[Vision2020] Uppity Women

Thu Apr 19 15:21:56 PDT 2012

  *Vatican orders crackdown on US nun association*

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer – 20 hours ago

The Vatican orthodoxy watchdog announced Wednesday a full-scale overhaul of
the largest umbrella group for nuns in the United States, accusing the
group of taking positions that undermine Roman Catholic teaching on the
priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "certain radical feminist
themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

An American archbishop was appointed to oversee reform of the Leadership
Conference of Women Religious, which will include rewriting the group's
statutes, reviewing all its plans and programs -- including approving
speakers -- and ensuring the organization properly follows Catholic prayer
and ritual.

The Leadership Conference, based in Silver Spring, Md., represents about
57,000 religious sisters and offers programs ranging from leadership
training for women's religious orders to advocacy on social justice issues.
Representatives of the Leadership Conference did not respond to requests
for comment.

The report from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the
organization faced a "grave" doctrinal crisis, in which issues of "crucial
importance" to the church, such as abortion and euthanasia, have been
ignored. Vatican officials also castigated the group for making some public
statements that "disagree with or challenge positions taken by the
bishops," who are the church's authentic teachers of faith and morals."

Church officials did not cite a specific example of those public
statements, but said the reform would include a review of ties between the
Leadership Conference and NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby. NETWORK
played a key role in supporting the Obama administration's health care
overhaul despite the bishops' objections that the bill would provide
government funding for abortion. The Leadership Conference disagreed with
the bishops' analysis of the law and also supported President Barack
Obama's plan.

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, said in a phone
interview that the timing of the report suggested a link between their
health care stand and the Vatican crackdown. The review began in 2009 and
ran through June 2010, a few months after the health care law was approved.
The report does not cite Obama or the bill.

"I can only infer that there was strong feeling about the health care
position that we had taken," Campbell said. "Our position on health care
was application of the one faith to a political document that we read
differently than the bishops."

When the Vatican-ordered inquiry was initially announced, many religious
sisters and their supporters said the investigation reflected church
officials' misogyny and was an insult to religious sisters, who run
hospitals, teach, and play other vital service roles in the church.
Conservative Catholics, however, have long complained that the majority of
sisters in the U.S. have grown too liberal and flout church teaching.

Around the same time of the doctrinal review of the Leadership Conference,
the Vatican ordered an Apostolic Visitation, or investigation, of all
American congregations for religious sisters, looking at quality of life,
the response to dissent and "the soundness of doctrine held and taught" by
the women. The results of that inquiry have not been released.

The report released Wednesday paints a scathing portrait of the Leadership
Conference of Women's Religious as consistently violating Catholic teaching.

Investigators cited a speech by Sister Laurie Brink at an annual assembly
that argued that religious sisters were "'moving beyond the church' or even
beyond Jesus." Brink is a professor at the Catholic Theological Union in
Chicago. She did not respond to an email request for comment.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the Leadership
Conference had submitted letters that suggest that sisters in leadership
teams "collectively take a position not in agreement with the church's
teaching on human sexuality."

In programs and presentations, investigators noted "a prevalence of certain
radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

"Some commentaries on 'patriarchy' distort the way in which Jesus has
structured sacramental life in the church," the authors of the report
wrote. The investigation also found that while the Leadership Conference
has emphasized Catholic social justice doctrine, the group has been "silent
on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is
part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the
United States.

The reform will be managed by Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain and could
stretch over five years.

Nick Cafardi, a canon lawyer and former dean of Duqesne Law School, said he
has worked over the years with many nuns and that the description in the
report does not reflect his experience with them. Cafardi is an Obama
supporter.

"I don't know any more holy people," Cafardi said of American religious
sisters. "I see a lot more holiness in the convents than I see in the
chancery."

   - Vatican Orders Overhaul of US Nun
Group<http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/04/19/vatican-orders-overhaul-of-us-nun-group/>
   Voice of America (blog) - 5 hours ago
   - Vatican condemns American nuns for liberal
stances<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jSwNVKlhdTG4M_LkYGjGmAHQZOLw?docId=CNG.e7ba6bdae21b774766f36c7f3c785aa1.61>
   AFP - 6 hours ago
   - Vatican takes on US nuns over gays and all-male
priesthood<http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/19/vatican-takes-on-u-s-nuns-over-gays-and-all-male-priesthood/>
   National Post - 6 hours ago
   - More coverage (1)
»<http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=dlx1y23jx9flozMbaxZpQItVf5j2M&hl=en&ned=us>

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