LCWR 'stunned' by Vatican's latest move

[hedgehog]

Source: National Catholic Reporter

The largest leadership organization for U.S. women religious says it was "stunned" by the announcement Wednesday that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had ordered it to reform its statutes and had appointed an archbishop to oversee its revision.
"The presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was stunned by the conclusions of the doctrinal assessment of LCWR by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," the group said in a news release Thursday morning.

According to the document from the congregation, Sartain is to be given authority over the group in five areas, including:
Revising LCWR statutes;
Reviewing LCWR plans and programs;
Creating new programs for the organization;
Reviewing and offering guidance on the application of liturgical texts; and
Reviewing LCWR's affiliations with other organizations, citing specifically NETWORK and the Resource Center for Religious Institutes.

The document from the congregation re-emphasizes the reason for the doctrinal assessment, writing that Levada told LCWR leadership in 2008 that the congregation had three major areas of concern with the group:
The content of speakers' addresses at the annual LCWR assemblies;
"Corporate dissent" in the congregation regarding the church's sexual teachings; and
"A prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith" present in some of the organizations programs and presentations.

Read more: http://ncronline.org/news/women-religious/lcwr-stunned-vaticans-latest-move

---

The Sisters have supported Obama, especially the Health Care reform Act.

The Sisters actually read, studied and followed the documents of Vatican II.

In most parishes, its the Sisters who do the work of teaching children and adults, as well as visiting the sick and infirm; not the priests.

I believe the Sisters are closer to understanding and following the teachings of Christ than the bishops.

If it comes to it, I'm following the Sisters!

If it comes down to it

[Mz Pip]

1. 11th century patriarchal thinking

Seems the church is getting desperate in its attempt to hold onto outdated patriarchal dogma.

[catbyte]

2. Of course the sisters are closer

They're the ones in the trenches and know what is what. The bishops and cardinals are red-robed Masters of the Universe in their ivory towers. Totally clueless. Completely political. Barely righteous.

[SharonAnn]

6. The men are just "bachelors wearing dresses".

[catbyte]

9. LOL

[nolabear]

3. Like the song says, Sisters Are Doing it for Themselves.

And we all need to jump in the line!

[benld74]

4. Stunning? No just ignorant

HOW, for ALL the years of covering birth control in their health plans, they NOW realize they were doing it? THAT is just ludicrous at best, ignorant all around.
NOTHING was stated before Obama, NOW all HOLY H8LL breaks out!

Sickens my stomach,,,,,

[Arugula Latte]

5. Sisters: Just walk away from Churchco.

It will crumble without women.

[SharonAnn]

8. Yes, I walked away and, if asked, explain why.

I cannot support an organization that will not let people like me fully participate in leadership and membership roles.

I cannot support an organization that formally dictates what I and people like me can do while having different rules for others.

To me, that's pretty simple.

[Kelvin Mace]

7. BTW, for non-Catholics out there

The "Council for the Doctrine of the Faithful" is the The Inquisition, the organization Pope Rat of which was Gruppenfuhrer.

Yes, The Inquisition still exists.

[LongTomH]

12. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition

"Our chief weapons are fear and surprise!"

Oh, and nice red uniforms!

[Kelvin Mace]

40. Well, technically

they are the Roman Inquisition. But everything else is true. Then again, I have been expecting the Inquisition ever since they appoint the Chief Inquisitor (and ex-Nazi) pope.

(Then again, arguments can be made about the "ex" part.)

[Old and In the Way]

10. It's the Republicanization of the Church's Bishop Class.

They've thrown their lot in with Republicans and I hope they pay dearly with their remaining congregations...unlike governing institutions, the association with the Church is voluntary and they can send a real message by stop suppoting them at Mass and at the collection plate. Just say no, Sisters!

[Frances]

11. War on Women?

Are the Bishops declaring war on Catholic women?

[hedgehog]

13. Yes.

[lovuian]

29. It has to do with having a voice at Conclave and a seat at the table

Women have Rights

[hedgehog]

35. Perhaps a more accurate representation?

[tru]

42. on his right

I hope that's Mary Magdalene. I always thought they were, shall we say, close and the later creeps trashed her reputation.

[Amonester]

16. Hasn't it ALWAYS been any different?

I mean, since the third century (more or less)?

[Cal33]

14. Well, both Nostradamus and a sainted Irish mystic (who lived 3 centuries before Nostradamus)

named only one more pope after the present one. They gave no explanations,
they simply stopped listing further names. I wonder what it might mean.

[Yo_Mama]

15. It's really not a surprise

When you have speakers at your conferences talking about moving beyond the Church and beyond Jesus, whatever you are, you ain't Catholic no more.

Yes, the Pope is still Christian and Catholic. Everybody knew this was coming.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/women_religious_leadership_conference_faces_investigation_for_continued_problems/

She described the Benedictine Women of Madison as having a commitment to “ecumenism” which led them “beyond the exclusivity of the Catholic Church into a new inclusivity, where all manner of seeking God is welcomed. They are certainly religious women, but they are no longer women religious as it is defined by the Roman Catholic Church. They choose as a congregation to step outside the Church in order to step into a greater sense of holiness. Theirs was a choice of integrity, insight and courage.”

