U.S. and the World - Pope Francis Ends Vatican Control of U.S. Nuns’ Group - AllGov - News

 

After three years of negotiations, Pope Francis has ended the administration of the U.S. nuns’ leadership group, handing control back to the nuns themselves.

Under Pope Benedict, the Vatican initiated the takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), whose members represent about 80% of U.S. nuns. Some thought the group was going outside church teachings by hosting speakers and publishing materials that conflicted with Catholic doctrine on such matters as the all-male priesthood, birth control and sexuality, and the centrality of Jesus to the faith, according to Laurie Goldstein of The New York Times. A sister spoke of “moving beyond the church” and even beyond Jesus. That talk was, according to the Vatican, “a serious source of scandal” that promoted “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.”

The Vatican’s concerns about LCWR were documented in a “doctrinal assessment” (pdf) that was published in April 2012. Three bishops were charged with looking into LCWR and resolving the matter within a five-year time frame.

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, who was named to head the group investigating LCWR, met with the nuns and the two sides eventually collaborated on a rewrite of the group’s statutes. The document clarifies that the Leadership Conference is “an official entity established by the Holy See under canon law,” he said, “centered in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the church.”

The group is as independent now as it was before the investigation. The Vatican approved the new language and its supervision of the group ended two years early.

It’s unclear whether Pope Francis, who took over the church in the middle of the investigation, had anything to do with the final outcome. However, he did invite LCWR leaders for an audience, meeting with them for about an hour, “an extravagant amount of papal time,” according to Eileen Burke-Sullivan, a theologian and consultant for women’s religious orders and vice provost for mission and ministry at Creighton University.

“That was the surprise of it all for me. It was a conversation,” Sister Marcia Allen, LCWR president-elect, told the Times in reference to the papal audience. “It was a back and forth of concerns and ideas. I was prepared for him to speak to us. But he was interested in what we were thinking.”

-Steve Straehley

U.S. and the World - Pope Francis Ends Vatican Control of U.S. Nuns’ Group - AllGov - News

Vatican Ends Battle With U.S. Catholic Nuns’ Group - NYTimes.com

 

The Vatican has abruptly ended its takeover of the main leadership group of American nuns two years earlier than expected, allowing Pope Francis to put to rest a confrontation started by his predecessor that created an uproar among American Catholics who had rallied to the sisters’ defense.

Anticipating a visit by Francis to the United States in the fall, the Vatican and the American bishops were eager to resolve an episode that was seen by many Catholics as a vexing and unjust inquisition of the sisters who ran the church’s schools, hospitals and charities.

Under the previous pope, Benedict XVI, the Vatican’s doctrinal office had appointed three bishops in 2012 to overhaul the nuns’ group, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, out of concerns that it had hosted speakers and published materials that strayed from Catholic doctrine on such matters as the all-male priesthood, birth control and sexuality, and the centrality of Jesus to the faith.

But Francis has shown in his two-year papacy that he is less interested in having the church police doctrinal boundaries than in demonstrating mercy and love for the poor and vulnerable — the very work that most of the women’s religious orders under investigation have long been engaged in.

Ending the standoff with the nuns is one of several course corrections that Francis has set in motion. He has also worked on reforming the Vatican Curia, the Vatican’s central administration, instituting tighter oversight of Vatican finances, and has created a commission to deal with sexual abuse by clergy members.

He has made no changes in doctrine — on Wednesday, he reiterated the church’s teaching that marriage can be only between a man and a woman — but Catholics worldwide say he has done much to make the church’s tone more welcoming.

On Thursday, that included calling an unexpected meeting with four of the leaders of the Leadership Conference. The four women were photographed in his office and said afterward in a statement that they were “deeply heartened” by Francis’ “expression of appreciation” for the lives and ministry of Catholic sisters.

“He met with them himself for almost an hour, and that’s an extravagant amount of papal time,” said Eileen Burke-Sullivan, a theologian and consultant for women’s religious orders and vice provost for mission and ministry at Creighton University, a Jesuit school in Omaha. “It’s about as close to an apology, I would think, as the Catholic Church is officially going to render.”

