Rev. Mother Superior says "It's about time!"
Posted on 04/18/2012 2:14:30 PM PDT by Morgana
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has launched a 5-year reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States representing more than 80 percent of the 57,000 women religious (nuns) in the country.
Based on a 2008 investigation into the nuns, the Vatican evaluation was candid, noting, “The current doctrinal and pastoral situation of the LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern.”
The CDF doctrinal assessment, released today, criticized positions espoused at LCWR annual assemblies and in its literature as well as the absence of support from LCWR for Church teaching on pro-life issues, women’s ordination and homosexuality.
The CDF said that the documentation “reveals that, while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States.”
“Further,” the CDF report said, “issues of crucial importance in the life of the Church and society, such as the Church’s Biblical view of family life and human sexuality, are not part of the LCWR agenda in a way that promotes Church teaching. Moreover, occasional public statements by the LCWR that disagree with or challenge positions taken by the Bishops, who are the Church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals, are not compatible with its purpose.”
The CDF said, “The Assessment reveals serious doctrinal problems which affect many in Consecrated life,” calling it a crisis “characterized by a diminution of the fundamental Christological center and focus of religious consecration.”
The document listed the principal findings of the LCWR doctrinal assessment.
On LCWR annual assemblies, it said, “The talks, while not scholarly theological discourses per se, do have significant doctrinal and moral content with implications which often contradict or ignore magisterial teaching.”
On formation of religious superiors and formators, the CDF said, “Many of the materials prepared by the LCWR for these purposes (Occasional Papers, Systems Thinking Handbook) do not have a sufficient doctrinal foundation. These materials recommend strategies for dialogue, for example when sisters disagree about basic matters of Catholic faith or moral practice, but it is not clear whether this dialogue is directed towards reception of Church teaching.”
The Vatican said that it has appointed Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle as its Archbishop Delegate for the initiative. Bishop Leonard Blair and Bishop Thomas John Paprocki also were named to assist in this effort.
The Vatican is attempting to present the measure as a friendly renewal. However, even the initial announcement of the assessment in 2008 was greeted with severe hostility by leftist nuns in the U.S. The sternly-worded assessment document is not likely to be received with any greater enthusiasm.
The Prefect of the CDF Cardinal William Levada noted that the assessment is “aimed at fostering a patient and collaborative renewal.”
Archbishop Sartain commented on his new role saying, “I am honored that the CDF has entrusted this important and sensitive work to me, because the ministry of religious sisters, especially here in the United States, is deeply respected and paramount to the mission of the Church. Just as the LCWR can be a vital resource in many ways for its members, I hope to be of service to them and to the Holy See as we face areas of concern to all.”
The intransigence and betrayal of many of the women religious in the United states toward Catholic values have been keenly felt in recent months by Catholic bishops – particularly in the fight over religious freedom and abortion funding in President Obama’s health care law, in which religious sisters have played a key role, in Obama’s favor.
That betrayal has also been registered in the Vatican. Cardinal Raymond Burke head of the Vatican’s highest court - the Apostolic Signitura - in a speech earlier this year, denounced “the public and obstinate betrayal of religious life by certain religious.”
Burke asked: “Who ever could have imagined that religious congregations of pontifical right would openly organize to resist and attempt to frustrate an apostolic visitation, that is, a visit to their congregations carried out under the authority of the Vicar of Christ on earth, to whom all religious are bound by the strongest bonds of loyalty and obedience?”
“Who could imagine that consecrated religious would openly, and in defiance of the bishops as successors of the Apostles, publicly endorse legislation containing provisions which violate the natural moral law in its most fundamental tenets, the safeguarding and promoting of innocent and defenseless life, and fail to safeguard the demands of free exercise of conscience for healthcare workers?” he added
Rev. Mother Superior says "It's about time!"
So, basically....there won’t be many nuns left, and all the DRE’s will get fired? /s
they will get the zot, i fear.
I am so glad to see this. The nuns who changed to street clothes are dying out and the young orders wearing habits are thriving.
