Bridget Mary's Reflection,
It is time for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), representing the majority of nuns in the United States, to issue an emancipation proclamation from Vatican control.
"Free at last" as our brother Martin Luther King reminds us, "thank God almighty, we are free at last!."
The Vatican has put their cards on the table. No surprise that it is all about power and control-
obedience to the hierarchy vs. primacy of conscience.
One example, of course, is your refusal to support the Vatican's teaching on women's ordination! Imagine that!
"For example, the LCWR publicly expressed in 1977 its refusal to assent to the
teaching of Inter insigniores on the reservation of priestly ordination to men. This public
refusal has never been corrected. Beyond this, the CDF understands that speakers at
conferences or general assemblies do not submit their texts for prior review by the LCWR
Presidency. But, as the Assessment demonstrated, the sum of those talks over the years is a
matter of serious concern."
Sisters, as you have done so in the past throughout the church's history, speak truth to power.
Name the Vatican misogyny publically in your response and express your affirmation of gender equality including women's ordination.
It is a "Teresa Kane" moment for the LCWR! I was present when Mercy Sister Teresa Kane clearly and boldly raised the issue of women's ordination to Pope John Paul 11 on his visit to the United States in the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
Do not try to "make nice".
Name the oppression of women, the sexism, at the heart of this decree. in this decree.
Nuns should not be treated as second class citizens by the male hierarchy.
The spiritual integrity of women in our church is at stake.
Millions of Catholics love and support you, our Sisters.
For women religious called to priestly ministry in a community of equals, it is time to move forward with public ordinations as a witness to Gospel equality. This is our sacred heritage.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests welcomes nuns to serve our church in renewed priestly ministry in a more open, inclusive, egalitarian church! Justice for all, justice for the poor, justice for women, including women's ordination is our unique charism and reflects your vision too!
As a Sister for Christian Community, I am blessed with freedom to live my vocation as a woman priest. I serve God's people in an inclusive Christ-centered, community empowered by the Spirit in Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community in Florida! Sisters, the ball is in your court again! It is apparent to many in the women priests movement that the Vatican is the gift that keeps on giving. The more they oppose, the more we grow! May this decree issue in your cry of "enough" as you move forward inspired by the liberating Spirit of God.
Bridget Mary Meehan, SFCC and ARCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
sofiabmm@aol.com
703-505-0004
Congregatio
Pro Doctrina Fidei
Doctrinal Assessment
of the
Leadership Conference of Women
Religious
I. Introduction
The context in which the current doctrinal Assessment
of the Leadership Conference
of Women Religious in the United States of America is
best situated is articulated by Pope
John Paul II in the Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Vita consecrata
of 1996.
Commenting on the genius of the charism of religious
life in the Church, Pope John Paul
says: “In founders and
foundresses we see a constant and lively sense of the Church, which
they manifest by their full participation in all
aspects of the Church’s life, and in their ready
obedience to the Bishops and especially to the Roman
Pontiff. Against this background of
love towards Holy Church ‘the pillar and bulwark of
truth’ (1 Tim 3:15), we readily
understand…the full ecclesial communion which the
Saints, founders and foundresses, have
shared in diverse and often difficult times and
circumstances. They are examples which
consecrated persons need constantly to recall if they
are to resist the particularly strong
centrifugal and disruptive forces at work today. A
distinctive aspect of ecclesial communion
is allegiance of mind and heart to the Magisterium of
the Bishops, an allegiance which must
be lived honestly and clearly testified to before the
People of God by all consecrated persons,
especially those involved in theological research,
teaching, publishing, catechesis and the use
of the means of social communication. Because
consecrated persons have a special place in
the Church, their attitude in this regard is of
immense importance for the whole People of
God” (n.
46).
The Holy See acknowledges with gratitude the great
contribution of women Religious
to the Church in the United States as seen
particularly in the many schools, hospitals, and
institutions of support for the poor which have been
founded and staffed by Religious over the
years. Pope John Paul II expressed this gratitude
well in his meeting with Religious from the
United States in San Francisco on September 17, 1987,
when he said: I rejoice because of
your deep love of the Church and your generous
service to God’s people...The extensive
Catholic educational and health care systems, the
highly developed network of social services
in the Church - none of this would exist today, were
it not for your highly motivated
dedication and the dedication of those who have gone
before you. The spiritual vigor of so
many Catholic people testifies to the efforts of
generations of religious in this land. The
history of the Church in this country is in large
measure your history at the service of God’s
people. The renewal of
the Leadership Conference of Women Religious which is the goal of
2
this doctrinal Assessment is in support of this
essential charism of Religious which has been
so obvious in the life and growth of the Catholic
Church in the United States.
