Vatican demands reform of American nuns' leadership group [CWN]

[Mickey]

If they are truly for social justice, they will do this, as abortion is a social justice issue!

Also, if they want to remain Catholic, then they have to BE Catholic. The theology and doctrines that are used and promoted are not at all Catholic.

 

[Mickey]

If they are truly for social justice, they will do this, as abortion is a social justice issue!

We all know that abortion is evil. 50 million voiceless martyrs have been murdered in the womb and the count increases every day. I cannot understand how anyone could call themselves a Catholic “nun” and support the pro-death movement.

It boggles my mind!

 

[KSU]

Matthew 23:

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. 28 Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing."

 

[opus101]

We all know that abortion is evil. 50 million voiceless martyrs have been murdered in the womb and the count increases every day. I cannot understand how anyone could call themselves a Catholic “nun” and support the pro-death movement.

It boggles my mind!

Me too. But I just saw the following on another site, and it gives me hope. For all of the criticism that the Jesuits get, they are certainly right on the money here. The men religious “get it”, why can’t the women religious? Hopefully, someday there will be a big turn around, and the LCWR will write something like this. Of course, that would take a huge miracle.

jesuit.org/worldwide/social-justice/issues/social-outreach/pro-life/standing-for-unborn/

 

[Mickey]

Me too. But I just saw the following on another site, and it gives me hope. For all of the criticism that the Jesuits get, they are certainly right on the money here. The men religious “get it”, why can’t the women religious? Hopefully, someday there will be a big turn around, and the LCWR will write something like this. Of course, that would take a huge miracle.

jesuit.org/worldwide/social-justice/issues/social-outreach/pro-life/standing-for-unborn/

Amen! For the LCWR, it will take (what the Orthodox refer to as) metanoia. This means a transforming change of mind and heart through repentance. I pray for that.

I applaud the Vatican for this call for the LCWR reform…it has been a long time coming.

 

[opus101]

Amen! For the LCWR, it will take (what the Orthodox refer to as) metanoia. This means a transforming change of mind and heart through repentance. I pray for that.

I applaud the Vatican for this call for the LCWR reform…it has been a long time coming.

Yes. In order for the metanoia to occur, they have to be willing to accept the possibility (actually a probability) that they might lose many friends in the socio-political arena who have been using them for their own ends. They will have to choose Christ and put Him and His Church first. They will have to forsake everything contrary to the Gospel for the sake of Christ.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Me too. But I just saw the following on another site, and it gives me hope. For all of the criticism that the Jesuits get, they are certainly right on the money here. The men religious “get it”, why can’t the women religious? Hopefully, someday there will be a big turn around, and the LCWR will write something like this. Of course, that would take a huge miracle.

jesuit.org/worldwide/social-justice/issues/social-outreach/pro-life/standing-for-unborn/

Just to clarify, *some *of the men religious “get it” and *some *of the women religious “get it.” Not all of the men religious are Jesuits and not all of the women religious agree with the group’s agenda and/or beliefs.

 

[LittleSoldier]

I feel the same way, but TAKE COURAGE!!! Jesus has already overcome the world!
The sisters have a vast socio-political machine that works full time to influence others through the media. They do it full time, and they use psychological manipulation among other things, to achieve their ends. But a lie is a lie, and will eventually be found out.

It seems as if we’re outnumbered, but that’s not the case at all. We’re just not represented in the media. Pray, pray,pray that the truth will shine out. God is great.

Unfortunately, the Church is not as media savvy as these women , and does not have a huge network of militants and lobbyists working day and night to promote its agenda.

Thank you! After I read those hateful comments (and noted how many people had given them a “thumbs-up”) I came here to CAF because I feel at home here. You are correct in everything you say. I know that God is glorified now because it is in the prayer “Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, *is now, *and ever shall be, world without end.”

I will pray, pray, pray, and continue to fight for the Church.

 

[opus101]

Thank you! After I read those hateful comments (and noted how many people had given them a “thumbs-up”) I came here to CAF because I feel at home here. You are correct in everything you say. I know that God is glorified now because it is in the prayer “Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, *is now, *and ever shall be, world without end.”

