations--nor do their friends.
2) The way the Church treats women also puts wet blankets on religious fervor. If a younger priest shows promise (bright, articulate, up-holds orthodoxy)----he could be prepared to become a bishop. In America, this is done by sending the priest to school to study canon law---the favorite area of degreed attainments by most bishops and up-and-coming bishops.
But if a Sister is bright, articulate, and up-holds orthodoxy---the diocese won't prepare her for much of anything. Her religious community (composed completely by women) educates the Sisters. They can study canon law, civil law, medicine, theology, spirituality, etc.---but they can't be bishops, priests, even deacons. Why? Not because Jesus said so---but because the official Church teaches that women may not achieve that state. And the old chestnut about Jesus only having men as Apostles has more holes in it than Swiss cheese!
3) There is no group within the Church who has worked so hard at fulfilling the renewal of religious life "Perfectae Caritatis" as mandated by Vatican Council II---as have the American women religious. Religious vocations among men to religious life and to the diocesan clergy are also down----so much so that America will soon be facing a "Eucharistic famine" due to the lack of available priests. But does the Vatican care about that? No! Just investigate the women religious in America.
4) Finally, the reformation of the hierarchy is crucial! Note very well the sexual abuse scandal sweeping Ireland (one of many nations rocked by this). Are the religious communitiese in Ireland being investigated either by the Vatican or by the Irish Council of Bishops? Not at all! But women religious in America----ah---they are too educated, articulate, and work too closely with the laity---to suit the Vatican.
Whining and sniveling, kvk? Apparently you wouldn't recognize injustice if it hit you between the eyes!
Religious should remember
Religious should remember there is no better way than their own example to commend their institutes and gain candidates for the religious life.
I guess they aren't showing a good example.
"Yes, officer I was driving
"Yes, officer I was driving 100 mph but you shouldn't have pulled me over because other people do it too." This response doesn't go over well. If someone else does something bad, it doesn't let everyone off. Yes, the orders in Ireland should be investigated. Who says they won't be? But, your argument doesn't hold logically. Even if others should be investigated, why should the sisters not be?
James E. Lovejoy's post in
James E. Lovejoy's post in this thread hits the target! He is absolutely correct. The real investigation should be undertaken by the worldwide laity, The People of God, and should indeed investigate the entire Vatican monarchy of Cardinals, Curia, and every bishop in the Catholic hierarchy! It should also investigate the Pope and demand a reform of the Papacy, returning it to its' historical role as Bishop of Rome and DEMANDING EQUAL representation of the laity when it comes to electing future Popes, Archbishops, Bishops and Cardinals. After this, we should abolish the College of Cardinals and DEMAND an end to mandatory celibacy and full ordination for women in every capacity right up to Bishop of Rome. I wish Father Lovejoy, his wife and family, God's blessings.
This is further proof that
This is further proof that Chris Smith is angry and we need to pray for him.
Dear Milbo #1, I don't
Dear Milbo #1,
I don't know.
Sounds kind of reasonable and level headed to me . . .
I will take your advice nevertheless, Milbo the First, and pray for him during our all night adoration of the Blessed Sacrament this Saturday in Mexico, that all of his intentions so eloquently and patiently expressed here may come to pass, and soon, for the renewed good of God's holy Catholic Church, for us pilgrim people of God crossing hostile alien lands.
May we all get there together, the only way we ever will.
Peace!
your poorest servant,
frere charles
If Chris Smith is angry, yes
If Chris Smith is angry, yes we should pray for him, but those that need prayer the most are those that support an Episcopacy run amuck on so many issues. Those that are not angry in any way may be nearly beyond prayer. So Chris if you are angry find a better way to spend your energy!
While "Perfectae Caritatis"
While "Perfectae Caritatis" figures prominently in this statement of international support and solidarity, it is noticeably ABSENT from the list of resources on the www.apostolicvisitation.org website. And curiously enough, this Vatican II document isn't even mentioned in the new Catechism section on religious life either. Now what's that song? "Things that make you go hmm..."
We affirm unequivocally our
We affirm unequivocally our support for the sisters in the United States. Their response to the mandates of the Second Vatican Council, particularly as stated in Perfectae Caritatis, has been a great gift, not only to the pluralistic society in which they live, but also to the universal church. Our desire is to assist them in facing the challenges which we share.
Would it be possible for NCR - or some other body - to establish a site, headed with the above or similar words, with the provision for those who endorse those sentiments to express their support for the sisters by adding their names and email addresses?
Re Peter Ryan recommendation:
Re Peter Ryan recommendation: I second that emotion!
Also, is it not time for an update on the progress of the visitation and the investigation?
Thank you for your candour,
Thank you for your candour, James. Difficult to apprecisate how anything can be clearly perceived by the investigators when they have a plank in their own eye. Root and branch overhaul of systemic injustice would be in line with a neew Pentecost. However, the solution to the problem is unlikely to come from the mindset that caused the problem in the first place. I haved every confidence in those being investigated and little confidence in those doing the investigating.
Mr. Lovejoy, I heartily
Mr. Lovejoy, I heartily agree. And just where is the 'official investigation' into why the number of men becoming priests has dropped so dramatically in the United States, England, and other countries that are in better economic straits than Africa, Poland, India, etc.?????
Post new comment