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PDF versionReligious life as prophetic life form
Part one: 'The pernicious appeal for blind obedience'
Jan. 04, 2010
This is part one of a five-part essay by Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Sandra Schneiders on the meaning of religious life today. In this part Schneiders, professor of New Testament Studies and Christian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, sets the context for “Religious Life as Prophetic Life Form.” These installments run from Jan. 4 through Jan. 8.
Introduction
When the Vatican investigation of U.S. women religious was announced some months ago without any preparation, consultation, or even the courtesy of a notification to congregational leaders that it was about to happen, many people, religious and laity alike, were stunned at what seemed like a surprise attack aimed at a most unlikely target, given the massive and unaddressed problems besetting the clergy and hierarchy at the moment. Persistent efforts to learn the charges and the accusers hit a stone wall since virtually no one believed that a decline in numbers of entrants constituted a “crime” calling for such a massive response or that a judicial proceeding of such magnitude was instituted to ascertain (much less foster!) the “quality of life” of religious.
Little by little pressure from a variety of sources seems to have uncovered the answers to those two questions. The “charges” are that LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious)-type Congregations (the vast majority of Religious in the country) have implemented in their lives and in their ministries changes called for by Vatican II to the detriment (manifested in the decline in numbers of vocations) of religious life itself. Cardinal Rodé (the highest officer in Rome on religious life) believes, in his own words, that the council precipitated the first “world-wide crisis” in the history of the church and women religious, in his view, are primary promoters of that crisis in the United States.
The “accusers” are a small group of extremely conservative women religious who, in September 2008, held a conference at Stonehill College in Massachusetts on consecrated life as they understand it, to which they invited Cardinal Rodé. At this conference, which included no presentation of positions at variance with their own, they put contemporary ministerial religious Life on trial in absentia, found it seriously wanting, and raised the cry, “Investigate them!”
Cardinal Rodé, having heard what he apparently thought was a widely held consensus that U.S. women’s apostolic religious life was in serious decline concluded, “We have no further need of witnesses.” Unfortunately, he failed to consult the many thousands of Catholic laity who have received from women religious their formation in the faith, ongoing spiritual support, pastoral care in times of need, and colleagueship in ministry and who are now expressing their solidarity with the sisters by petitions and personal letters of protest to the Cardinal, the Visitator, the Apostolic Delegate, and local ordinaries as well as by individual and collective testimonies to and about the sisters (see, e.g., U.S. Catholic, “Entered into Evidence [75:1, Jan. 2010]).
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He failed to consult moderate bishops, like those in California, who have publicly testified that without women religious their dioceses would not have become what they are and would not be functioning as well as they are today. He failed to consult significant groups of religious outside the United States, such as AMOR (conference of women Religious in Asia and Oceania) and UISG (International Union of Superiors General in Rome), which have expressed in public statements their appreciation of, support for, and solidarity with U.S. religious. He failed to consult the sisters themselves who could have enlightened him on the size and ideological commitments of the one small group of religious he did consult and the few rightist bishops, in this country and in Rome, to whom he listened.
Many people, including many religious, think this investigation is an unprecedented assault on religious. Its scope may be unprecedented but its content certainly is not. Many, perhaps most, religious congregations in this country have in their archives documents and correspondence chronicling equally or even more serious confrontations between their order and the local ecclesiastical authorities. (I suggest “Topic 11” in the excellent CD course, "The History of Women Religious in the United States," by Margaret S. Thompson in the Now You Know Media Series, for archival documentation on this point.)
These records, going back decades or even centuries, tell of threats and intimidation to enforce conscience-violating policies or practices (such as racial discrimination) instigated by members of the hierarchy, drastic sanctions for non-subordination to clergy in matters over which the clerics had no jurisdiction, demotion and even permanent exile without due process of lawfully elected and even revered superiors (including founders), appointment without election of compliant puppet governments, interference in appointments of sisters, unilateral closing of institutions, forced acceptance of apostolates not appropriate to the congregation, and even outright theft of financial assets, to name only the most egregious examples.
Many sisters, until very recently, did not know this part of their congregational histories. These often protracted and traumatic struggles were dark pages that, like many abuse victims, the corporate victims (the congregations) tried to bury or forget. Even when the abused know rationally that they are not to blame for what happened to them there is often a sense of deep shame, of being somehow responsible for inciting the abuse, of being “damaged goods” because of what one has undergone (especially if there is wide disparity of power and/or status between abuser and abused), of just wanting it to go away in hopes it will never happen again.
Of course, it is still happening. The forced dispensation from vows of most of the members of the Los Angeles IHMs in the late 1960’s by a furious Cardinal James F. McIntyre, who could not force these women to submit to his will; the years of struggle by superiors who refused to violate the consciences of the twenty-four women Religious who, in 1984, signed a New York Times statement asking for honest discussion (not a change of doctrine or even practice) of the issue of abortion that was seriously dividing the country and the church; attempts, some successful and some not, to force the dismissal of Sisters legitimately appointed by their superiors to certain ministries, and so on, are within the memory of most religious alive today. In other words, there is nothing new (except perhaps the comprehensive scope of the present investigation) in the struggle between some elements of the hierarchy and women Religious.