Francis has never talked explicitly in public about the imbroglio with American nuns. But he has spoken about creating “broader opportunities” for women in the church, and the value of nuns and priests in religious orders. He is a member of the Jesuit order.

A clear signal that the Vatican under Francis was taking a more conciliatory approach to American sisters came in December with the announcement of the conclusion of another, separate investigation of American women’s orders, which was known as an apostolic visitation. That process involved sending questionnaires to 350 religious communities and teams of “visitors” to 90 of them, asking about everything from their prayer practices to living arrangements.

Continue reading the main story

Both of these investigations of American women’s religious orders began at the urging of American and some foreign prelates who accused the sisters of disobeying the bishops and departing from Catholic doctrine. It set off protests by Catholic laypeople across the country, who signed petitions and sent letters to the Vatican in defense of the sisters.

It even became a movement with its own anthem, “Love Cannot Be Silenced,” composed by a folk-singing sister in Chicago.

The news came in a brief report issued jointly by the Leadership Conference and the three American bishops who had been appointed by the Vatican three years ago to take over and overhaul the organization.

The report cast the process as one of collaboration, saying, “Our extensive conversations were marked by a spirit of prayer, love for the church, mutual respect and cooperation. We found our conversations to be mutually beneficial.”

It was a far cry from three years ago, when the Vatican’s doctrinal office, led by an American cardinal, William Levada, issued a report finding that the Leadership Conference had “serious doctrinal problems.” It said the sisters were promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” It also accused the nuns of spending more time working against poverty and social injustice than abortion and same-sex marriage.

The Vatican’s doctrinal office in 2012 appointed Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, with assistance from Bishop Leonard Blair of Hartford and Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., to spend as many as five years assessing and overhauling the Leadership Conference.

Leaders of the nuns’ group, which represents about 80 percent of Catholic sisters in the United States, insisted all along that the accusations were unfounded and that the Vatican simply did not understand the culture and process of American women’s religious orders, many of which emphasize open discussion and communal decision-making.

 

Vatican Ends Battle With U.S. Catholic Nuns’ Group - NYTimes.com

How American nuns prevailed over the Vatican | Analysis

 

The document released by Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life – a major Vatican office – drew on dozens of interviews in convents and religious houses which disproved allegations that caused Cardinal Franc Rodé, as prefect of the congregation in 2008, to order an investigation into “a certain secular mentality ... and perhaps also a certain ‘feminist’ spirit,” as Rodé told Vatican Radio at the time.

One of the more conservative cardinals in the Vatican, Rodé was not at the Tuesday press conference at which his successor, Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, struck a tone of harmony with the nuns.

Within the politics of the Roman Curia, Braz de Abriz has also emerged as an ally of Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the American organization representing superiors of 80 percent of the orders of religious sisters. A separate Vatican office, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had imposed an overseer, Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain, the vet the group’s speakers and publications.

“The Vatican realized they messed up this situation and they are trying to mend fences,” Sister Christine Schenk of Cleveland told The GroundTruth Project.

“They saw it very quickly because of public opinion. Benedict was quick to replace Rodé with someone more sympathetic of sisters, in Braz de Aviz. The backpedalling started with Benedict and accelerated with Francis.”

One spark of the investigation was a 2008 conference that Rodé attended on religious life at Stonehill College near Boston. Sister Elizabeth McDonough, a canon lawyer, accused the LCWR of creating “global-feminist-operated business corporations” and “controlling all structures and resources.”

Mother Mary Clare Millea, who drew the unenviable task of leading the investigation, or apostolic visitation, worked quietly in allaying concerns among the superiors and communities she visited, explaining that she was not there as an enemy.

 

The final report has no corroboration of Rodé’s charges nor does it suggest a feminist conspiracy.

As the investigation Rodé launched made news, Vatican officials saw the blowback in media coverage which cast the nuns, working on the margins with the poor, confronting cold male bureaucrats in Rome.

Rodé was an unstinting supporter of Father Marcial Maciel, a notorious pedophile and founder of the Legion of Christ, an order enmeshed in lawsuits in America for duplicitous fundraising.

