Posts Tagged nuns
Cry out, sisters; cry out / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on August 8, 2014
Next week, Aug. 12-15, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents more than 50,000 U.S. women religious, will meet for their 2014 National Assembly. LCWR has been under Vatican mandate to change for two years. Here is Sister Joan Chittister and Sister Mary Lou Kownacki’s take on the nuns’ situation.
Next week, for instance, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will face decisions that will move the question of the agency of women in a man’s church either forward or back. Strange as it may seem in the 21st century, the issue is whether or not women are capable of hearing diverse speakers and still remain faithful Catholics. The issue is whether or not women religious may discuss various points of view on major issues and still remain faithful Catholics. The issue is whether or not women religious can manage their own organizations and still be faithful Catholics. The Vatican’s answer to those questions is no. For the last 45 years, however, LCWR’s answer to those same questions has been a clear and persistent yes.”
By Joan Chittister, Mary Lou Kownacki, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Support the sisters by offering prayers for an appropriate resolution to this situation. You can click here to access the Nun Justice Project’s prayer resources. You will also find there an open letter to Pope Francis, asking him to intervene and “to remove the unjust mandates imposed on LCWR over two years ago.” You can download the letter and mail it to the Pope.
Voice of the Faithful’s support for our sisters is unflagging.
Conflict with Vatican shadows upcoming LCWR assembly / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Voice of the Faithful on August 5, 2014
U.S. women religious leaders face an uncertain future as they gather Aug. 12-16 in Nashville, Tenn., for their annual assembly. More than 800 elected congregational leaders will discuss how they plan to react to continued charges of infidelity leveled by the church’s top enforcer of orthodoxy, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as to the congregation’s plans to take over the organization after the assembly …
“The issues are multilayered, involving disputes over the role of religious life, the relationship between religious and bishops, questions of obedience, and differing visions of church priorities and mission.
“Beneath these is one more: the role of women in a church that maintains a gender-determined authority system. The conflict between LCWR and the doctrinal congregation has become the most visible manifestation of this highly charged issue.”
By Thomas C. Fox, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this article.
Pope Reportedly Receives Letter Criticizing Treatment of LCWR / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on June 23, 2014
Pope Francis has received a letter from a number of prominent U.S. theologians and nonprofit Catholic groups criticizing the Vatican’s treatment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), according to a group that organized signing of the letter.
“The effort, announced Monday (June 23) by the group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, may represent the first direct appeal known to be received by the pontiff regarding LCWR, a group that represents some 45,000 U.S. Catholic sisters and has been placed under a sort of receivership by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Priests Criticize Head of Doctrinal Congregation for Rebuke of LCWR / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clericalism, Religious Women, Voice of the Faithful on June 18, 2014
The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests in a letter to Pope Francis criticized the head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for his recent comments chastising the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
“The Seattle-based association, which claims 1,000 U.S. priests as members, focused its letter to the pope on comments made by the congregation’s prefect, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, in an April 30 welcoming address to LCWR leadership.”
By Catholic News Service in National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
The U.S. Sisters & the Holy See / Commonweal
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women in Catholic Church on June 4, 2014
Why hasn’t Pope Francis stepped in to get the Vatican off the nuns’ backs? After all, he has said he wants a more collegial church, in keeping with the vision of the Second Vatican Council. He urges priests and bishops to focus on encounter and outreach. He talks about leadership roles for women.
“And yet the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 2012 “assessment” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious stands, and the LCWR—composed of the heads of some 80 percent of U.S. sisters—is still under orders to reform its ways to the satisfaction of the CDF. If Francis really wants a less authoritarian, more mission-focused church, shouldn’t he have called this whole thing off already?”
By Mollie Wilson O’Reilly, Commonweal — Click here to read the rest of this article.
Cardinal Seeks Truce in Fight between U.S. Nuns and Vatican’s Doctrinal Office / Religion News Service
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 22, 2014
A senior Vatican official on Tuesday (May 20) tried to defuse the damaging rift between the Vatican and U.S. nuns after a recent rebuke over obedience and doctrinal differences.
“Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, who heads the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life that oversees men’s and women’s religious orders, said there had been ‘sensitive times,’ but relations between religious orders and the Holy See remained ‘very close.'”
By Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Time to Face Facts: Pope Francis Agrees with the Doctrinal Assessment of LCWR / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clericalism, Pope Francis, Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 14, 2014
On May 9, 2013, I wrote the following headline: “For LCWR, the more the papacy changes, the more it stays the same.”
“One year later, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sadly, has confirmed my suspicions …
“Pope Francis and the women of LCWR share a deeply sacramental understanding of their calling to serve those on the margins of our world. They agree that it is in ministering to the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable that they touch the wounded body of Christ.
“Where they seem to disagree sharply, however, is in their understanding of religious life as a prophetic life form. When women religious touch the wounded body of Christ in their work, it breaks open their hearts in a way that compels them to ask deeper theological questions. It gives them the eyes to read the signs of the times and recognize the prophets in their midst. It gives them the courage ask bold new spiritual questions.”
By Jamie Manson, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this column.
Nuns Accused of Not Cooperating with Vatican / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 6, 2014
The Vatican chief of doctrine has accused U.S. women religious leaders of not abiding by a reform agenda the Vatican imposed on their leadership organization following a doctrinal assessment of the group.
“Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the leadership group they were ignoring procedures for choosing speakers for their annual conferences and questioned if their programs were promoting heresy.
“Using the most direct and confrontational language since the Vatican began to rein in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious two years ago, Müller told leaders of the conference that starting in August, they must have their annual conference programs approved by a Vatican-appointed overseer before the conference agendas and speakers are finalized.”
By Dennis Coday, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Pope Franics Keeps Cleric Who Led Crackdown on Liberal U.S. Nuns / Associated Press in Christian Science Monitor
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on September 23, 2013
Pope Francis on Saturday effectively demoted a highly conservative Italian cardinal who led the Vatican’s department on clergy, while keeping in place a German prelate who wages the Catholic church’s crackdown on liberal U.S. nuns and helps craft its sex-abuse response.
“After six months on the job to study the workings of the Vatican’s curia, or bureaucracy, Francis has now put his imprint on several key positions which help administer the Roman Catholic church’s worldwide flock. His management picks will likely both please and disappoint both conservatives and liberals alike, perhaps in line with his fledgling papacy, which has often defied labels in either camp.”
By Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press, in Christian Science Monitor. Read the rest of D’Emilio’s story by clicking here.
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