One of the most pernicious and characteristic aspects of these episodes is the pervasive appeal to a supposed obligation to “blind obedience to hierarchical authority” as the legitimation for clerical control, and even abuse, of women Religious. This neuralgic issue of the meaning of obedience is central to the current investigation and it is important to realize that it is not new, not precipitated by late 20th century developments in American society or the post-conciliar church, and not likely to be settled by heavy-handed exercises of coercive power. The issue goes back to the Gospel and the life of Jesus in his religious and social setting and it will only be clarified by faithful meditation on the Scriptures, prayer, and courageous action.
There is an instructive parallel between the questions religious are asking about the Vatican investigation (and which they have asked before, many times, in similar situations) and the questions scholars (and many ordinary believers) ask about the trial and execution of Jesus. There is a tendency to ask and to stop with, the questions “Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?” and “Why was Jesus executed?” (Like who is responsible for this investigation and what are the charges?)
At one level the answers are fairly easily available to a careful study of the Gospel texts. Jesus was executed by the collusion of the political (Roman Empire) and religious (Jerusalem hierarchy) power elites in first century Palestine. He was executed because his ministry threatened to cause an uprising of the Palestinian peasantry. This would have been fatal to the career of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor whose job was to keep the Jewish province under control. It would have been even more disastrous for the Jewish leadership who retained what little authority they had over their own religious affairs and population only as long as the Jewish populace did not become problematic for the Empire.
But this basically political-religious motivation is only a first level answer to the questions of “who” and “why”. It does not get at what we really need to know about Jesus and his mission if we want to understand the human predicament from which he came to save us and the radicality of the solution to that predicament that God offered us in Jesus. Until we realize that it is really the human race, including me/us, rather than a few historical figures in first century Palestine, who crucified Jesus we do not yet “get it.” Until we realize that the reason for his execution is anthropological, theological, soteriological, rather than merely regionally political or religious, and that those factors permeate the experience of the whole human race, we have not begun to plumb the real meaning of the paschal mystery or our own implication in it.
Jesus’ prophetic ministry of word and work was not merely a threat to the particular domination systems of Rome and Jerusalem. It was a fundamental subversion of domination itself as the demonic structure operative in human history. The incarnation was God’s revelation in Jesus that God is not a supreme power controlling humanity through fear of damnation or extinction, nor the legitimator of human domination systems, but One who has chosen loving solidarity unto death with us to free us from all fear and bring us into the “liberty of the children of God.”
Jesus was the end of all domination systems, all systems of salvation by the power exercised by a few over the many. No such system, political or religious, could ever again claim divine sanction. It was this definitive subversion of the violent human way of running the world by God’s loving way of luring creation, including us, toward union with Godself that was the ultimate threat Jesus represented. The demonic “world,” the kingdom of Satan, was undone by Jesus who was bringing into existence a new creation, an entirely different “world” which “God so loved as to give the only Son.”
In this new creation those who held power, Rome and Jerusalem, males and masters, strong and rich, were finished. This is why he had to be killed. The historical reasons were real. But they were the local, even surface, manifestation of the deeper reason which involved the re-orientation of the entirety of human history.
Analogously, it is not very complicated, or illuminating, to figure out that women’s religious Life is being used as a symbolic scapegoat in the power struggle in the contemporary church between the promoters of the renewal initiated by Vatican II and a program of tridentine restoration. Nor is it difficult to identify who have vested interests in the outcome of that struggle. (This is not to suggest that the stakes in this struggle are not very high or that we should be naïve about the extent of damage that could result.)
As empire and temple were threatened by the growing sense of empowerment among the oppressed in Palestine, so the absolutist power structure of the institutional church is threatened by the growing consciousness of the People of God of their identity and mission as the Body of Christ. As Jesus was an agent of empowerment who had to be eliminated before he “stirred up the people” and brought down the wrath of the empire on the nation, so those in the church, lay leaders, pastors, bishops, or others -- but especially sisters -- who are fostering the conciliar renewal must be brought under control lest the “crisis” Cardinal Rodé has named explode and bring about a radical claiming of their identity as the People of God and their mission to and in solidarity with the world God so loved.
But why the sisters? We must not overlook the crushing of lay initiatives, the banning of progressive bishops from traditionalist bishops’ dioceses, the brandishing of excommunications, refusal of the sacraments or Christian burial, and public condemnations of Catholic politicians and theologians, etc. as we examine the investigation of Religious. This is not a historically unique occurrence and Religious women are not alone as its objects.
But sisters are a particularly important target for several reasons. First, their sheer numbers and influence. Women religious are not only people who are voluntarily engaged in the life they lead because they are passionately committed to its spiritual and ministerial goals and to Jesus Christ who called them to this life. They are also the largest, best organized, most geographically ubiquitous, most ministerially diversified, and therefore probably most effective promoters of the vision of Vatican II. In some eyes, of course, this means that, as so many lay Catholics have testified, religious are the greatest source of hope for the contemporary church. In other eyes, this means that they are the most serious danger to the “real (that is, pre-conciliar) Church” which these people are trying to restore.
Second, as relatively public figures in the church women religious are easier to target. The attempt by the investigation to identify in writing every single individual woman religious in the country by name, age, location, and ministry appeared decidedly more than a routine survey to anyone with eyes to see.