As Rodé retired from his office, the second Vatican investigation, by Doctrine of the Faith, against the progressive superiors in LCWR provoked criticism in the Vatican from people with clout: big-ticket donors to Catholic groups and causes.

A prominent Catholic philanthropist who spoke to GroundTruth on condition of anonymity described the fallout: “A broad range of Catholic foundations privately expressed to bishops and cardinals their utter dismay and strong opposition to this wholly unnecessary investigation of women religious.”

The concerns of such donors quickened with news coverage of the questionnaire that the apostolic visitation sent to the religious orders which asked for sensitive internal data on assets, landholding and financial information that caused many superiors to submit incomplete questionnaires, withholding information on money.

This happened as many orders were selling properties to provide elder care for their rapidly aging communities. The idea of Vatican investigators probing the finances of convents hit a deep nerve in the philanthropic community.

Many foundations with Catholic roots have struggled with bishops and religious superiors, male and female, in addressing the massive costs of elder care for organizations that never invested in 401(k) plans, and in many instances, did not pay social security for the priests and nuns.

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation recently awarded a $2.5 million grant to the National Religious Retirement Office to assist American religious communities on retirement-funding shortfalls and improved services.

Were all these philanthropists being duped by a radical feminist agenda?

As the complaints by major donors registered in Rome, Vatican officials found themselves in the embarrassing position of being seen as critics of religious women involved in church programs supported by thousands of parishes and prosperous donors.

“Many foundations have longstanding familial ties to women’s religious orders, having attended their schools and supported their ministries for decades,” the philanthropist continued. “They were completely outraged that in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, the nuns were being investigated.”

Kerry Alys Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, referenced meetings in Rome that she and other donors had in an Oct. 24, 2013 American Magazine article, “Women in dialogue with the Vatican.”

“In our meetings with Vatican officials we have been impassioned advocates for women religious,” wrote Robinson. “Over the decades of our collective families’ philanthropy, it is women religious who have been center stage as part of the most compelling, courageous and effective ministries globally. Promoting, celebrating and expressing gratitude for their lives, leadership and example is right and just.”

Her group proposed a Vatican day care center for the children of lay staff members.

Cardinal Rodé, in an interview with this writer in his Vatican apartment two years ago, said that the call to investigate had come from Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as Boston archbishop in 2002 amid the abuse crisis, and soon found redemption in Rome as pastor of a great basilica. The other prelate behind the call, said Rodé, was Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore.

In 2003, Lori approved a $21 million abuse victims settlement involving several priests. Voice of the Faithful criticized him for allowing an accused monsignor to stay in his parish until he resigned, facing 2011 sex harassment allegations from a female church worker.

That double standard in leadership – bishops stained by scandal in the abuse cases, accusing nuns of bad faith – may be at its eclipse.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass with sisters involved in the apostolic visitation before the press conference Tuesday. Nothing has yet been reported to suggest the pope took a direct role in reversing the course of the investigation.

The more contentious problem of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith asserting control over the LCWR is still a work in progress. However Sister Sharon Holland, the new LCWR president, said at the press conference: “We’re moving toward resolution of that.”

"I don’t know what [Vatican officials] thought we were doing as women religious,” Sister Schenk in Cleveland said with a trace of exasperation.

“But from what Mother Mary Clare [Millea] said, in all the congregations, the vast majority have been diligent in managing finances, caring for senior sisters and working to promote vocations while attending to the normal things that sisters do, relating to prayer, spirituality and community living.”

Jason Berry achieved prominence for his reporting on the Catholic Church crisis in Lead Us Not Into Temptation (1992), a book used in many newsrooms. He has been widely interviewed in the national media, with many appearances on Nightline, Oprah, ABC and CNN. USA Today called Berry “the rare investigative reporter whose scholarship, compassion and ability to write with the poetic power of Robert Penn Warren are in perfect balance.”

 

 

How American nuns prevailed over the Vatican | Analysis

Vatican Offers Olive Branch to US Nuns - ABC News

 

A sweeping Vatican investigation into Roman Catholic nuns in the U.S. that began amid fears they had become too feminist and secular ended up praising the sisters for their selfless work caring for the poor ? a major shift in tone that reflected the social justice mindset of Pope Francis.

