Can anyone here tell us how the story about the Vatican And LCWR is playing outside the US?

[hedgehog]

[Matilda]

1. From Australian Websites:

Last edited Thu Apr 26, 2012, 10:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Eureka Street, the Jesuit site, has this article:

But if the church is to be judged by its commitment to reconciliation, it is hard to rejoice at this action. The Bishops may be able to establish an effective office for dealing with women religious, but it is hard to see how the religious themselves could see the revised institution as effectively representing them. Their communication will be increasingly through social networks and informal gatherings.

And their trust in the male leadership of the church will inevitably be weakened.

More broadly the Vatican action raises the same questions about respect and process as did the dismissal of Bishop Morris in Toowoomba. But its potential consequences are much larger because the women's religious orders in the United States are so involved in medical care and education.

If relationships between the Bishops and these institutions are marked by distrust the capacity of the Catholic Church plausibly to defend human dignity in the public sphere will be eroded. And the mistrust of the Catholic Church among Western women from a Catholic background will grow.

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=31071


On Edit: This was also covered on 24th April by The sydney Morning Herald:

WASHINGTON: While the US priesthood is battered by controversies over paedophilia and cover-ups, the Vatican has disciplined the country's largest organisation of nuns, prompting fierce debate within the faith.

The Vatican found the nuns' organisation had ''radical feminist'' tendencies and had not taken a strong enough stance in support of Catholic doctrine against women's ordination, ministering to homosexuals, and abortion and contraception.

In a statement, the presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents most of the US's 55,000 nuns, said it was ''stunned'' by the findings of the assessment, conducted by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict led before his election.


http://www.smh.com.au/world/nuns-left-stunned-by-vatican-rebuke-for-radical-feminist-tendencies-20120423-1xhcm.html

I don't read Murdoch's "The Australian", and it's subscription only anyway.

[hedgehog]

2. Thank you, Matilda, I knew you'd come through!

I'd have to say that most American Catholics have no idea what happened to Bishop Morris. Indeed, very few know about Bishop Gumbleton in Detroit! I know there's been quite a stir in Ireland these days, with two priests silenced. Austria seems to be a hot-bed also. I have no idea what's going on in South America, Asia or Africa. All I hear from those places are very vague rumors. For example, I have the impression that very conservative Cardinals are appointed out of Africa, but that the picture is very different on the ground. Of course, you can see how little I know about it since I name entire continents rather than even single countries!

I do know that in Nigeria Catholics are fighting with Moslems as much over tribal rivalries as religion (the same as in Belfast!), so their focus is different. In China, the confusion caused by the infighting between the government and the Vatican must be a real problem. (Funny how neither side suggests letting the people select their bishops!)

[Matilda]

3. Nicholas D. Kristof: We Are All Nuns

The Vatican issued a stinging reprimand of American nuns this month and ordered a bishop to oversee a makeover of the organization that represents 80 percent of them. In effect, the Vatican accused the nuns of worrying too much about the poor and not enough about abortion and gay marriage.

What Bible did that come from? Jesus in the Gospels repeatedly talks about poverty and social justice, yet never explicitly mentions either abortion or homosexuality. If you look at who has more closely emulated Jesus’s life, Pope Benedict or your average nun, it’s the nun hands down.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/kristof-we-are-all-nuns.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[Matilda]

4. CRA offers support to LCWR in America

Catholic Religious Australia has offered a letter of support to the LCWR in America, according to a statement released by CRA.

"On behalf of the Council of Catholic Religious Australia I write to offer you and all your Sisters in LCWR our support at this time," writes CRA President Sr Anne Derwin.

"We appreciate that your Board is yet to meet and discuss the conclusions of the Congregation for Faith and Doctrine of the Faith’s doctrinal assessment and the implementation plan put forward by that Vatican Office.

"We thank you for your example of conducting this discussion calmly, without judgment and in an atmosphere of prayer, contemplation and dialogue. This way of operating is the norm for you. Be assured that the women and men religious of Australia are praying for you."

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=31176

[hedgehog]

5. And so it begins ?

[hedgehog]

6. "Hundreds of priests and laity gather to discuss future of church"

"THE CONFERENCE room at the Regency Hotel on Dublin’s Swords Road has a capacity of 735. It is where an event the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) entitles “Towards an Assembly of the Irish Catholic Church” is to take place from today.

The room may not be big enough this morning. Aimed at laity and clergy alike, it is expected to be “a sellout”, as one priest said at the weekend. Bishops, too, have been invited.

There are 815 priest members of the association alone. But, following recent disclosures of the censuring of Irish priests by Rome in the BBC This World documentary last week, which detailed Cardinal Seán Brady’s inquiries into serial paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth, what was expected to be a well-attended event now looks like being overcrowded.

That one of those priests censured by Rome is Fr Tony Flannery of the ACP leadership team will serve as just another incentive for restive Catholics to attend this gathering on what is also a bank holiday Monday."

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0507/1224315687844.html