Third, the objects of this investigation are all women. Male religious whose numbers have declined as steeply as women’s are not under investigation even though, in its 1983 revision, canon Law (# 606) specified that women and men Religious should be treated equally unless some specific reason (not based on gender as such) made differential treatment necessary. The Roman Catholic church is the most resolutely patriarchal organization in the western world. Keeping women in absolute subjection to male authority is critical to the maintenance of patriarchy.
But, as in the question about the execution of Jesus, there is something much more important at stake for religious in the question about the “why” and the “who” of this investigation, namely, the meaning of their life as a participation in the prophetic mission of Jesus rather than as a support system for an ecclesiastical power structure. What understanding of the theology and spirituality of ministerial religious life as a prophetic life form in the church is in contention? What understanding of the critical role of religious obedience in the exercise of that prophetic vocation is in dispute as this current drama unfolds? It is the biblical, historical, and theological examination of these deeper questions that I want to address in this essay.
Tuesday: Jesus as Model: Call and Task of Prophetic Action
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The essay in five parts:
Part One: Religious Life as Prophetic Life Form, Jan. 4 Part Two: Call, Response and Task of Prophetic Action, Jan. 5 Part Three: What Jesus taught us about his prophetic ministry, Jan. 6 Part Four: Tasks of those who choose the prophetic life style, Jan. 7 Part Five: Religious life: sharing Jesus' passion, resurrection, Jan. 8 Read NCR's coverage of the apostolic visitation of U.S. women religious here: Index of stories Read an interview with Sr. Schneiders. She explains why she wrote this essay: Schneiders to explore meaning of religious life today |
NCR does an extraordinary
NCR does an extraordinary disservice to opponents of the Vatican investigation, which is flawed in its design, if not its intent, by offering a bully pulpit to Sister Sandra Schneiders, who would have us believe that Jesus, the evangelists, and the founders of religious orders, male and female, all intended to address, yet failed once to mention, the sin of patriarchy.
If it were God's intention to subvert patriarchy through Jesus, one would expect to find some mention of that fact in scripture. If it were God's intention to subvert patriarchy through religious life, one would expect to find some mention of that fact in the Rules of Life which, from Benedict to the present day, all seem to emphasize obedience to authority.
If it were God's intention to relieve the world of the patriarchical tendencies of male founders, one would expect to find some mention of that goal in the Rules written by women founders. Instead, Sister asks us to believe that all those who have gone before have failed to see what she alone sees so clearly, albeit without support from scripture, tradition, or history.
Neither Jesus, now the evangelists, nor the founders of religious orders seem to have understood God's eternal design as well as Sister Sandra, viz., that the purpose of the incarnation and of religious life is not to proclaim the Gospel to a world steeped in sin, but to prevent the Vatican from asking sisters to answer a few questions.
There is much to question about this investigation, and there is a good deal to criticize about patriarchy as it has been practised by men and women alike over the centuries. But this lame defense, which is neither biblical nor historical, is not the answer.
The subversion of patriarchy
The subversion of patriarchy is indeed in scripture with Jesus praising Mary for choosing the better part over Martha to his interactions with untouchable women such as the Samaritan and Syro-Phonecian woman to the first witnesses of the resurrection being women to Romans 12 which lists Junia, a woman apostle. As for religious life, independent dedicated women who were trouble to their bishops by their devotion predate the Rule of Benedict, i.e. widows in the second and third centuries. The rich and various forms of religious life from Benedict to Francis to Ignatius testify to the varieties of vocations--Francis did not want a rule of life at all and Clare was forced to adopt a conventional cloistered vocation by church authorities. Neither was appropriate to the original radical charism of living with the poor in imitation of Jesus. "Obedience" to the Spirit called life has often been in conflict with the authority of the Church.
So, there is indeed support from scripture, tradition and history for the redemptive vision outlined by Sr. Schneiders--how lucky you are that she offers all of this for the gospel within the church. Aquinas was suspect for using Aristotle, and now who remembers this as a heresy? The Church badly needs prophets, and it is time--as with Catherine of Siena to listen to the faithful women.
So, by your definition, the
So, by your definition, the valid forms of prophetic religious life were not the Benedictines and Franciscans/Poor Clares, but "women who were trouble to their bishops"? I think you'd find a lot of monks and nuns who'd disagree with you on this. Like Sister Schneiders, you find it necessary to revise all of Christian history to make a point.
I'm afraid this selective interpretation of scripture is as dishonest as that proposed by Sr. Schneiders, whose methodology can only be described as reductionistic, i.e., choosing "proof texts" where they seem to support her diatribe against patriarchy (a word never found in scripture) and ignoring the great majority of NT texts that describe Jesus' mission in decidedly different terms, e.g., salvation from the wrath to come. A serious scripture scholar would never select texts from all over the NT just because it's convenient to do so, but would study what each NT author meant within the context of the faith community for which he was writing. Sr. Schneiders, who should know better, avoids this approach because she understands that the great weight of NT theology does not support the conclusions she attempts to force upon the texts. Once again, it seems that in order for your interpretation to be correct, all of Christian history has to be proven wrong.
On "women who were trouble
On "women who were trouble for their bishops," note this passage from Mutuae Relationes (Directives for the Mutual Relations Between Bishops and Religious in the Church):
"Every authentic charism implies a certain element of genuine originality and of special initiative for the spiritual life of the Church. In its surroundings it may appear troublesome and may even cause difficulties, since it is not always and immediately easy to recognize it as coming from the Spirit."
