Posts Tagged nuns
U.S. Nuns Strike Positive Note on Vatican Investigation / Religion News Service
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Voice of the Faithful on August 20, 2013
U.S. Catholic nuns — accused by Rome of “radical feminism” for advocating social justice at the expense of issues such as abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia — responded to a Vatican knuckle rapping with a brief, conciliatory statement on Monday (Aug. 19). After its four-day annual assembly, the board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80 percent of the nation’s 57,000 sisters, emphasized the positive, and remained tight-lipped about negotiations to resolve the investigation.” By Mark Pinsky, Religion News Service
Read Pinsky’s entire story by clicking here.
LCWR Sisters Receive Few Details from Sartain on Reasons for Vatican Concern or on Process of Investigation Going Forward
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Religious Women, Vatican, Women Deacons on August 16, 2013
In his first address to representatives of U.S. Catholic sisters since his appointment in April 2012, the archbishop tasked by the Vatican to oversee their leadership group reportedly had little to offer regarding the reason for Vatican concern or how the process goes forward. Leaving Thursday’s (Aug. 16) closed-door meeting between Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), several sisters said they felt frustration at the lack of detail given by the prelate nearly 19 months into his mandate.” By Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
Read McElwee’s entire article, “Sartain Offers Few Details, Some Sisters Say,” 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
On St. Clare Feast, Catholics Support Sisters, Pray for Authentic Dialogue
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on August 7, 2013
Printed below is the news release disseminated by the Nun Justice Project, which is supported by Voice of the Faithful®, announcing that Catholics will pray in solidarity with the sisters this Sunday, Aug. 11, the feast of St. Clare, in advance of LCWR’s 2013 General Assembly next week, Aug. 13-17 (Download the Nun Justice Project prayer service for the feast of St. Clare by clicing here):
Contact: Erin Saiz Hanna 401-588-0457, Jim FitzGerald 773-404-0004
For immediate release: August 7, 2013
On St. Clare Feast Catholics Support Sisters, Pray for Authentic Dialogue
WASHINGTON D.C. – Next week, hundreds of Catholic nuns are expected to gather in Orlando, FL for the annual meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).
On August 11, 2013 in solidarity with U.S. women religious, thousands of Catholics will join in prayer [link to prayer] on the Feast of St. Clare.
“The pope intentionally chose St. Francis as his namesake, and he has shown himself to be open to dialogue” stated Erin Saiz Hanna, spokesperson for the Nun Justice Project. “St. Francis of Assisi’s sacred friendship with St. Clare is well documented. St. Francis worked collaboratively alongside his sisters rather than against them. We pray Pope Francis, and Archbishop Sartain, will not only speak but listen and authentically dialogue with the sisters as St. Francis did with St. Clare.”
LCWR, an umbrella group representing 80% of the 57,000 nuns in the United States, remains under scrutiny from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). In the spring of 2012 the CDF issued a statement accusing LCWR of promoting “radical feminist themes” and “corporate dissent,” causing outrage among Catholics around the globe.
LCWR responded that the CDF statement was based on “unsubstantiated accusations’ and the result of a “flawed process that lacked transparency.” Last August, the organization’s president, Sr. Pat Farrell, announced that “open and honest dialogue” would be LCWR’s next step with Archbishop Sartain who had been appointed to oversee the mandate.
Last summer, nearly 70,000 Catholics signed a Change.org petition and hundreds organized vigils to rally around the sisters.
“Catholics around the country have been inspired by the faith and work of the sisters and will continue to support them; we urge Pope Francis to recognize their commitment and contributions and dismiss the mandate,” said Jim FitzGerald, spokesperson for the Nun Justice Project.
The Nun Justice Project is a grassroots movement supported by the following organizations: American Catholic Council, Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, Call to Action, Catholics for Choice, CORPUS, DignityUSA, Federation of Christian Ministries, FutureChurch, New Ways Ministry, Quixote Center, RAPPORT, Voice of the Faithful, WATER: Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, and Women’s Ordination Conference.
For more information, visit www.nunjustice.org
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.
For LCWR, the more the papacy changes, the more it stays the same | National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 9, 2013
A Message from Pope Francis for Clergy to Be Humble Servants?
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 9, 2013
Pope Francis spoke recently to the heads of religious orders of nuns gathered in Rome from around the world. In his address, he admonished the clergy for their ambitions. Philip Pullella, a writer for Reuters, said this is a call from Pope Francis for servant leadership from all the clergy. Other writers have had different opinions about the Pope’s address, but we are greatly in favor of servant leadership. As a speaker at a Voice of the Faithful® event once said — Every sacristy should have a sign above the door reading “Servants Entrance.” Here is a link to Pullella’s story as it appeared in The Washington Post, “No Room for ‘Careerists’ or ‘Social Climbers’ among Clergy, Pope Says.”
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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