I will pray, pray, pray, and continue to fight for the Church.

Me too. We’re in this together , littlesoldier. I see we have the same alma mater.

 

[elgar]

Yes. In order for the metanoia to occur, they have to be willing to accept the possibility (actually a probability) that they might lose many friends in the socio-political arena who have been using them for their own ends. They will have to choose Christ and put Him and His Church first. They will have to forsake everything contrary to the Gospel for the sake of Christ.

Like severing their ties with LGBT activists, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, anti-military people, anarchists, etc…The toughest though–denouncing the idea of a Catholic woman priesthood.

 

[rlg94086]

I don’t see how seeking a position in the secular world makes you unfaithful to the Church. Must we all now take religious vows in order to be considered among the faithful? I don’t think an independent woman has to dislike the Church in order to realize the Hierarchy has decided there is no role of authority in it for her. That’s not the woman’s choice. The Bishops have always had a problem with how to deal with independent women. Mary Magdalene comes to mind…

I know this is an old post of yours, but I thought your mention of Mary Magdalene was interesting. How did the Bishops have a “problem” dealing with Mary Magdalene?

I think St Mary Magdalene is indeed a good example for women religious…and for everyone else, of course. She was a loving and devoted disciple. Did she have some leadership role in the early Church? Was she a Bishop? Did the Bishops “deal with her” harshly?

You aren’t a Gnostic by any chance, are you?

 

[jwinch2]

Like severing their ties with LGBT activists, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, anti-military people, anarchists, etc…The toughest though–denouncing the idea of a Catholic woman priesthood.

That would be the likely end result of the process, but I would humbly suggest that it needs to be a more fundamental shift then that. Going back to square one by building your life around Christ through prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and study of His word through Sacred Scripture and the writings of the great saints and fathers within the Sacred Tradition of the Church.

Once that is established and nourished, apostolates will develop from that wellspring of faith and trust in God and the work will be holy and righteous. All of that other stuff will take care of itself if the proper foundation is there.

Much of what we are seeing today is a result of improper and incomplete formation to begin with. All Sisters and Nuns should have a basic level of spiritual and theological formation. Then, if they are going to be nurses, social workers, health care policy experts, teachers, etc. that training should happen on top of their formation, not instead of it and preferably at an authentically Catholic college or university. A certain percentage of sisters should not be trained in the apostolate of their congregation but should instead go for much deeper formation in spirituality and theology. They can then serve as spiritual directors within their own communities, novice masters, DRE’s and RCIA leaders within parishes or Catholic schools, coordinators for lay associates of their congregations, etc.

They can’t always rely on a priest to be around for spiritual direction, and there is no reason why a women cannot learn theology as well as any man. They certainly cannot receive Holy Orders, but they can be of invaluable assistance to their sisters and to the greater Church community by getting a deep and authentic formation in the spiritual and theological tradition of the Church.

 

[opus101]

I think you go too far in your negative assumptions about these women, who have given much of themselves in order to serve others. They are the best and the brightest and the Church certainly needs them.

Lots of people give much of themselves in order to serve others. That doesn’t make someone a nun/sister much less a Catholic. I also wouldn’t call them the “best and brightest”. There are many very bright and well-educated sisters that are not part of the LCWR, in fact most of those are highly educated.

A bright person does not fall for pseudo-scholarship and new-age inanities, and does not have such selective and skewed ideas about history.

 

[jwinch2]

ncregister.com/daily-news/doctrinal-assessment-of-the-lcwr-safeguarding-the-integrity-of-consecrated/
MOTHER MARY ASSUMPTA LONG:

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith situates the introduction of its doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the section of Pope John Paul II’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata entitled “Sentire Cum Ecclesia” (To Think With the Church).

The eight-page document, published April 18, summarizes the findings of a careful investigation of the LCWR begun in 2008 and has renewal as its primary purpose:
“The renewal of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which is the goal of this doctrinal assessment, is in support of this essential charism of religious which has been so obvious in the life and growth of the Catholic Church in the United States.”