What a skewed view of
What a skewed view of Christian History you have.
Why does Fran neglect to list
Why does Fran neglect to list her OWN view of Christian History? I would be very interested checking out her sources.
To whom and to what? To the
To whom and to what? To the teachings of the magisterium? To the vows undertaken when finally professed?
Notice that your 'obedience
Notice that your 'obedience to authority' presumes a structure which you will not question.
Perhaps patriarchy itself is the sin that grounds the other abuses that plague not only the Roman Church but our national and international well being. Hierarchical structures have become absolutized in such a way that we no longer ask whether they function for the common good--the structures themselves have become idolatrous, protected from criticism or question. A social structure must be judged by its results--'by their fruits...." Their value is relative. Once patriarchy has become a matter of creed and code, its functionality is irrelevant. The arrogance with which the episcopacy treated the sexual abuse debacle gave clear testimony to and is a stark example of the sense of entitlement by which men with power have lorded it over other men with lesser power, over women, over nations, and over the whole earth--the disastrous results are evident.
I appreciate your input,
I appreciate your input, especially your reasoned argument about patriarchy with no suggestion that this was necessarily the substance of Jesus' preaching.
I wonder about your interpretation of the bishops' response to the sex abuse crisis. I worked for a bishop who was, in my mind at least, a saint. But when our confreres were accused of pedophilia, he simply didn't know what to do. Nothing in his background had prepared him to understand, much less to deal with, sexual abuse of children by priests. It took years for most of us to come to terms with this reality, not necessarily because of arrogance, but certainly because of ignorance. I'm not sure which is worse, but as I watched one confrere after another be accused, I was stunned beyond belief. You may be right that some bishops were more arrogant than others, and certainly it bordered on arrogance at a certain point, but I'm not sure that's because of patriarchy. Aren't we speaking about something inherent in human nature here, and doesn't that apply equally to both sexes?
Again, thank you for giving me something to think about. - Robert.
As a reader and student of
As a reader and student of Dr. Schneiders work on scripture, Church and Women's History for many years I am not surprised that Robert g. coming in so late to the story says he thinks that she said that the purpose of religious life is not to proclaim the Gospel but to prevent the Vatican from asking a few questions. I hope he hangs in for all she will write. She will challenge us all to serious thought. He will never say anything so silly as woman practice patriarchy through the ages or imply that Dr. Schneiders isn't bibical and historical.
"Teach slaves to be subject
"Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive." Titus 2:9. St. Paul's Epistles supported slavery.
To alter your quote above a little, Robert, "If it were God's intention to subvert slavery through Jesus, one would expect to find some mention of that fact in scripture."
Church teaching: "human bondage was not morally wrong per se, provided the conditions laid down by theologians for a 'just servitude' were observed." The Church taught that slavery, "thought of theoretically and apart from specific abuses to human dignity, was not opposed to the divine or natural law." John Tracy Ellis, Catholic Historian
Francis Kendrick, Archbishop of Baltimore,urged in 1841 that "nothing should be attempted against the laws nor anything be done or said that would make the slaves bear their yoke unwillingly." John England, first bishop of Charleston in 1821 argued that "if slavery was evil, the Church would have condemned it long ago". The Catholic Bishop of Georgia and East Florida argued that "slavery accorded with both the law of nature and the law of the gospel." It was a Papal Bull which authorized the opening of the slave market in Lisbon in the first decade of the 16th century. All good men with good intentions followed by unintended consequences.
Dear RobertC Jesus did indeed
Dear RobertC
Jesus did indeed question the staus quo - ie patriarchy - throughout his ministry - he included women among his disciples ( in Pauline times they were very active in ministry in running churches), he told parables critical of the life and actions of those who held sway in the religious and social environment of his day. For a look with new eyes at his parables see Richard Q Ford's 'The parables of Jesus re(i think it's )visiting the art of listening'.
We have become accustomed to 'hearing' Jesus' words through interpretations made down through the centuries and these have lulled us into complecency.
(These interpretations also show how far subsequent Jesus followers strayed from the contmporary understanding of his words - we don't have the Judaistic perspective 'code' of his times) Jesus is still about personhood (loving neighbours as ourselves) played out in community and we need to continually listen to his Spirit and take responsibilty for our own actions. This latter seems to me to be the biggest problem for the Vatican, that sees in this the loss of power and kudos which it was never meant to have in the first place, and thanks to Constantine has wreaked havoc down through history. If you don't believe me read unapproved church history and pull your head out of the sand
Shalom.
Of the articles on the
Of the articles on the visitation I've read on this site, they all seem to have one thing in common:
The feeling of panic.
The same feeling a college student sitting in his dorm room that's littered with beer bottles and smells of pot gets when he looks outside and sees his parents pulling into the parking lot for an unexpected visit.
I think the results will be very interesting...
Great image. Probably right
Great image. Probably right on target.
These sisters are
These sisters are interpreting rules and regulations like most people guilty of not living up to their responsibilities. Example: a person who is stopped for speeding arguing in court that the police officer who stopped him or her was hiding illegally behind a bush.
