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Street roots
Aug. 17, 2012
R E U T E R S /M A X R O S S I
Sister Pat Farrell, left, president o f the Leadership Conference o f Women Religious, and Sister Janet Mock, the executive director, smile following a meeting with Cardinal William Levada at the„
Vatican, June 12. The Vatican told the leaders o f American nuns, who were accused o f being too fem inist and politicised, that their group “remains under the supreme direction of the Holy See.”
Religious fervor
W hat’s at stake in the Vatican’s crackdown of the nation’s leadership for women religious
BY JOANNE ZUHL
S T A F F W R IT E R
n early August, a gathering of about 900 nuns
in St. Louis passed resolutions calling for
Congress to pass the Dream Act and to enact
comprehensive immigration reform to reunite
families and create a path to citizenship. They
passed a resolution calling for the repeal of
restrictive state laws that create fear among
immigrant communities, and passed another that
would commit lawmakers to end human
trafficking.
They heard presentations on consciousness
evolution in the face of global crises, and how
religious life might evolve as it moves into the
future. There were tools presented for navigating
this brave new world, emphasizing nonviolence
and solidarity with the marginalized.
Indeed, the Leadership Conference of Women
Religious packed a lot into its three-day
conference between Aug. 7-10, except what the
Vatican wants them to spend more time on:
speaking out against abortion, contraception and
homosexuality.
Those issues were central to the Vatican’s
three-year investigation of the organization, whose
1,500 members represent 57,000 women religious,
or 80 percent of the entire population of nuns in
the United States.
Released in April, the results of the doctrinal
assessment were damning: Lead by former
Portland Archbishop, now Cardinal, William
Levada, the assessment by the Congregation of
the Doctrine of the Faith accused the group of
serious doctrinal problems. The CDF said that by
not actively advocating against abortion, birth
control, same-sex marriage and the ordination of
women, the women religious were in fact giving
their approval of these hot button issues, and
instead channeling their energies into social
justice efforts. This “radical feminism” according
I
to the assessment, was in conflict with the
teaching of the church, and that the organization
had to be reformed.
As a result, the organization has been ordered
under the control of Seattle’s Archbishop J. Peter
Sartain, who, along with two other bishops, will
oversee the group’s reform for the next five years.
Conservative critics have called the LCWR a
“rogue” organization, committed to “liberal social
causes.” One cardinal has said that if it can’t be
reformed, it doesn’t have a right to exist. Cardinal
Levada has been quoted as saying the organization
— now certified by the Vatican — could be
decertified if it doesn’t conform. The LCWR says
the assessment, “was based on unsubstantiated
accusations and the result of a flawed process that
lacked transparency,” and that the sanctions could
compromise the groups ability to fulfill its
mission.
At the end of their conference on Aug. 10, the
nuns released their formal statement on the
matter, affirming their voice in the future of the
church: The organization will proceed with the
discussions with the bishops as long as possible,
“but will reconsider if LCWR is forced to
compromise the integrity of its mission.” In fact,
the membership’s directive to LCWR officers was
that work with the CDF not distract from the
work of the organization. It was a tepid
commitment to work together, but only so far.
At stake is the future role of women not only
within the Catholic Church, but also the role of
Catholic women in doing social work already
steeped in politics from Vatican City to
Washington, D.C. The work of women religious is
square in the crosshairs: women’s reproductive
rights, same-sex marriage, health care equality
and social justice for marginalized populations -
all wedge issues in the presidential election.
“I’m not surprised that (the bishops) would
attack LCWR,” says Jim Fitzgerald, executive
director of Call To Action, which launched the
Nun Justice Project, a campaign in solidarity with
the LCWR. “The institutional church right now is
really trying to purge in a lot of ways. I was
surprised at the level and intensity of the attack.
The document bluntly says rampant radical
feminism had infiltrated LCWR. And specifically
pointing out that while doing lots of good things, it
has been spending too much time on social justice
issues, and not enough time speaking out against
same-sex marriage.”
Nun Justice - supported by the American
Catholic Council, Association for the Rights of
Catholics in the Church and Catholics for Choice
- is calling on the bishops to withdraw the
mandate for reform, which it says threatens the
nuns’ work in social justice. And they are joined
by a chorus in support of the women religious.
Nun Justice alone submitted 57,000 petition
signatures to the U.S. bishops, and has organized
prayer vigils and other events across the country,
including several vigils outside St. Mary’s
Cathedral in Portland.
The first men’s religious order to stand behind
the women was the Franciscan provinces, who
called the assessment’s tone and direction
“excessive, given the evidence raised,” and
contextually out of date with the “signs of the
times.” Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest issued a
statement in support of the LCWR and called on
supporters of both organizations to write their
bishops or the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops and to donate money to a
community of local sisters.
Portland’s One Spirit-One Call, based out of St.
Andrews Catholic Church, works for justice and
equality of women in the Catholic Church, and has
openly supported the sisters.
“The Vatican should be commending the
See FERVOR, page 4