When you announce in public that you aren't Catholic any more, don't expect the Catholic church not to take notice!

That particular speaker was critical of traditional Catholic women's orders, and I do believe that some of them complained.

[JDPriestly]

26. The insularity of the Catholic Church is an anachronism.

It is the Evangelical and very liberal churches that are expanding their influence in the world.

Getting along well with others is one of the keys to success. That key is not on this Pope's chain.

The Catholic Church always struggles against progress. This is the Catholic Church that supported Hitler as Hitler carried some of its nuns off to prison camp.

[hedgehog]

33. Be careful when citing sources from the Right wing of the Church -

there is a tendency to take words out of context and otherwise misrepresent liberals.

[patrice]

17. Let's all guess how much access the Congregation has given Robert P. George on these issues.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

18. "Sit. Heel. Stay! Roll over!" At last, the Vatican

gets to stomp out the last vestige of women's rights in the church.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

19. I was taught by Dominicans for 12 years --

some of the finest people I've ever known.

If only THEY ran the Vatican/Catholic Church....my how different things would be.

[Cal33]

27. It was exactly the Dominican Order that was ordered by the popes to run the Inquisition

during the Middle Ages. The important thing is that the Catholic Church no longer
has the worldly power that she did at that time. The saying "Power corrupts, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely" applies to everyone. Clerics, in general, are
much nicer people today than they were then.

[Odin2005]

20. Fucking assholes, the nuns and Jesuits are the only decent part of the RCC.

[hedgehog]

21. Hey - don't forget the Franciscans and Benedictines!

[cliffordu]

22. Ah, yes, Deathcult 2000 at it again....

[ArtiChoke]

23. John 16:12

...when Rome tries to reign in the Holy Spirit I have to laugh.

[hedgehog]

24. The men in red silk dresses are frightened by

women in pants!

[radhika]

25. What did these women expect - seriously?

The entire history of the Catholic Church has been anti-women.

Agreed: they aren't burning us these days (as far as I know). But they adamantly refuse to admit women into the priesthood, control and dominate women's bodies in matters of reproduction and health, block women from sharing the goodies in areas of power, wealth and dominance. Equality is not the way that obscenely wealthy and increasingly perverse patriarchy rolls. And they ain't gonna change.

My question to LCWR is what made them sign up for this life, in that organization in the first place? For a person who is naturally spiritual and/or altruistic, there are many other paths. Ladies, think about your choices.

[Cal33]

28. Maybe some of them were very young when they joined up, and have changed their minds as

they matured.

[radhika]

31. This is an opportunity to start a New Religion - I hope they do! n/t

[hedgehog]

34. I'm not looking for a new religion - I'm looking for a way to free

my religion from the control of a tight clique of old men. St. Peter wasn't the first Pope, he wasn't even Bishop of Rome! The Church got along fine for many years without the Vatican, it can do so again! What happens next may be the first steps in that process.

[Cal33]

37. If you're relatively young, you may get your wish. Some people do believe that

there will be only one more pope after the present one - named by
Nostradamus and the sainted Irish mystic who lived 300 years before
Nostradamus.

Yes, new religions are literally born every day. I had a neighbor once
who brought me to her church. It was a nice medium-sized building
and looked very new. I asked her how many members there were.
She said,"150." I said, "I mean, throughout the whole country." She
replied that this was it, the only one. It was started 10 years
previously by two men. It was of the evangelical, fundamentalist
genre: those who didn't believe in their way of interpreting the
Bible would go to you know where.

Later on I read that there were some 20,000 such religions or sects in the
US alone!

My guess is that the USA alone has more such tiny sects than the rest of
the world put together.

Do we really need more of them?

[lovuian]

30. They want to change the Vatican

one of the most powerful organizations in the World
I commend them

[hedgehog]

32. I think the opposite is true.

There has almost always been a lot of anti-feminist feeling at the top since Constantine made us the state religion. On the other hand, when women started running convents, it was women running convents! They were a place for those with a real vocation and those who were discarded by a male society (widows, extra daughters without dowries, women who didn't want to marry, etc.) to go and live as independent a life as possible given the times. It was also one place where women could get an education! For many women in this country in the 19th and early 20th centuries, entering the convent offered an escape from being an unpaid maid to the rest of the family! As noted above, since the Women's Rights Movement of the late 60's, women have had other alternatives and have seized them.

What we have here is a power grab by the Vatican trying to seize control of these communities of lay women and their assets!

[BootinUp]

36. No surprise really.

The Church is so hard right at the top now, all dissent will be silenced!

[Marrah_G]

38. So apparently the church doesn't even trust them to lead themselves.

If the Vatican disappeared from the Earth it would be an improvement for civilization.

[hedgehog]

39. Amen!

[truebrit71]

41. x2

...That cult of child-buggerers disgusts me..

[eringer]

43. Ratzinger - A Good Friend of the Republican Party

"Don't worry George, I will make it hell on earth for the Democrat Party just for you."