Maybe Sr. Schneiders is onto
Maybe Sr. Schneiders is onto something, but to this layman's ears she sounds as intransigent as the patriarchy she is railing against. She just "knows" she's got the right reading of the Gospel and Vatican II. I don't think ecclesiology and theology and obedience are necessarily the entire issue here. Much of the contention I think is generated by the ageless Battle of the Sexes. To my mind a lot of the Church stuff is secondary to that more elementary age old Battle.
Thank you so much for this
Thank you so much for this fine introduction to what promises to be an equally fine essay. I hope it is a prelude to Book 3 of your series on religious life--many of us have been eagerly awaiting its publication. I so appreciate your well researched references as well as your insights on gospel living in religious community for today's world. One suggestion: would you speak more about "lifeform" as such, an interesting comment, about which much thought and prayerful meditation is certainly possible. Gratefully always.
This sort of rant is
This sort of rant is reminiscent of an addict who is being confronted by loved ones, urging him or her to recognize that there is a problem and that if he or she doesn't change, only death lies ahead. The response of the addict is to blame everyone else and above all to refuse to deal with the addiction itself that has led to his or her sickness unto death. It's just sad. Fortunately, others are coming to an awakening and seeking new life because of this confrontation from Church leaders who want to see religious life exist in the future instead of perishing at the hands of false prophets who have dominated for decades. I just hope it's not too late for a recovery.
The ONLY REASON religious
The ONLY REASON religious orders exist is to subordinate themselves to Christ through the authority of His Church. If these orders are not living up to what the Church expects of them, then they are certainly subject to investigation and correction. Sister Sandra can play the smoke and mirrors game all she wants about "blind obedience" and the "biblical, historical, and theological examination of these deeper questions" all she wishes, but, ultimately, it won't make any differences. Twenty-five years from now, it is a good chance that Sister Sandra, the sisters who are her contemporaries, and quite possibly her religious community, will be long gone from this world. At the same time, communities who have remained faithful to the Church and lived lives in conformity with the "Essential Elements of Religious Life" will not only be still around, but thriving.
Religious orders exist to
Religious orders exist to commit ourselves to serve God's people. We are Gospel people and are quite capable of interpreting God's word for us.
TNCath (not verified) on Jan.
TNCath (not verified) on Jan. 04, 2010.
The ONLY REASON religious orders exist is to subordinate themselves to Christ through the authority of His Church.
_________________________
When Francis of Assisi was praying in the little church of San Damiano in Assisi, the Voice coming from the crucifix stated "Go repair My House." Christ was calling Francis to a specific vocation. At the time, Francis did not understand that Christ was calling him to repair the universal Church (not a specific building). Why did the Church need repairing? Because those who were in leadership position, were not exercising their authority properly.
All founders/founderesses/religious receive an invitation from God that is personal, appealing because it comes from a Personal, Appealing God. Your comment that religious orders exist to "subordinate themselves to Christ" denies that persons who respond to this call---are responding to Someone who has called in love and who has touched the heart of the person being called in this love. Subordination (which is the stance of a slave---not a free individual) never enters the picture. How many of those in religious have found the 'authority of the Church' to be corrupt, sinful, and more concerned with maintaining a sinful status quo---rather than responding to the criteria that Christ has presented as the hallmark of true authority.
We laity support the sisters
We laity support the sisters in this upsetting situation...no one has yet told us how we can publicly & privately support the sisters in this overbearingly unfair intrusion into their lives.
Please...what specifically can we do?
Thanks, Rachel...."Just keep
Thanks, Rachel...."Just keep on keeping on" We appreciate your support...
"All things are passing, God alone is changeless."
Great start. Looking forward
Great start. Looking forward to the rest.
Domination and Choice: If Sr.
Domination and Choice:
If Sr. Schneiders really believes what she's writing here, then why is she willfully choosing to be under an hierarchal system in which women are not integral partners in its structure? (Is this the result of going where the paycheck dictates? )
What makes her an example to women who struggle against such forces while she represents the portion by which 83 plus % of all of the work of the church is carried out by women in contrast to the 17% that includes all the hierarchy and all the men in the pews? Certainly, women are the ones responsible for keeping the whole system operational. So... they stay and complain? Talk about kissing the boot that stands on one's neck!
What do you suppose would support the oppressor if the women walked!
[Oh, but we LOVE the church; we just want to change it.]
Our Church is a living Church
Our Church is a living Church and thus grows changes as every living being does. We all hold the responsibility to gift our living Church with our voices, actions and our very lives, as Sr. Schneider does, so prophetically, to promote this growth towards God. Would you just leave your country because there are some injustices occuring there, or would you work towards improving it? Would you just leave your family because the members disagree about an important value, attitude or way of living, or would you keep an open discussion and the sharing of your lives through the process of finding solutions? Would you just leave our planet Earth because you don't like the quakes, hurricanes, volcanoes and such, or would you learn how healthy Earth systems and human impact can enhance all living beings? There is a distinct difference between staying to make a difference and staying to enable a disfunctional system. I stay to make the difference and I thank Sr. Sandra for her authentic and highly educated voice.
Of COURSE we love the Church
Of COURSE we love the Church - and we DO want to change it, After Vatican II, the truest thing that could have been said, was "Martin Luther was right" - the Church is again in a frightening and frightened mode - doing its level best to squash EVERY aspect of what was the wonderful "opening a window" And Patriarchal it is - Rome, full of men who don't even want to acknowledge that they were born of women, are running scared of the great body of American women religious.