While recognizing that this doctrinal Assessment
concerns a particular conference of
major superiors and therefore does not intend to
offer judgment on the faith and life of
Women Religious in the member Congregations which
belong to that conference,
nevertheless the Assessment reveals serious doctrinal
problems which affect many in
Consecrated Life. On the doctrinal level, this crisis
is characterized by a diminution of the
fundamental Christological center and focus of
religious consecration which leads, in turn, to
a loss of a “constant and lively sense of the Church”
among some Religious. The current
doctrinal Assessment arises out of a sincere concern
for the life of faith in some Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. It
arises as well from a conviction that the
work of any conference of major superiors of women
Religious can and should be a fruitful
means of addressing the contemporary situation and
supporting religious life in its most
“radical” sense—that is, in the faith in which it is
rooted. According to Canon Law,
conferences of major superiors are an expression of
the collaboration between the Holy See,
Superiors General, and the local Conferences of
Bishops in support of consecrated life. The
overarching concern of the doctrinal Assessment is,
therefore, to assist the Leadership
Conference of Women Religious in the United States in
implementing an ecclesiology of
communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the
Church as the essential foundation for its
important service to religious Communities and to all
those in consecrated life.
II. The doctrinal
Assessment
The decision of the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith (CDF) to undertake a
doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of
Women Religious (LCWR) was
communicated to the LCWR Presidency during their
meeting with Cardinal William Levada
in Rome on April 8, 2008. At that meeting, three
major areas of concern were given as
motivating the CDF’s decision to initiate the
Assessment:
o Addresses at
the LCWR Assemblies. Addresses given during LCWR
annual
Assemblies manifest problematic statements and
serious theological, even doctrinal
errors. The Cardinal offered as an example specific
passages of Sr. Laurie Brink’s
address about some Religious “moving beyond the
Church” or even beyond Jesus.
This is a challenge not only to core Catholic
beliefs; such a rejection of faith is also a
serious source of scandal and is incompatible with
religious life. Such unacceptable
positions routinely go unchallenged by the LCWR,
which should provide resources for
member Congregations to foster an ecclesial vision of
religious life, thus helping to
correct an erroneous vision of the Catholic faith as
an important exercise of charity.
Some might see in Sr. Brink’s analysis a
phenomenological snapshot of religious life
today. But Pastors of the Church should also see in
it a cry for help.
o Policies of
Corporate Dissent. The Cardinal spoke of this issue in
reference to letters
the CDF received from “Leadership Teams” of various
Congregations, among them
LCWR Officers, protesting the Holy See’s actions
regarding the question of women’s
ordination and of a correct pastoral approach to
ministry to homosexual persons, e.g.
letters about New Ways Ministry’s conferences. The
terms of the letters suggest that
these sisters collectively take a position not in
agreement with the Church’s teaching
on human sexuality. It is a serious matter when these
Leadership Teams are not
3
providing effective leadership and example to their
communities, but place themselves
outside the Church’s
teaching.
o Radical
Feminism. The Cardinal noted a prevalence of certain
radical feminist
themes incompatible with the Catholic faith in some
of the programs and presentations
sponsored by the LCWR, including theological
interpretations that risk distorting faith
in Jesus and his loving Father who sent his Son for
the salvation of the world.
Moreover, some commentaries on “patriarchy” distort
the way in which Jesus has
structured sacramental life in the Church; others
even undermine the revealed
doctrines of the Holy Trinity, the divinity of
Christ, and the inspiration of Sacred
Scripture.
Subsequently, in a letter dated February 18, 2009,
the CDF confirmed its decision to
undertake a doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR and
named Most Rev. Leonard Blair, Bishop
of Toledo, as the CDF’s Delegate for the Assessment.
This decision was further discussed
with the LCWR Presidency during their visit to the
CDF on April 22, 2009. During that
meeting, Cardinal Levada confirmed that the doctrinal
Assessment comes as a result of
several years of examination of the doctrinal content
of statements from the LCWR and of
their annual conferences. The Assessment’s primary
concern is the doctrine of the faith that
has been revealed by God in Jesus Christ, presented
in written form in the divinely inspired
Scriptures, and handed on in the Apostolic Tradition
under the guidance of the Church’s
Magisterium. It is this Apostolic teaching, so richly
and fully taught by the Second Vatican
Council, that should underlie the work of a
conference of major superiors of Religious which,
by its nature, has a canonical relationship to the
Holy See and many of whose members are of
Pontifical right.