The overwhelmingly positive report Tuesday also promised to value their "feminine genius" more, while gently suggesting ways to serve the church faithfully and survive amid a steep drop in their numbers. It was cheered by the American sisters themselves, dozens of whom swarmed the Vatican news conference announcing the results in a rare occasion of women outnumbering men at the Vatican.

"There is an encouraging and realistic tone in this report," Sister Sharon Holland told reporters. "Challenges are understood, but it is not a document of blame, or of simplistic solutions. One can read the text and feel appreciated and trusted to carry on."

The report was most remarkable for what it didn't say, given the criticism of American religious life that prompted the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI to launch the investigation in 2009.

There was no critique of the nuns, no demands that they shift their focus from social justice to emphasize Catholic teaching on abortion, no condemnation that a feminist, secular mentality had taken hold in their ranks.

Rather, while offering a sobering assessment of the difficult state of American congregations, the report praised the sisters' dedication and reaffirmed their calling in a reflection of the pastoral tone characteristic of history's first Jesuit pope.

It was a radically different message than that of another Vatican office that investigated an umbrella group of the sisters' leaders.

That investigation, conducted by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, resulted in a Vatican takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in 2012. The doctrine office determined that the LCWR, which represents the leaders of 80 percent of U.S. nuns, took positions that undermined church teaching and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

The Vatican's congregation for religious orders has long sought to distinguish its broad investigation into the quality of life of American sisters from the more narrow doctrinal assessment carried out by the orthodoxy office.

But both investigations began within months of one another and resulted in tremendous feelings of betrayal and insult from the sisters.

The probes also prompted an outpouring of support from rank-and-file American Catholics who viewed the investigations as a crackdown by a misogynistic, all-male Vatican hierarchy against the underpaid, underappreciated women who do the lion's share of work running Catholic hospitals, schools and services for the poor.

Theological conservatives have long complained that after the reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, women's congregations in the U.S. became secular and political while abandoning traditional prayer life and faith. The nuns insisted that prayer and Christ were central to their work.

Holland, who heads the Leadership Conference, acknowledged that the investigation was initially met with apprehension and distrust, particularly among elderly sisters who "felt that their whole lives had been judged and found wanting."

But she said the results showed that the Vatican had listened and heard what the sisters had to say.

 

TO read more:  Vatican Offers Olive Branch to US Nuns - ABC News

Vatican's Report on U.S. Nuns Will Be Released December 16 - Aleteia

 

According to Vatican spokesperson Father Thomas Rosica, a press conference will be held at the Vatican December 16. At that press conference, three American nuns will join Vatican officials to publicly reveal the final report of a five-year investigation of congregations of Catholic sisters in the U.S. The inquiry was initiated in 2009 under now-retired Cardinal Franc Rodé, following concerns by many that some congregations of women religious had become too liberal and had abandoned traditional religious lifestyles.
Speaking at the December 16 press conference will be the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Institute of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, and the Congregation's secretary, Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo.
Also participating in the press conference will be three American women religious:

• Sister Sharon Holland, head of the Monroe-based Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) congregation and current president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR);
• Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life, who leads the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious; and
• Mother Mary Clare Millea, who led the Apostolic Visitation inquiry for the Vatican.

Father Rosica is president of Assumption University in Windsor, Ontario, and serves as a Vatican spokesperson. He told the Detroit Free Press that while he could not divulge contents of the report, he expected it to allay the fears of many Catholic sisters about the investigation. Speaking Tuesday at Detroit's Catholic Cristo Rey High School, Father Rosica said, "It will hopefully be a very positive message for women religious in the United States.... There were a lot of unfounded fears."
According to the Free Press, Father Rosica promised that the report will be made public online; and he expects the Vatican's communication office to formally announce next week about the Dec. 16 conference.