I don't understand how these
I don't understand how these people (let's take "the men in Rome" for example) can act the way they do -- is it a reign of power? Do they just act the way they want to with a skewed view of life and religion? Why can't they practice what they preach?
Beatrice @OMDS
Rev. Sister Schneiders has
Rev. Sister Schneiders has not just hit a home run. This is a line drive hit into the top tiers of our communal stadium; with all bases loaded. Such intellectual clarity and validity! We must all be very thankful for this gift.
Pope Benedict (read "The Estblishment") has in recent times accused the Christian community (and others) of Relativism and remonstrating on how evil it is. Taking a closer look one realizes the term and the practice were invented by the Vatican centuries ago and are flagrantly enjoying its luxury even today. It's such a convenient mechanism, isn't it?
A well-reasoned, intelligent
A well-reasoned, intelligent examination of the causes and possible consequences of the Vatican "visit". Hopefully the "visitors" can be brought to see and respond to reason.
Powerful, can't wait for the
Powerful, can't wait for the rest of the series. We are living in a changing prophetic time. It's a wonderful time. Prophetic truth is not easily accepted by all but it needs to be said.
I would hope that the National Catholic Reporter might find some Bishops that would comment also.
The pressure is building on
The pressure is building on Cardinal Rode and the hierarchical power structure. The foundation of the rightist cabal is crumbling. It's time to bring the issue out into the open and give it widespread public airing in the mass media.
A prophetic march of solidarity involving women religious from all parts of the United States and even from other parts of the world should do the trick.
Long live Jesus the Liberator!
In one of her presentations
In one of her presentations in the 90's Sandra Schneiders helped me to understand that "Religious life is a charism ( a transforming grace) for the life of the Church."
I have clung to that understanding of religious life because it has helped me to comprehend both the call, the brokenheartedness, and the the challenge of 'belonging to a church" resisting transformatio.
If the Catholic Church is summoned by the Spirit of God to investigate the quality of life of women religious, then dialogue, deep listening and mutual openness to transformation should be marks of this movement.
Sandra challenges us all to discern Spirits moving in this investigation.
Arlene Flaherty, OP
Blauvelt Dominicans
So where, therefore, is the
So where, therefore, is the need for the Church? Or did Jesus simply come to give these Sisters a platform from which to criticize and a Name in which to do it?
Is there any possibility that some good might come from this?
And, by the way, the Seminaries underwent a visitation in light of the awful scandals, a process which was seen as constructive and an occasion to grow, not as intrusive, abusive and restorationist, as Sr Schneiders claims it is for the Sister.
Is there any man, other than an emascualted Jesus, who can do anything good in Sr Schneider's world?
What a wonderful essay. I
What a wonderful essay. I look forward to all of the installments. Thank you Sandra for putting this all in perspective for those of us who are perplexed, confused and sometimes angered by this investigation.
More, more! Thank you, NCR.
More, more! Thank you, NCR.
Has it occurred to any of the
Has it occurred to any of the hierarchy that the decline in women's religious vocations may have something to do with the way the church treats women? This is too obvious!
YES! I have four daughters
YES! I have four daughters (of whom I am justifiably proud, all brought up as Catholics) who have given up the practice of the Faith, mainly because of the Church's treatment of women related issues.
Best regards Charles Forder
I have six daughters, all
I have six daughters, all born in the decade of the 1960s; they too were brought up Catholic, attending Sunday Mass with us regularly; as adults do not attend Catholic church for the same reason. They are "religiously" authentic and committed, a total credit to their upbringing and sensible judgment.
A friend of mine has 8
A friend of mine has 8 chidren 6 girls and 2 boys. All raised as good Catholics. The girls don't attend church because the church treats women as inferiors and the boys resent the church because they love their sisters.
They are young and have given
They are young and have given up struggling against the antiChrisitian and in particular antiCatholic tide of the culture. However with God's merciful grace they will return. They would never leave if they recognised Jesus truly present in the living sacrifice of the mass or the presence of Mary as co Redemptrix.However the Good Shepherd never stops looking for His lost sheep and the prayers of their family, friends and parish will see them restored to the fold in time.
Good Point. Also, I
Good Point. Also, I understand the numbers of priesthood vocations are also down in the US. When is the investigation of the seminaries and vocation direcctors going to begin? Unfortunately for most people, "dear sister" is much better equiped to "pastor and shepherd", than "Reverend Father".
Once again, as is so common in society, it's the female who really has her finger on the pulse of society, justice and the church. How else does everything in a family get done?
I'm sorry to hear that you
I'm sorry to hear that you see one issue (feminism, or equality if you prefer) to justify the abandonment of the Faith, the Church, and the Sacraments. Thank God that the Church on Earth is not perfect. If it where, would any of us be allowed into it?
Why, why, why women
Why, why, why women religious? Well, they have no "true" power in the RC Church and thus are easily shushed, shoved aside, and made scapegoats for declining numbers (must be all those liberal/feminist VatII nuns that have sent the people away!). Benny 16 is quite cunning and ruthless. Never underestimate him.