Most Rev. Leonard Blair communicated a set of
doctrinal Observations to the
LCWR
in a letter dated May 11, 2009, and subsequently met
with the Presidency on May 27, 2009.
The LCWR Presidency responded to the
Observations in a letter
dated October 20, 2009.
Based on this response, and on subsequent
correspondence between the Presidency of the
LCWR and the Delegate, Bishop Blair submitted his
findings to the CDF on December 22,
2009.
On June 25, 2010, Bishop Blair presented further
documentation on the content of the
LCWR’s Mentoring
Leadership Manual and also on the organizations associated
with the
LCWR, namely Network
and The Resource Center for Religious Institutes.
The
documentation reveals that, while there has been a
great deal of work on the part of LCWR
promoting issues of social justice in harmony with
the Church’s social doctrine, it is 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. Further, issues of crucial
importance to the life of Church and society, such as
the Church’s Biblical view of family life
and human sexuality, are not part of the LCWR agenda
in a way that promotes Church
teaching. Moreover, occasional public statements by
the LCWR that disagree with or
challenge positions taken by the Bishops, who are the
Church’s authentic teachers of faith and
morals, are not compatible with its
purpose.
All of the documentation from the doctrinal
Assessment including the LCWR
responses was presented to the Ordinary Session of
the Cardinal and Bishop Members of the
CDF on January 12, 2011. The decision of that
Ordinary Session was:
1) The current doctrinal and pastoral situation of
the LCWR is grave and a matter of
serious concern, also given the influence the LCWR
exercises on religious
Congregations in other parts of the world;
4
2) After the currently-ongoing Visitation of
religious communities of women in the
United States is brought to a conclusion, the Holy
See should intervene with the
prudent steps necessary to effect a reform of the
LCWR;
3) The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
will examine the various forms of
canonical intervention available for the resolution
of the problematic aspects present in
the LCWR.
The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in an Audience
granted to the Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal
William Joseph Levada, on January 14,
2011, approved the decisions of the Ordinary Session
of the Congregation, and ordered their
implementation. This action by the Holy Father should
be understood in virtue of the
mandate given by the Lord to Simon Peter as the rock
on which He founded his Church (cf.
Luke 22:32): “I have prayed for you, Peter, that your
faith may not fail; and when you have
turned to me, you must strengthen the faith of your
brothers and sisters.” This Scripture
passage has long been applied to the role of the
Successors of Peter as Head of the Apostolic
College of Bishops; it also applies to the role of
the Pope as Chief Shepherd and Pastor of the
Universal Church. Not least among the flock to whom
the Pope’s pastoral concern is directed
are women Religious of apostolic life, who through
the past several centuries have been so
instrumental in building up the faith and life of the
Holy Church of God, and witnessing to
God’s love for humanity in so many charitable and
apostolic works.
Since the Final Report of the Apostolic Visitation of
women Religious in the United
States has now been submitted to the Holy See (in
December, 2011), the CDF turns to the
implementation of the above-mentioned decisions
approved by the Holy Father as an
extension of his pastoral outreach to the Church in
the United States. For the purpose of this
implementation, and in consultation with the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL) and the
Congregation for Bishops, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has
decided to execute the mandate to assist in the
necessary reform of the Leadership Conference of
Women Religious through the appointment
of a Archbishop Delegate, who will – with the
assistance of a group of advisors (bishops,
priests, and women Religious) – proceed to work with
the leadership of the LCWR to achieve
the goals necessary to address the problems outlined
in this statement. The mandate given to
the Delegate provides the structure and flexibility
for the delicate work of such
implementation.
The moment for such a common effort seems all the
more opportune in view of an
implementation of the recommendations of the recent
Apostolic Visitation of women
Religious in the United States, and in view of this
year’s 50th anniversary of the beginning of
the Second Vatican Council, whose theological vision
and practical recommendations for
Consecrated Life can serve as a providential template
for review and renewal of religious life
in the United States, and of the mandate of Church
law for the work of this conference of
major superiors to which the large majority of
congregations of women Religious in the
United States belong.
5
III. Implementation: Conclusions of Doctrinal
Assessment and Mandate
1) Principal Findings of the Doctrinal
Assessment
LCWR General Assemblies, Addresses, and Occasional
Papers
One of the principal means by which the LCWR promotes
its particular vision of
religious life is through the annual Assemblies it
sponsors. During the Assessment process,
Bishop Blair, in his letter of May 11, 2009,
presented the LCWR Presidency with a study and
doctrinal evaluation of keynote addresses,
presidential addresses, and Leadership Award
addresses over a 10 year period. This study found
that the talks, while not scholarly
theological discourses per
se, do have significant doctrinal and moral
content and implications
which often contradict or ignore magisterial
teaching.
