Posts Tagged Joshua McElwee
No Consensus on Meaning of Vatican Synod Questionnaire / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on November 6, 2013
Nearly a week after news that the Vatican has asked for the world’s bishops to distribute among Catholics a questionnaire on issues like contraception, same-sex marriage and divorce “immediately” and “as widely as possible,” there is no consensus on what that direction means.
“Moreover, comparing notes from recent Vatican statements, it is hard to decipher whether the call for consultation is unprecedented or something that’s happened for decades.
“The Vatican’s chief spokesman said in an interview over the weekend that the Vatican’s request for the world’s bishops to survey Catholics on how certain topics affect their lives was part of a habitual “praxis.”
“Yet the official who sent the questionnaire said Tuesday it is part of a wide-ranging project to reform how the Vatican reaches out to bishops and faithful around the world.” By Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
Read the rest of McElwee’s article by clicking here.
Vatican Asks for Parish-Level Input on Synod Document / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on November 1, 2013
Will bishops in the United States truly poll local Catholics to seek input from the People of God in Vatican II’s spirit of collegiality? Here from National Catholic Reporter’s Joshua McElwee is an outline of what the Vatican has asked local bishops to do and differences between how U.S. and other countries might conduct the poll:
The Vatican has asked national bishops’ conferences around the world to conduct a wide-ranging poll of Catholics asking for their opinions on church teachings on contraception, same-sex marriage and divorce.
“Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops, asked the conferences to distribute the poll ‘immediately as widely as possible to deaneries and parishes so that input from local sources can be received.’
“The poll, which comes in a questionnaire sent to national bishops’ conferences globally in preparation for a Vatican synod on the family next October, is the first time the church’s central hierarchy has asked for such input from grass-roots Catholics since at least the establishment of the synod system following the Second Vatican Council.”
Added emphasis is ours. Read all of McElwee’s article by clicking here.
U.S. Bishops Set to Meet with Young Theologians; Theological Societies Unaware of Meeting / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Voice of the Faithful on September 13, 2013
The U.S. bishops’ committee known in recent years for criticizing several prominent American theologians is bringing together 14 bishops and a select group of younger members of the theological field in a three-day meeting this week. The meeting, sponsored by the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee and the Knights of Columbus, is part of a multiyear effort on the part of the bishops to encourage dialogue with theologians. Even so, attendance is open only to academics selected by the bishops. Additionally, the heads of the two major U.S. theological societies, the Catholic Theological Society of America and the College Theology Society, told NCR they were unaware of the meeting and did not know how the bishops selected the invitees.” By Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
Read all of McElwee’s article by clicking here.
Vatican’s Overseer Tells LCWR He’s a ‘Brother and a Friend’ / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Voice of the Faithful on August 14, 2013
The archbishop given expansive oversight by the Vatican of U.S. Catholic sisters told their annual assembly Tuesday (Aug. 13) he seeks to be their “brother and friend.” The brief remarks by Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain came in the opening session of the four-day meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).” By Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
Read McElwee’s entire article by clicking here.
Vatican Religious Prefect: Gender Inequality Exists in the Church / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on August 13, 2013
Gender inequality exists in the Catholic church because men and women forget they cannot be “fully human” without one another, a key Vatican cardinal said in May. “Man without woman is not fully human,” Cardinal João Braz de Aviz said. “And woman without man is not fully human either. Each without the other is a piece of humanity, incomplete.
“Throughout history, we have had many difficulties in this area,” Braz de Aviz said. “History became a primarily masculine enterprise. For many reasons — political, anthropological — this mode also dominated religion …
“Obedience and authority need to be re-visioned,” Braz de Aviz said. “An authority that commands kills. An authority that serves generates life. An obedience that merely copies what the other says infantilizes, makes us less human.”
By Joshua McElwee and Biagio Mazza, National Catholic Reporter
As LCWR 2013 General Assembly Approaches, Key U.S. Sister Says Vatican’s Order Is ‘Unacceptable’
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on August 2, 2013
A year and a half after the Vatican ordered the main representative group of U.S. Catholic sisters to place itself under the control of three U.S. bishops, many sister-leaders still consider complete compliance with the order ‘unacceptable,’ the head of the largest order of sisters in the Western Hemisphere said Thursday (Aug. 2). By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
Read McElwee’s entire article, “Key U.S. Sister: Vatican’s LCWR Order ‘Unacceptable,'” by clicking here. McElwee also reports today that Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, whom the Vatican appointed to oversee U.S. sisters, will attend LCWR’s 2013 General Assembly, which takes place Aug. 13-16 in Orlando, Florida — Vatican-Appointed Overseer to Attend LCWR Gathering.
Former LCWR Leader Says Pope Should Open Door to Women Priests / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on July 31, 2013
A key former leader of U.S. Catholic sisters said Pope Francis should reconsider the Catholic church’s ban on women priests, likening the male-only priesthood to ‘a form of inequality which is a form of idolatry.’ Commenting to NCR on Francis’ remarks on the papal plane Monday (July 29) that the late Pope John Paul II had ‘definitively … closed the door’ to Catholic women priests, Mercy Sr. Theresa Kane said Francis has a chance to ‘begin a whole new movement and a whole new philosophy.'” By Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
Read McElwee’s entire article in National Catholic Reporter by clicking here.
Audit Shows Capuchin Abuse Spanning Decades
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on June 19, 2013
Last year, the Capuchins opened their files to an independent audit of sexual abuse allegations made against them. The audit showed that, over eight decades, the Capuchins had placed protecting themselves above protecting children. Here are three news reports of the audit findings and a link to the audit report:
- Report Illuminates Eight Decades of Capuchin Province’s Poor Handling of Sex Abuse by Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
- Audit Finds Sexual Abuse Was Topic Decades Ago by Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times
- SNAP Member Abused by Capuchins Responds to Reports by FOX-6 Now News
- Report of the Audit and Review of the Files of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph
What could new USCCB doctrinal head mean to future theological debate?
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Voice of the Faithful on May 31, 2013
New Doctrinal Watchdog: Theological Intervention Sometimes Necessary, by Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
The new head of the U.S. bishops’ office that has in recent years attracted controversy for criticizing theologians has said he hopes to be in dialogue with those theologians but may sometimes have to make interventions to ‘make sure that the faith is being handed down intact.'”
Serious Misunderstandings Exist Between Vatican/LCWR & Vatican Religious Prefect Says He Was Left Out of LCWR Discussions
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 6, 2013
The head of the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious told nuns worldwide on Saturday that “serious misunderstandings” exist between Vatican officials and Catholic sisters, while on Sunday, the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious, Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, claimed he was neither consulted, nor had prior knowledge of the Vatican’s decision to place the LCWR under the control of bishops.
You can read Joshua McElwee’s reports in National Catholic Reporter online by clicking the headlines below.
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