Blessings
It was a small group of
It was a small group of committed religious sisters with misinformed theology who were clever and ruthless in their hijacking of the leadership of the American religious sisters and who are now crying foul because some sisters have recognised what they have done, how they managed to do it and are making their concerns heard.
Every sister who believes in Christ's promise to safeguard His Church from danger should have no fear of answering any questions openly and honestly rather than follow the poor example of surface courtesy masking non co-operation urged by Sister Schneiders. It is not pernicious obedience that is being requested-that is what is being urged by the likes of Sister Schnsider but "holy obedience" which is a totally different matter.
I look with interest to see
I look with interest to see what vitriolic comments will flow in response to this very measured, logical and historically grounded first section of Sister's essay.
Your wise words Sandra are
Your wise words Sandra are such an encouragement to me personally and also I am sure to so many other of the "laity".
Blessings. Neil Chapman, New Zealand
Wonderful essay, thank you
Wonderful essay, thank you for posting it.
Jesus learned his theology at
Jesus learned his theology at the knees of his mother. Woman's intelligence, culturally and ontologically, that is, by exercise and genetics, is primary to male intelligence. Patriarchy subverted this divine establishment in nature by self-election and alienation. The sexual abuse of male self-election has many facets. The hierarchy need to relearn theology, humanity, at the knees of women, as Jesus did.
Sr. Sandra, In an editorial
Sr. Sandra,
In an editorial dated 1.4/10 (http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/14097)
the TABLET concludes with the quiry:
"This Church where power still “corrupts personal relationships” was supposed to have been reformed root and branch by the Second Vatican Council nearly 50 years ago. The challenge now is to ascertain what went wrong"
Had they read this article, they would not have needed to as what went wrong.
Robert Schutzius, Secretary
ARCC
your
"He failed to consult..."
"He failed to consult..." "He failed to consult..." FAILED TO CONSULT! Who are you... you.... pesky women, after all. If these brave, dedicated higher beings, want to decide your fate, raid your treasuries, decide who gets promoted in your communities, etc., they have every right to do so. After all they are MEN.
Oh... I forgot for a moment that they abuse little children or enabled the abusers to do so.
We should have laws in this country to stop the Vatican (a foreign country) from controlling the actions and finances of people in this country. We need a North American Rite, perhaps loosely tied to Rome, but independent of its whims.
Why are you so angry with
Why are you so angry with Vatican. They don't hold you in chains. You can always start your own church: just die for it on the cross first, and then control it at your will.
It is simple - they are
It is simple - they are corrupt. The pope and bishops are like the scribes of old. They pretend to be holy while in positions to serve themselves, not the People of God. The popes are responsible for putting into place the current bishops who have enabled child abusers. Instead of rebuke, these enablers are still in their jobs. Cardinal Law was even 'promoted' and given an prestigious position in Rome.
Some of the bishops, themselves, could be child abusers. A bishop in Nova Scotia was recently forced to resign after being caught with child pornography.
The basic problem is that the laity has no input into the process of selecting church leaders as the people did in the early church. Some of the early popes led with a more democratic inclination and believed that, "what touches all, should be decided by all." The hierarchy now has absolute power and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Read Matthew 23:14, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation."
Jesus fought against corruption by throwing money-changers out of the temple. We all need to fight against the corruption in the church.
The investigation of women religious is just a diversion to draw your attention and everyone else's attention (especially the press) away from the severe damage done to the church by these corrupt men.
Wow what a twist Mary H
Wow what a twist Mary H Jesus died on the cross just so the Vatican can control the church? So if we want our own church we should die on the cross and then control it at our will. What if I told you we can trace our spiritual lineage back to many who did die on the cross, some were even beheaded, others simply burned at the stake for what they believed by murderous hordes of fundamentalist clerics who controlled the church during the Inquisition. Do you think Jesus would rather His church be in the hands of the executioners or the victims? Perhaps the Vatican is not the heir to Jesus perhaps it simply is heir to "might makes right" you know "to the victor go the spoils." Maybe Jesus death on the cross turns the legitimacy of those who claim church control on its head.
Sandra, thank you for your
Sandra, thank you for your direct and challenging words. It is so important to see this investigation within the larger context of Jesus' life and mission. I know your article will inform so many more people and help us to see that what is at stake is the living of the Gospel into the 21st Century.
I eagerly await the other installments.
This is a good example of a
This is a good example of a cangaroo court. What need is there for witnesses or judges? Just find the nearest tree and hang them all. That is what was done with the early christians. Their burning bodies lighted the roads for all to see. The cross was a universal sign of great shame. Nuns living the vowed life are numerous and conspicuous for their humble life style. We need to make an example of them so that the world may know how fractious and disobedient they are. How did Cardinal Rode fail to recognize that he was being duped? Or were the ordained
hierarchs seeking some way to reign them in, like the High Priests did with Judas? I think that Rode treads a very slippery slope.
Excellent insight to the
Excellent insight to the still abuse of women in the church. Send this article to Pope Benedict!!!
Sandra has got it absolutely
Sandra has got it absolutely correct. I can't wait for tomorrow's read.
Thank you for presenting this
Thank you for presenting this series. The Vatican investigation of U.S. women religious seems to me to not be a response to any problem, but rather a symptom of a much larger problem: an insidious undermining of our wonderful apostolic tradition by the extremists on the right. There is a loud, and growing louder, voice coming from a fundamentalist group of Catholic bishops and laity. The certitude with which they speak is disturbing and devoid of pastoral content.