In its response, the Presidency of the LCWR
maintained that it does not knowingly
invite speakers who take a stand against a teaching
of the Church “when it has been declared
as authoritative teaching.” Further, the Presidency
maintains that the assertions made by
speakers are their own and do not imply intent on the
part of the LCWR. Given the facts
examined, however, this response is inadequate. The
Second Vatican Council clearly
indicates that an authentic teaching of the Church
calls for the religious submission of
intellect and will, and is not limited to defined
dogmas or ex cathedra statements (cf.
Lumen
gentium, 25). For
example, the LCWR publicly expressed in 1977 its refusal to assent to
the
teaching of Inter
insigniores on the reservation of priestly ordination to
men. This public
refusal has never been corrected. Beyond this, the
CDF understands that speakers at
conferences or general assemblies do not submit their
texts for prior review by the LCWR
Presidency. But, as the Assessment demonstrated, the
sum of those talks over the years is a
matter of serious concern.
Several of the addresses at LCWR conferences present
a vision or description of
religious life that does not conform to the faith and
practice of the Church. Since the LCWR
leadership has offered no clarification about such
statements, some might infer that such
positions are endorsed by them. As an entity approved
by the Holy See for the coordination
and support of religious Communities in the United
States, LCWR also has a positive
responsibility for the promotion of the faith and for
providing its member Communities and
the wider Catholic public with clear and persuasive
positions in support of the Church’s
vision of religious life.
Some speakers claim that dissent from the doctrine of
the Church is justified as an
exercise of the prophetic office. But this is based
upon a mistaken understanding of the
dynamic of prophecy in the Church: it justifies
dissent by positing the possibility of
divergence between the Church’s magisterium and a
“legitimate” theological intuition of
some of the faithful. “Prophecy,” as a methodological
principle, is here directed at
the
Magisterium and the Church’s pastors, whereas true
prophecy is a grace which accompanies
the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian
life and ministries within the Church,
regulated and verified by the Church’s faith and
teaching office. Some of the addresses at
LCWR-sponsored events perpetuate a distorted
ecclesiological vision, and have scant regard
for the role of the Magisterium as the guarantor of
the authentic interpretation of the Church’s
faith.
6
The analysis of the General Assemblies, Presidential
Addresses, and Occasional
Papers reveals,
therefore, a two-fold problem. The first consists in positive error
(i.e.
doctrinally problematic statements or formal
refutation of Church teaching found in talks
given at LCWR-sponsored conferences or General
Assemblies). The second level of the
problem concerns the silence and inaction of the LCWR
in the face of such error, given its
responsibility to support a vision of religious life
in harmony with that of the Church and to
promote a solid doctrinal basis for religious life.
With this Assessment, the CDF intends to
assist the LCWR in placing its activity into a wider
context of religious life in the universal
Church in order to foster a vision of consecrated
life consistent with the Church’s teaching. In
this wider context, the CDF notes the absence of
initiatives by the LCWR aimed at promoting
the reception of the Church’s teaching, especially on
difficult issues such as Pope John Paul
II’s Apostolic Letter Ordinatio
sacerdotalis and Church teaching about
homosexuality.
The Role of the LCWR in the Doctrinal Formation of
Religious Superiors and Formators
The program for new Superiors and Formators of member
Communities and other
resources provided to these Communities is an area in
which the LCWR exercises an
influence. The doctrinal Assessment found that many
of the materials prepared by the LCWR
for these purposes (Occasional
Papers, Systems Thinking Handbook) do not have a
sufficient
doctrinal foundation. These materials recommend
strategies for dialogue, for example when
sisters disagree about basic matters of Catholic
faith or moral practice, but it is not clear
whether this dialogue is directed towards reception
of Church teaching. As a case in point,
the Systems
Thinking Handbook presents a situation in which sisters differ
over whether the
Eucharist should be at the center of a special
community celebration since the celebration of
Mass requires an ordained priest, something which
some sisters find “objectionable.”
According to the Systems
Thinking Handbook this difficulty is rooted in differences at
the
level of belief, but also in different cognitive
models (the “Western mind” as opposed to an
“Organic mental model”). These models, rather than
the teaching of the Church, are offered
as tools for the resolution of the controversy of
whether or not to celebrate Mass. Thus the
Systems Thinking Handbook
presents a neutral model of Congregational
leadership that does
not give due attention to the responsibility which
Superiors are called to exercise, namely,
leading sisters into a greater appreciation or
integration of the truth of the Catholic faith.