Click on the following for more details:  Vatican's Report on U.S. Nuns Will Be Released December 16 - Aleteia

Nuns to pope: Revoke 15th-century doctrine that allows Christians to seize native land

Renee K. Gadoua | September 9, 2014 | 5 Comments

…. But she’s hopeful a recent resolution by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will spur the pope to repudiate the centuries-old concept known as the “Doctrine of Discovery.”

“When I learned about it, I was horrified,” said Fiedler. As a member of the Loretto Community, a congregation of religious women and lay people, Fiedler first heard of the doctrine when her order marked its 200th anniversary by challenging “the papal sanctioning of Christian enslavement and power over non-Christians.”

The Doctrine of Discovery is a series of papal bulls, or decrees, that gave Christian explorers the right to lay claim to any land that was not inhabited by Christians and was available to be “discovered.” If its inhabitants could be converted, they might be spared. If not, they could be enslaved or killed.

The doctrine’s modern influence re-emerged recently in the debate about the racism and exploitation of Native American sports mascots, Fiedler said. It has justified efforts to eliminate indigenous languages, practices and worldviews, and it affects Native American sovereignty and treaty obligations.

Since 1823, it has also been enshrined in U.S. law. In 2005, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg cited the Doctrine of Discovery in a land-claim ruling against the Oneidas, one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee.

The Loretto Community collaborated with a member of the Osage Nation to create a 2012 resolution. Last fall, the order joined 12 other Catholic groups asking the pope to rescind the decrees.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  http://www.religionnews.com/2014/09/09/nuns-pope-revoke-15th-century-doctrine-allows-christians-seize-native-land/

Vatican Criticisms of U.S. Nuns Keep Coming

By Tierney Sneed Sept. 9, 2014 | 1:25 p.m. EDT

Indeed, in his year and a half in the papacy, Francis has reaffirmed the church’s stances against same-sex marriage, abortion and female ordination. While expressing a desire to broaden the opportunities for women in the church, he said he was “wary of a solution that can be reduced to a kind of ‘female machismo,’ because a woman has a different makeup than a man.”

However, he has also shaken up the leadership in other church offices, and with one of his top advisers criticizing Müller, some think it’s only a matter of time before Francis instructs the Vatican watchdog group to back off the American nuns as well.

The conflict is broader than “a group of radical nuns,” says Gerard Mannion, a Georgetown University professor and the school's Amaturo chair in Catholic studies.

“What we’re seeing is hopefully one of the final battles in a period of church history where antagonism was the doctrinal model,” he says.

In the meantime, the Leadership Council of Women Religious appears to be reluctant to see their situation further politicized. They have been very selective in their engagement with the media in light of recent tensions, and turned down the opportunity to comment to U.S. News.

“Their best strategy is letting the Vatican keep tripping over themselves,” Piazza says.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/09/09/under-pope-francis-vatican-criticisms-of-american-nuns-keep-coming

Priests support Nuns Group

 

 

The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests has written to Pope Francis to express “sadness and dismay” at the release of comments by a Vatican official regarding the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The letter was sent June 2 to Pope Francis, and signed by the AUSCP president, Father David Cooper of Milwaukee, and also by the AUSCP board members.

In their letter to the pope, the priests noted that the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith published on April 30 the “introductory observations” of Cardinal Gerhard Muller, but did not release “any aspects of the subsequent discussion.”

Those discussions were characterized by LCWR as “honest, respectful, and engaging” during which the LCWR leadership was able to “offer responses that illuminated some of the perceptions about the LCWR held by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” the priests said.

“Because the Cardinal Prefect’s remarks were self-confessedly blunt, their release without any reference to LCWR’s views or any inclusion of the subsequent dialogue seems to us to have been a disservice to the process,” said Cooper and the AUSCP board members.

Citing published reports, the priests pointed out that the cardinal’s remarks “served as a public ‘rebuke’ of the LCWR” and a “chastising” of the leadership of women’s religious. The priests termed the cardinal’s words as “premature, one-sided public comment” and said that “A joint concluding statement after the discussions would have been more appropriate.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/local-news/PR061214071917442

Crackdown on US nuns continues under Pope Francis - The Washington Post

 

Mueller made the remarks in a meeting last Wednesday with the group’s leaders in Rome. He apologized repeatedly for speaking so bluntly, while reminding the sisters their organization held its status within the church only through Vatican approval.