But we are a pilgrim church, and there are still many leaders among us, leaders worth following in spreading the good news. Three steps forward and two steps back, that has been our history as the people of God.
AS a former Maryknoll Sister
AS a former Maryknoll Sister I am thrilled to read this analysis of what this : investigation " really means. this essay is beautifully written and I could hear the Spirit speaking in every sentence. If we only had Hierarchy just a sensitive to the Second Vatican Council our Church would be much different today.
I can't wait to read the next essay. It's as holy as reading Sacred Scripture!
Mary Ellen Sullivan
"I can't wait to read the
"I can't wait to read the next essay. It's as holy as reading Sacred Scripture!"
I wonder why the congregations' numbers are declining, or why anyone could think a visitation was necessary.
Dear Sister Sandra, Your
Dear Sister Sandra,
Your clear and enlightened understanding of the current problem is very encouraging. My heart went out to the Sisters when I heard of this attack. I greatly admire your forthrightness, and I have long been an admirer of the wonderful work women religious have been and are currently doing. Without them, many people would not have been fed, clothed, educated, housed or counseled, and that would have been disastrous, and a crime against humanity.
My prayers are with you all.
Rock on!!
Gratefully,
Adele
http://www.catholicworldrepor
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...
Thanks! Excellent article. I agree men's communities should also undergo the visitation.
It is ironic to read what Schneider says about blind obedience. That is exactly what she and others in positions of authority in congregations after Vatican II demanded of us even when we knew it was not the way that we should be interpreting the Documents. Yes the "new religious life" which she speaks of was it's death.
Every generation needs a
Every generation needs a prophetic voice. Maybe this inquisition of the sisters will produce the prophets we need. I only see one male prophet out there, so it looks like it is up to the women to lead the way. Perhaps this is how the Holy Spirit works to bring the prophets out of the wood work.
I have been educated by the
I have been educated by the IHM and know firsthand the beneficial effects of their teaching. I implore the Holy See to cease and desist from a course that threatens to divide the Church and neutralize the good work of all Sisters.
It's Constantine all over
It's Constantine all over again. When the Empire was crumbling, the Church was the best organized entity going. So he allied himself with it. The Sisters are educated, dedicated, organized, and international. With the Church in dire question over child abuse by clergy, and its blind eye to REAL right-to-life questions, like what's a woman to do who is infected by a promiscuous HIV infected husband, with no means to protect the unborn fetus from its ravages, the frightened hierarchy would bring under strict control an entity they might maneuver to save themselves.
Don't feel too alone. Mainline Protestant denominations that have long ordained women are under concerted, draconian well-financed attack to rescind the practice and go back 100 years to a rigid, fundamentalist attitude about salvation. Do not be confused. This is not about theology. It's about property. Witness the take over of land and buildings of seminaries already in some denominations who have lost their control to such maneuverings.
It's a New Age alright, and the women will lead.
Thank you for this scholarly, masterfully written article.
Wow! The above is a
Wow! The above is a bombshell. I would suggest that two other questions should be asked. Why is this investigation limited to the women religious of the USA? What of women's congregations in France, Germany,the UK, Spain, Italy, etc.?
Secondly, what about women's congregations in Africa? I could indicate where to look in Zimbabwe for a committed American nun who is in possession of facts which are damning concerning the domination of women religious by male clergy.
It feels to me that here is a case for an appeal to Caesar. AS widely published as possible. I am a male lay Catholic, beginning to realize that it is time for the laity to take up their rightful place in a clergy dominated church.
John Paul 2 eliminated the possibility of the laity addressing the congregation, when he forbad the - previously encouraged - custom of the reader contributing a 5 minute thought or two of their own. I used to do this
as a reader at Mass at the Cathedral in Zimbabwe. I do have something to say, being a committed lifelong Catholic - and although I do have ideas about the place of women in the Church, I would not touch on these from the lectern, though I would certainly have lots to say about the unjust domination of women.
But I fear that it seems to be true world wide, that sermons at Catholic churches everywhere are mostly irrelevant to real life issues.
Why is it never thought of, for the laity in any given parish to elect a parish council who might see it as one of its functions to suggest to the parish priest a set of topics that he could cover in the course of the church year, e.g. on the text Render to Caesar what is Caesar's , and give to God what things belong to God, one could cover the Christian attitude towards government. and towards wars that are being fought.
And our attitude towards global warming. It seems obvious that really effective action will necessitate a halt to the adoration of "growth of GDP" as THE mark of success of government. We are very materialistic, in actual practice, and it would probably be suicidal for any Western govt to propose such an idea.The opposition would be voted in, almost inevitably. What about a series of sermons on the actual materialism, in contrast with the thin and hypocritical idealism, which serves only to paper the cracks.
Best regards to all who read these thoughts
harles Forder
So sad that Sr. Sandra lives
So sad that Sr. Sandra lives in such a "them against us" universe.
Sad but true.
Sad but true.
Thank you for publishing this
Thank you for publishing this article - I look forward to the rest! S. Schneiders' strength will hopefully empower others to speak the truth, face the callenges and continue to deepen their understanding of what Jesus called us to.
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