Posted on 06/22/2012 7:43:55 AM PDT by NYer
I received this from a reader, which I share now with minor edits and some emphases:
Fr. Z,
I appreciate your information about these nuns that publicly dissent from Church teaching. It is sometimes humorous but what lies at the core of the issue is the harm they have inflicted on Catholics for decades. I hope we can all keep that in mind.It became a little more personal for me recently. I attended a Catholic girls’ school in Louisiana in the early 90s. I could have written extensively about problems with the death penalty, but I had no understanding at all of the evil of abortion. It just wasn’t brought up.
Since then, I have recalled those days as simply watered down teachings with the typical liberal emphasis. I have felt robbed of a proper education in the faith too, though I often wondered if I’ve possibly exaggerated the situation in my head. A few days ago I received validation, when I was able to simply click through an alum email to ultimately find the Congregation of St. Joseph website.
It is amazing what one can find now with three clicks of a mouse.
To me, what was more unbelievable than the content was the fact that the sisters chose to put this out there for the public. Maybe I’m still fighting some naivety.
Anyway, these sisters are into all the crazy stuff you tell us about.
There are new age ideas about inclusiveness, reiki, yoga, male oppression. They make four “Generous Promises” which include working for systematic change, getting rid of institutions in favor of inclusiveness, and taking care of “Earth,” who is dying. That was new to me. How have we not heard of that one from you? Apparently the earth is a person, and you can also find reference to revering “Earth” on their site. Maybe I’m just too young to understand. Is this idea a holdover from the 60′s or has it just “evolved” since then?
No word about abortion. That was no surprise. What was astonishing was a recent newsletter which applauded a ritual burning of a Papal Bull that they stated was rescinded in the 16th century, but that was still causing spiritual harm to the indigenous grandmothers in the US. Too outlandish for a movie script. Are these rituals common occurrences?
Back to my main point. The importance of this all is the harm they are doing. The harm is still there. On their site you can see the three high schools they run. I was easily able to find info online for my alma mater’s religion classes. They have become more sophisticated in getting out their ideas since I was there, though there are some traditional teachings mixed in, which makes it even more dangerous in my mind.
Last year alums were polled about changing the mission statement. Now it’s some nonsense like “Creating women leaders to be unifying members of the world community!” Here is the link to the sisters, though I’m sure it’s not news to you.
Just remember those poor schoolgirls when you defend Church teaching!
There it is.
Keep this in mind as you hear about Nuns On The Bus.
Many of you will agree.
Wow!
An example on this site: The Well is a spirituality center located in LaGrange Park. Established in 2002, it united two ministries, Women's Well (established in 2000) and Allium, an eco-spirituality center (established in 1991). The Well is a place where people of all faiths and all cultures are invited to affirm our communion with God and all creation, to experience an atmosphere for spiritual and physical wholeness and to participate in the sacred process of healing and caring for earth and her people. Programs offered include: retreats, spiritual direction, prayer days, earth spirituality classes, featured speakers, intercultural experiences, yoga, Reiki and labyrinth walks.
Visit our website for a full listing of current offerings.”
A bunch of gobbledy gook. Socialism and new age religion hiding under the cloak of Catholicism.
from wikipedia.org
Reiki is a spiritual practice[1] developed in 1922 by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui, which since has been adapted by various teachers of varying traditions. It uses a technique commonly called palm healing or hands on healing as a form of complementary therapy and is sometimes classified as oriental medicine by some professional medical bodies.[2] Through the use of this technique, practitioners believe that they are transferring universal energy (i.e., reiki) in the form of ki through the palms, which allows for self-healing and a state of equilibrium.
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