“The LCWR, as a canonical entity dependent on the Holy See, has a profound obligation to the promotion of that faith as the essential foundation of religious life,” Mueller said, according to a copy of his speech posted Monday on the Vatican website. “We are looking for a clearer expression of that ecclesial vision and more substantive signs of collaboration.”

The nuns’ group said in a brief statement Monday that the meeting with Mueller and his staff was “respectful and engaging,” but the sisters would not comment further. The cardinal’s remarks were first reported by The National Catholic Reporter…..

The Leadership Conference, which represents about 80 percent of U.S. nuns, plans to give its outstanding leadership award to Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a Fordham University theologian and author of “Quest for the Living God.” U.S. bishops said the book contained “misrepresentations” and doctrinal errors, but Johnson has defended her work. Mueller didn’t mention Johnson by name, but said the choice of honoree will be “seen as a rather open provocation.”

Read more by clicking on the following:  Crackdown on US nuns continues under Pope Francis - The Washington Post

LCWR meets with Vatican overseer under lock, with guards | National Catholic Reporter

 

archbishop given expansive oversight by the Vatican of U.S. Catholic sisters met Thursday here with some 825 of their representatives, speaking for about 40 minutes in a closed-door session held under lock and key.

Standing outside the assembly hall where Sartain was speaking, the prelate’s voice could be heard faintly for about 37 minutes. Afterwards, there was about a minute of clapping before voices of individual sisters could be heard intermittently until a scheduled break 90 minutes into the meeting.

LCWR members have been asked by the group’s leaders not to discuss Thursday’s meetings with members of the press. Additionally, the doors into the convention hall where Sartain was speaking were locked with uniformed guards placed near them to prevent unauthorized entry.

 

Click on the following to read the entire article:  LCWR meets with Vatican overseer under lock, with guards | National Catholic Reporter

Nuns warily anticipate session with Sartain | Strange Bedfellows — Politics News - seattlepi.com

 

Sartain has spoken not a word to the Seattle Archdiocese about his Vatican assignment.

But the archbishop’s flock has spoken to him.  Last year, each week in May, “Support the Sisters” demonstrators congregated on the steps of St. James Cathedral.  The demonstrations included a prominent Seattle pastor as well as nuns.

A summer demonstration brought more than 400 people out, and saw nuns speak in witness to their ministry.

The nuns want to take their case to the very top — Pope Francis.  “It could be helpful if Pope Francis were willing to sit down with the LCWR leadership and listen to the concerns and inaccuracies that were made in the Doctrinal Assessment,” McDermott said.  “The story needs to be told and the leadership of our church need to receive it. Whether they’ll agree with it, I don’t know

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Nuns warily anticipate session with Sartain | Strange Bedfellows — Politics News - seattlepi.com

Vatican-appointed overseer to attend LCWR gathering | National Catholic Reporter

 

The apostolic delegate appointed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to oversee its mandate to LCWR, Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, will be present for the entire assembly," says a notice on the third page of those materials.

"Archbishop Sartain will speak with the assembly on the mandate, and will have an opportunity to hear from and respond to the LCWR members," it continues.

Click on the following for more details:  Vatican-appointed overseer to attend LCWR gathering | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis downplays threat of Vatican scrutiny of religious orders - The Washington Post

 

They will make mistakes, they will make a blunder, this will pass! Perhaps even a letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine (of the Faith) will arrive for you, telling you that you said such or such thing. . But do not worry. Explain whatever you have to explain, but move forward.”

Click on the following for more details:  Pope Francis downplays threat of Vatican scrutiny of religious orders - The Washington Post

New tour for ‘nuns on the bus’ : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

 

Last summer, 14 religious sisters boarded a bus in Iowa and traveled to Washington to protest Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan. This year, the sisters will advocate for immigration reform.

The nuns will board a bus in New Haven, Connecticut, on May 28 and will conclude their tour in San Francisco on June 18.