I think just the oppostie will happen. Look at how the seminaries are now bulging since that aspect got cleaned up. I believe that we will see a huge about of new novices — wearing habits, BTW.
He might want to start in his own diocese. There is a woman who works at a parish in Seattle who has refused to support the initiative drive of the Catholic Church to try and reverse the "gay marriage" law that Gov. Gregoire signed recently. I don't think she is a nun; but, she is employed by the church.
It’s long past time. Unfortunately, the DRE’s won’t get fired and the the orders that are just dying but aren’t doing anything blatantly outrageous will be allowed to continue being dysfunctional...until the Nashville Dominican or some other group arrives at their door because the (new, orthodox) bishop has given them the property.
We have some sisters like this in my town. They are lovely people, individually, and some of them are very faithful, individually. But their habit and their community life have disappeared, they stopped doing the thing they were brought to this country to do (teaching) because they decided “modern women” needed to be something “better” than teachers, some of them are a bit fuzzy on doctrine without being outright heretics - and they haven’t had a vocation for over 20 years.
Not just one nutty sister, but 6 of the parish pastors have refused, actually. He needs to can them immediately.
But I don’t want to drag this thread away from its focus. I hope that it will be possible rescue some of the dysfunctional but not heretical orders by making them go back to their roots (prior to Vatican II, obviously). As for the others, who actually are disobedient, their doors should be closed immediately and they should have to go to the retirement homes of other religious orders. Because there’s nothing but gray hair among them. None of them have gotten vocations since forever.
Do you know her name?
things are about to get interesting in our neck of the woods.
The place people have to go to get their theology classes is heterodoxy all the way.
I suspect that once this begins in earnest, the Vatican will quickly learn that things are far worse than they imagined, and that the laity are pretty fed up with the misbehavior of some of these clergy.
I hope you are correct. I don't see it, yet.
See post #8. I looked for the article, but couldn’t find it anymore.
They ARE under obedience to teach doctrine. Abp Sartain would be right smack dab in the gyroscopic center of his authority if he told these pastors to preach about why sex between men or between women (or beween men and women who aen't married to each other) is morally wrong, forbidden by God. They could even throw in why the licensing of abnormal relations as "marriage" has a negative impact on the true secular, civil purpose of marriage, which is securing the normal conditions of procreation to protect the rights of dependents.
And if they don't or won't teach what the Church teaches, then these capon piests should be canned. Or, shall we say, reassigned to select vestment fabrics and run the Cathedral gift shop.
They aren’t ALL feminists. The older sisters don’t tend to be militant.
When I worked at a Catholic school (I’m Protestant), however,I certainly was surprised that there were so many radical nuns. Their very “mission statements” are extremely feminist leaning. (environmentally wacky, too)
The habits that nuns wear WERE the street clothes of the century that the order got its start. Even the the old “Flying Nun” wimples were very trendy in Nordic countries at one time.
Not just one nutty sister, but 6 of the parish pastors have refused, actually. He needs to can them immediately.
But I don’t want to drag this thread away from its focus. I hope that it will be possible rescue some of the dysfunctional but not heretical orders by making them go back to their roots (prior to Vatican II, obviously). As for the others, who actually are disobedient, their doors should be closed immediately and they should have to go to the retirement homes of other religious orders. Because there’s nothing but gray hair among them. None of them have gotten vocations since forever.
A good case can be made for plain, modest clothing befitting the culture you're living in
However the rejection of any distinctive clothing usually symbolizes a rejection of any distintive ministry. It's like a soldier who won't wear a uniform. He probably has a problem.
A good case can be made for plain, modest clothing befitting the culture you're living in
However the rejection of any distinctive clothing usually symbolizes a rejection of any distintive ministry. It's like a soldier who won't wear a uniform. He probably has a problem.
A strong case can be made for plain, modest clothing befitting the culture you're living in
However the rejection of any distinctive clothing usually symbolizes a rejection of any distintive ministry. It's like a soldier who won't wear a uniform. He probably has a problem.
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