"Once again, we
watch dumbfounded as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith directs a
"doctrinal assessment of" or a “calling attention to” or the “punishment of”
those who, according to the CDF, break away from the proper observance of
Catholic doctrine. Only this time, the CDF is not pointing an accusatory finger
at a person, but rather at an institution that brings together and represents
more than 55,000 women religious in the United States - namely, the Leadership
Conference of Women Religious, known by its acronym LCWR.
Throughout their
long history, these women religious developed and continue to develop a broad
educational mission which advances the dignity of many people and groups both
within and beyond the United States. Most of these
women belong to diverse national and international congregations.
In addition to
their Christian and humanistic formation, they are intellectuals and
professionals in various fields of knowledge. They are writers, philosophers,
biologists, sociologists, lawyers and theologians. They have broad backgrounds
and their expertise is recognized nationally and internationally. They also are
educators, catechists and human rights activists. In many situations, they set
their lives at the service of those affected by injustice or set themselves in
opposition to the grave actions taken by the government of the United States. I
had the honor of meeting some of them who were arrested and imprisoned because
they put themselves at the forefront of demonstrations to close the School of
the Americas, an institution of the United States government that prepares
soldiers from our countries to act in repressive and cruel ways.
These religious
are women of reflection and action with a long history of service not only in
their country, but in many others. Today they are under suspicion and under the
supervision of the Vatican. They are being criticized for disagreeing with the
bishops who are considered to be the "authentic teachers of faith and morals."
In addition, they are accused of being supporters of radical feminism, of
deviating from Roman Catholic doctrine, of complicity in the approval of
homosexual unions and other charges which are surprising given their
anachronistic nature.
Exactly what
would constitute radical feminism? And what might be its real manifestations in
the lives of congregations of women religious? Exactly what kinds of theological
deviations are affecting the lives of women religious? And might it be that we
are being scrutinized and punished as women because we can no longer be true to
ourselves and to the tradition of the Gospel by means of blind submission to a
male hierarchical order? Might it be that those responsible for Vatican
Congregations are out of touch with the vast worldwide feminist revolution that
has touched every continent and even religious congregations?
Many women
religious in the United States and other countries are indeed the heirs,
teachers and disciples of one of the most interesting expressions of worldwide
feminism, specifically feminist theology which developed in the United States
during the late 1960s. Its original ideas, critical analyses and liberating
stances made possible a new way of doing theology which in turn continues to
accompany movements of women's emancipation. As a consequence, women religious
have contributed to a rethinking of our Christian religious tradition by taking
us beyond the invisibility and oppression of women. They also created
alternative venues for education and formation. They wrote theological and
inspirational texts so that the tradition of the Jesus Movement could continue
to nurture our present and would not be abandoned by thousands of persons made
weary by the weight of patriarchal religious structures and rules.
What actions can
be taken given these curial and administrative examples of anachronism and
symbolic violence on the part of the Roman Catholic Church? What are we to think
of these rigid philosophical referents that ascribe to the masculine what is
considered best in the human being? What can be said about a unilateral and
misogynistic anthropological vision out of which the tradition of Jesus is
interpreted? What are we to think about this administrative/ punitive treatment
from which an archbishop is appointed to review, guide and approve decisions
taken by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as if we were incapable of
insight and lucidity?
Are we simply a
multinational capitalist enterprise the "products" of which should be in
conformity with the dictates of a single line of production? And to maintain
this enterprise, should we be controlled like robots by those who consider
themselves the owners and guardians of the institution? Where is the freedom,
the charity, the historical creativity, the fraternal and sisterly love? At the
same time that indignation takes hold of us, a sense of fidelity to our dignity
as women and to the Gospel as proclaimed to the poor and marginalized invites us
to respond to this act of repugnant injustice.
In today’s
world, the prelates and church officials use a double standard. On the one hand,
there are high-level examples of the Roman Catholic Church being able to welcome
back into its bosom groups on the far-right whose harmful history, especially
with regard to adolescents and children is widely known. I think especially of
Marcial Maciel, founder of the in the Legionaries of Christ (Mexico) or the
religious followers of Archbishop Lefevre (Switzerland) whose disobedience to
the pope and coercive methods of making disciples is verified by many. The same
institutional church welcomes men who are interested in it for power and
repudiates women that it wants to keep submissive. By means of this attitude, it
exposes women to ridiculous criticisms that are voiced in the Catholic religious
media in bad faith. Among these women, the prelates seem to formally recognize
the merits of those whose actions are among those traditionally exercised by
women religious in schools and hospitals. But is this all that we are? We know
of very few instances in the United States where women religious were involved
in the abuse of young children, adolescents and elders. No public denunciation
tarnished their image. No one ever spoke of them allying themselves with major
international banks for their own benefit. No complaints are found of
insider-trading or the exchange of favors so as to preserve the silence of
impunity. And yet, in contrast to men of power, so few of them have been
beatified or canonized by Church authorities. Still, the recognition of these
women comes from so many communities and groups, Christian and otherwise, who
shared in the lives and works of so many of them. And of course, these groups
will not be silenced by this unjust "doctrinal assessment" that touches them
directly as well.
Plagiarizing
Jesus in the Gospel, I dare to say, "I pity these men" who do not know
the contradictions and beauties of life up close, who do not allow their hearts
to be broken open by the joys and sufferings of the people, who do not love the
present moment, who still prefer to enforce strict laws rather than to celebrate
life. All they have learned are the fixed rules of a doctrine determined by an
outdated rationality from which they judge the faith of others, especially
women.
Perhaps they
think that God approves of them and submits to them and to their lucubrations,
so distant from those who hunger for bread and for justice, the hungry, the
abandoned, the prostituted, the abused and the forgotten. How long must we
suffer under their yoke? What attitudes and stances will inspire us as "the
Spirit that blows where it wills" so that we may continue to be faithful to the
LIFE that is in us?
To my dear
sisters in the United States of LCWR, my gratitude, affection and solidarity. If
you are being persecuted for the good that you do probably your work will
produce good and abundant fruit. Know that with you, women religious from other
continents will not allow them to silence our voice. But, if they silence us by
a written decree, it will give us one more reason to continue in the struggle
for human dignity and the freedom for which we have been created. We will
continue to proclaim in countless ways the love of neighbor as the key to human
and cosmic communion present in the tradition of Jesus of Nazareth and in many
others, though in diverse ways. In this historical moment, we will continue to
weave together one more part of the vast history of the affirmation of freedom,
the right to be different and to think differently and in through
all
this endeavoring
not to be afraid to be happy."
27 April
2012