Click on the following for more details:  New tour for ‘nuns on the bus’ : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Vatican says its congregations collaborate, including on LCWR decision

 

Two days after the head of the Vatican office overseeing religious life said he had not been consulted by the Vatican's doctrinal office about a controversial investigation of American nuns, the two bodies affirmed their "common commitment" to reform of the U.S.-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

the media's interpretation of the cardinal's remarks were "not justified."

"The prefects of these two congregations work closely together according to their specific responsibilities and have collaborated throughout the process of the doctrinal assessment of the LCWR," the statement said.

During their meeting, it said, Archbishop Muller and Cardinal Braz de Aviz "reaffirmed their common commitment to the renewal of religious life, and particularly to the doctrinal assessment of the LCWR and the program of reform it requires, in accordance with the wishes of the Holy Father."

Click on the following for more details:  Vatican says its congregations collaborate, including on LCWR decision

Vatican religious prefect: 'I was left out of LCWR finding' | National Catholic Reporter

 

The Vatican decision last year to place the main representative group of U.S. Catholic sisters under the control of bishops was made without consultation or knowledge of the Vatican office that normally deals with matters of religious life, the office's leader said Sunday.

That lack of discussion over whether to criticize the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), said Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, caused him "much pain."

"We have to change this way of doing things," said Braz de Aviz, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Religious….

"We will obey what the Holy Father wants and what will be decided through you," Braz de Aviz told the sisters he had said to Levada. "But we must say that this material which should be discussed together has not been discussed together."

"I obeyed," Braz de Aviz continued telling the sisters. "But I had so much pain within me."

Click on the following for more details:  Vatican religious prefect: 'I was left out of LCWR finding' | National Catholic Reporter

Vatican: CDF holds talks with LCWR

 

Vatican: CDF holds talks with LCWR

2013-04-15 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) Below we publish a communique issued Monday by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning a meeting with the Presidency of the Leadership Conference of the Women Religious in the USA.

Today the Superiors of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with thePresidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States of
America. Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle and the Holy See’s Delegate for theDoctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, also participated in the meeting.
As this was his first opportunity to meet with the Presidency of the LCWR, the Prefect of
the Congregation, Most Rev. Gerhard Ludwig Müller, expressed his gratitude for the greatcontribution of women Religious to the Church in the United States as seen particularly in the
many schools, hospitals, and institutions of support for the poor which have been founded andstaffed by Religious over the years.
The Prefect then highlighted the teaching of the Second Vatican Council regarding the
important mission of Religious to promote a vision of ecclesial communion founded on faith inJesus Christ and the teachings of the Church as faithfully taught through the ages under the
guidance of the Magisterium (Cf. Lumen gentium, nn. 43-47). He also emphasized that a
Conference of Major Superiors, such as the LCWR, exists in order to promote common effortsamong its member Institutes as well as cooperation with the local Conference of Bishops and
with individual Bishops. For this reason, such Conferences are constituted by and remain underthe direction of the Holy See (Cf. Code of Canon Law, cann. 708-709).
Finally, Archbishop Müller informed the Presidency that he had recently discussed the
Doctrinal Assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the Assessment and theprogram of reform for this Conference of Major Superiors.
It is the sincere desire of the Holy See that this meeting may help to promote the integralwitness of women Religious, based on a firm foundation of faith and Christian love, so as to
preserve and strengthen it for the enrichment of the Church and society for generations to come.

The above is take from:  Vatican: CDF holds talks with LCWR

Papal resignation puts Vatican LCWR mandate in | National Catholic Reporter

According to the Vatican mandate, LCWR has been placed under the authority of Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain, who officially serves as "archbishop delegate" for the group. Turns out Sartain, beginning tomorrow, has no one to report to. The mandate Sartain received from the congregation came from a CDF under the pontificate of Benedict. That pontificate is ending…

his Apostolic Constitution promulgated in 1996, late pope John Paul II decreed that all senior leaders of the Roman Curia—effectively the government of the Catholic Church—has to resign when the pope steps down.

Among those resigning will be Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state—effectively the Vatican’s number two job. He will remain only as Camerlengo (Chamberlain).