Recent media coverage has displayed a variety of responses to the doctrinal assessment, and members of the LCWR have issued public responses.

A timely consideration in the midst of these diverse reactions is the perspective of why the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would even undertake such a serious look at the LCWR.

Why spend three years assessing the state of the LCWR and then subsequently mandate a five-year plan of change going forward? This intensive mandate seeking to initiate renewal within the LCWR reflects the Church’s love for consecrated life and is in continuity with the Church’s conciliar and post-conciliar call for renewal of religious life, according to the charism of her founders.

The CDF’s assessment states that it has a “sincere concern for the life of faith” in the various institutes represented by the LCWR. The document identifies that the doctrinal issues of the LCWR reflect a deeper crisis of identity among her members, both in terms of the very essentials of consecrated life and the inseparable communion of consecrated life with the Church.

Such an assessment reflects the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s proper regard and reverence for consecrated life as a gift to the Church and determination to rekindle in the members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious the “lively sense of the Church.”

The CDF, in both investigating and implementing a clear mandate for renewal of the LCWR, bears clear witness to the Church’s responsibility to safeguard religious life in its integrity — for the love of her members and the good of the whole Church. Various conciliar and post-conciliar documents on religious life echo this same ideal.

Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the Church, relates that religious life “belongs undeniably” to the Church’s life and holiness: Being means to and instruments of love, the evangelical counsels unite those who practice them to the Church and her mystery in a special way. It follows that the spiritual life of such Christians should be dedicated also to the welfare of the entire Church (44).

Evangelica Testificatio, the apostolic exhortation on the renewal of religious life issued during the pontificate of Paul VI, highlights the value of religious life in the Church’s tradition and the danger that threats to the integrity of religious life would bear on the Church as a whole: Without this concrete sign [religious life], there would be a danger that the charity which animates the entire Church would grow cold, that the salvific paradox of the Gospel would be blunted, and that the “salt” of faith would lose its favor in a world undergoing secularization (3).

Pope Paul VI underscores the indispensable relationship between religious life and the Church and how the vitality of religious life is essential to the Church’s mission.

Religious life is thus inseparable from the life of the Church. In continuity with the above conciliar and post-conciliar documents, Pope John Paul II related: Its universal presence and the evangelical nature of its witness are clear evidence — if any were needed — that the consecrated life is not something isolated and marginal, but a reality which affects the whole Church. … In effect, the consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for her mission (Vita Consecrata, 36).

Appreciating the Church’s affirmation, love and reverence for the gift of consecrated life is the proper framework for understanding the very purpose of the doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious undertaken by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

It is the Church’s responsibility, assumed in love, to safeguard the beauty and gift of consecrated life at all times. This responsibility is most acute when the integrity of consecrated life begins to diminish, evidenced in this case by clear examples of dissent from the hierarchy and lack of authentic ecclesial communion.

The CDF hopes that, through this mandate, members of the LCWR will awaken to once again “think with the Church.” In so doing, it is the sincere hope that these consecrated religious will rediscover and wholly embrace their vocation in its integrity at the heart of the Church.

 

[KSU]

“They can’t always rely on a priest to be around for spiritual direction, and there is no reason why a women cannot learn theology as well as any man. They certainly cannot receive Holy Orders, but they can be of invaluable assistance to their sisters and to the greater Church community by getting a deep and authentic formation in the spiritual and theological tradition of the Church.”

I take it you’re not married, Jason?

 

[jwinch2]

I take it you’re not married, Jason?

I’m not sure what you are getting at, but yes I am married.

 

[KSU]

I’m not sure what you are getting at, but yes I am married.

“Just funnin you, boy”—Ethan Edwards,The Searchers. Unless I miss my guess, one of our female members will splain it to you.

 

[jwashu]

hmm… I see people are taking this as an attack on nuns and sisters they themselves loved and respected, or as an attack on women religious in general.

For instance: Why are they doing this to the women who really helped lay the foundation of the American Catholic Church?