The Final Report of the Apostolic Visitation of
Religious Communities of Women in
the United States (July, 2011) found that the
formation programs among several communities
that belong to the LCWR did not have significant
doctrinal content but rather were oriented
toward professional formation regarding particular
issues of ministerial concern to the
Institute. Other programs reportedly stressed their
own charism and history, and/or the
Church’s social teaching or social justice in
general, with little attention to basic Catholic
doctrine, such as that contained in the authoritative
text of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church. While these
formation programs were not directly the object of this doctrinal
Assessment, it may nevertheless be concluded that
confusion about the Church’s authentic
doctrine of the faith is reinforced, rather than
corrected, by the lack of doctrinal content in the
resources provided by the LCWR for Superiors and
Formators. The doctrinal confusion
which has undermined solid catechesis over the years
demonstrates the need for sound
doctrinal formation—both initial and ongoing—for
women Religious and novices just as it
does for priests and seminarians, and for laity in
ministry and apostolic life. In this way, we
can hope that the secularized contemporary culture,
with its negative impact on the very
identity of Religious as Christians and members of
the Church, on their religious practice and
common life, and on their authentic Christian
spirituality, moral life, and liturgical practice,
can be more readily overcome.
7
2) The Mandate for Implementation of the Doctrinal
Assessment
In the universal law of the Church (Code of Canon Law
[C.I.C.] for the Latin
Church), Canons 708 and 709 address the establishment
and work of conferences of major
superiors:
Can. 708: Major superiors can be associated usefully
in conferences or councils so
that by common efforts they work to achieve more
fully the purpose of the individual
institutes, always without prejudice to their
autonomy, character, and proper spirit, or to
transact common affairs, or to establish appropriate
coordination and cooperation with the
conferences of bishops and also with individual
bishops.
Can. 709: Conferences of major superiors are to have
their own statutes approved by
the Holy See, by which alone they can be erected even
as a juridic person and under whose
supreme direction they
remain.
In the light of these canons, and in view of the
findings of the doctrinal Assessment, it is clear
that greater emphasis needs to be placed both on the
relationship of the LCWR with the
Conference of Bishops, and on the need to provide a
sound doctrinal foundation in the faith of
the Church as they “work to achieve more fully the
purpose of the individual institutes.”
Therefore in order to implement a process of review
and conformity to the teachings
and discipline of the Church, the Holy See, through
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, will appoint an Archbishop Delegate, assisted
by two Bishops, for review, guidance
and approval, where necessary, of the work of the
LCWR. The Delegate will report to the
CDF, which will inform and consult with the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life and the Congregation
for Bishops.
The mandate of the Delegate is to include the
following:
1) To revise LCWR Statutes to ensure greater clarity
about the scope of the mission
and responsibilities of this conference of major
superiors. The revised Statutes will be
submitted to the Holy See for approval by the
CICLSAL.
2) To review LCWR plans and programs, including
General Assemblies and
publications, to ensure that the scope of the LCWR’s
mission is fulfilled in accord
with Church teachings and discipline. In
particular:
- Systems
Thinking Handbook will be
withdrawn from circulation pending
revision
- LCWR programs for (future) Superiors and Formators
will be reformed
- Speakers/presenters at major programs will be
subject to approval by
Delegate
3) To create new LCWR programs for member
Congregations for the development of
initial and ongoing formation material that provides
a deepened understanding of the
Church’s doctrine of the faith.
4) To review and offer guidance in the application of
liturgical norms and texts. For
example:
8
-The Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours will have
a place of priority in
LCWR events and programs.
5) To review LCWR links with affiliated
organizations, e.g. Network and Resource
Center for Religious Life.
The mandate of the Delegate will be for a period of
up to five years, as deemed
necessary. In order to ensure the necessary liaison
with the USCCB (in view of Can. 708),
the Conference of Bishops will be asked to establish
a formal link (e.g. a committee structure)
with the Delegate and Assistant Delegate Bishops. In
order to facilitate the achievement of
these goals, the Delegate is authorized to form an
Advisory Team (clergy, women Religious,
and experts) to assist in the work of
implementation.
It will be the task of the Archbishop Delegate to
work collaboratively with the officers
of the LCWR to achieve the goals outlined in this
document, and to report on the progress of
this work to the Holy See. Such reports will be
reviewed with the Delegate at regular
interdicasterial meetings of the CDF and the CICLSAL.
In this way, the Holy See hopes to
offer an important contribution to the future of
religious life in the Church in the United
States.