The Camerlengo has traditionally had the role of officially certifying the death of a pope—he used to do so by striking the pontiff’s forehead on his deathbed with a special silver hammer and calling out the words “Holy Father”.

He is also the Vatican official charged with destroying the pontiff’s “Fisherman’s Ring”—….

 

Click on the following for more details;  Papal resignation puts Vatican LCWR mandate in question | National Catholic Reporter

Engaging Differences

Engaging Differences
As LCWR continues to respond
to the process of the doctrinal
assessment, I have frequently
called to mind Einstein’s assertion
that it is impossible to solve any
problem with the same mindset that
created it. That thought carries a challenge.
First of all, our own mindsets are
usually quite invisible to us. How do
we personally and collectively touch
into and live from a new consciousness
capable of transcending our blind spots?
This moment in history calls us to
stretch in that direction, for the sake of the church and
world. I imagine that you, like I, want to offer the best
of ourselves in response. One thing is clear to me. It is
God who opens new spaces within and among us as we
surrender in contemplation towards gratuitous grace.
What often seems to lead us to that surrender is finding
ourselves really not knowing what to do.
Constance Fitzgerald, OCD, in “Impasse and Dark
Night” says: “The experience of impasse can be a source
of creative growth and transformation if it is fully appropriated
within one’s heart and flesh with consciousness
and consent; if the limitations of one’s humanity
and human condition are squarely faced and the sorrow
of finitude allowed to invade the human spirit with real
existential powerlessness; if the ego does not demand
understanding in the name of control and predictability
but is willing to admit the mystery of its own being
and surrender itself to this mystery; if the path into
the unknown, into the uncontrolled and unpredictable
margins of life, is freely taken when the path of deadly
clarity fades.”
What often seems to lead us to that surrender
is finding ourselves
really not knowing what to do.
What if transformation most frequently happens
when differences come into
uncomfortable contact with each other,
inviting mutual re-shaping?
Personally, I’m quite fond of clarity,
though it seems to be increasingly
elusive these days. Differing viewpoints
and perspectives abound in ways that
often seem to clash and muddy the waters.
But what if muddiness is the most
direct way forward? What if transformation
most frequently happens when
differences come into uncomfortable
contact with each other, inviting mutual
re-shaping? What if the encounters that
disturb and confuse us are privileged
pathways to a new consciousness otherwise
difficult to access?
Margaret Wheatley tells us that “change always starts
with confusion; cherished interpretations must dissolve
to make way for the new… Curiosity is what we need.
We don’t have to let go of what we believe, but we do
need to be curious about what someone else believes.
We do need to acknowledge that their way of interpreting
the world might be essential to our survival.”
I recently had an experience of proposing something to
a group in my congregation, certain that there would be
very broad, if not unanimous agreement. There wasn’t.
I was surprised. However, an important awareness
arose in me as a result. Bumping up against assumptions
about what my colleagues thought led me to a
new curiosity about their ideas and experience. Deeper
conversation resulted, leading to a richly expanded
view of the issue at hand. The affirmation of like-minded
peers is the more comfortable path. But engaging
differences may be the more direct route to bringing
our assumptions and invisible mindsets into awareness,
making them more available for transformation.

The above is from:  https://lcwr.org/publications/february-2013

Bishops investigating US nuns have poor records on sex abuse cases | National Catholic Reporter

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith monitors compliance with Roman Catholic moral teaching and matters of dogma for the oldest church in Christendom

congregation accelerates a disciplinary action against the main leadership group of American nuns, many sisters and priests are reacting to a climate of fear fostered by bishops and cardinals who have never been investigated for their role in the greatest moral crisis of modern Catholicism: the clergy sex abuse crisis.

A small but resonant chorus of critics is raising an issue of a hypocrisy that has grown too blatant to ignore. The same hierarchy that brought shame upon the Vatican for recycling clergy child molesters, a scandal that rocked the church in many countries, has assumed a moral high ground in punishing the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group whose members have put their lives on the line in taking the social justice agenda of the Second Vatican Council to some of the poorest areas in the world.

Click on the following for more details;  Bishops investigating US nuns have poor records on sex abuse cases | National Catholic Reporter