Or: Once more, a group of men with more than a few problems of their own choose to turn their thinking to how to fix women. Seems to me there is a lot of evidence that there a lot of men in the church that need fixing! Heal thyself, Bishops!

With now and again some common sense:* Look you guys, as a young women interested in religious life and someone who has had a privileged view into a handful of women’s religious communities, the action by the Vatican is long overdue.*

I’m sick of all this us vs them mentality in the Church right now: women vs men; religious vs secular; priests vs lay; SSPX or TLM vs OF.

We’ve got a battle on our hands. We need to pull together. It’s time we all got behind the Pope and fought the real fights of our times.

Amen Brother!

 

[iloveangels]

LittleSoldier;9218835:

I agree. I never thought I would react the way I just have to the comments posted about the story on whatever the “news” website that pops up when I go onto the Internet. Every single one I read - all the top ones - were anti-Vatican, anti-Pope, anti-Catholic, and anti-just about everything I believe in.

I started crying. Catholics are not just hated. We are hated with a vengeance. I read language that just mad me feel so sick inside. I felt like I had been spat upon by about a thousand people.

What is going on? I read the original story, I read the letter, and I agree that there is a problem with the organization. And now it appears that the nuns are all out feeding the poor while the Vatican is full of old men who are all pedophiles and misogynists.

This isn’t the Church! Why don’t these people just leave us alone if they hate us so much? Right now I feel like I’m a soldier for God and I should be doing something but I also feel so much sadness for what Jesus must be feeling right now (and Mary, too) and I don’t know how to fight when I’m full of despair. I will pray, of course. But I just never saw so much hatred for the Church that I have been so blessed to have found. Just today I listened the first time to Colin Raye’s rendition of the hymn sung in church so much (I don’t know the name but it’s the one that goes: “I am here, Lord. Is it I, Lord?” and I was tearing up because it was just so beautiful.

And then this happened. I can’t ignore it. I want to defend my Church with my life if necessary. And I will. But I don’t understand how EVERY comment I read was so nasty and awful. I didn’t know it was this bad. I know Jesus was hated. I know Jesus was spat upon. I guess I should understand how that must have felt a little bit better now.

We’re really hated, guys. These same people who are defending the nuns in that organization will turn on them, too. And who is going to defend them?

I feel like I just got pierced to the heart. Fortunately I don’t feel like I got pierced to the soul because I know the Church is right and the Vatican is correct on its course of action IMHHHO. I’m just disgusted and saddened by the hatred shown to God’s Church by people who are probably pretty good people all around. Or am I wrong about that? I’m really confused right now.

I wish we could avoid the #1 Catholic pet meme. Whenever Catholics see something wrong disheartening or difficult, they pop into an “everybody hates us” mode and repeat the whole thing verbatim. Like clockwork. BUT: This is not about the world hating us, no matter how true or not true that is. That’s not the point of this at all, stupid American media notwithstanding. This is about a badly needed course correction to the LCWR, a conference group overseeing American women’s religious congregations.

Moreoever, it was started not by people that hate us, but by the Holy See who cares about us. It’s not a disaster. Ultimately and overall, it’s a good thing because it will help clean up women’s religious life in the present women’s congregations in the USA which, as people are finding out, is in an advanced state of decay.

 

[iloveangels]

I know this is an old post of yours, but I thought your mention of Mary Magdalene was interesting. How did the Bishops have a “problem” dealing with Mary Magdalene?

I think St Mary Magdalene is indeed a good example for women religious…and for everyone else, of course. She was a loving and devoted disciple. Did she have some leadership role in the early Church? Was she a Bishop? Did the Bishops “deal with her” harshly?

You aren’t a Gnostic by any chance, are you?

As far as I know, the hierarchy doesn’t have any problem with St. Mary Magdalene. Why would they if that were all there was to it? She’s a saint.

On the other hand, the far left Call to Action contingent has built programs around St. Mary Magdalene’s name and so on. This may well be where mention of her is coming from. It can be major tip-off of far left activity when you run across it. Several saints are used in that way.