US nuns facing Vatican order to reform, quash dissent will hold talks with church leaders

Star Tribune ^ | August 10, 2012 | JIM SALTER and RACHEL ZOLL

[NYer]

ST. LOUIS - American nuns described as dissenters in a Vatican report that ordered an overhaul of their group said Friday they will talk with church leaders about potential changes but will not compromise on the sisters' mission.

Sister Pat Farrell, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, called the Vatican assessment of the organization a "misrepresentation." But she said the more than 900 women who attended the group's national assembly this week decided they would for now stay open to discussion with three bishops the Vatican appointed to oversee them.

"The officers will proceed with these discussions as long as possible but will reconsider if LCWR is forced to compromise the integrity of its mission," Farrell said at a news conference, where she declined to discuss specifics.

snip

"Dialogue on doctrine is not going to be our starting point," Farrell said. "Our starting point will be about our own life and about our understanding of religious life, and the (Vatican) document's, in our view, misrepresentation of that, and we'll see how it unfolds from there."

The organization represents about 80 percent of the 57,000 Roman Catholic nuns in the U.S.

snip

"I think what we want is to finally, at some end stage of the process, to be recognized and understood as equal in the church, that our form of religious life can be respected and affirmed," Farrell said Friday.

[NYer]

"The nuns’ meeting on Wednesday in a vast hotel ballroom here exemplified the melding of traditional Catholicism and modern innovations that has so perturbed the Vatican. They sat in silence for a long stretch, sang songs about truth and mystery accompanied by a guitar and a choir, and heard a keynote address by a futurist who was escorted to the podium by seven liturgical dancers waving diaphanous scarves of pink and tangerine.

Barbara Marx Hubbard is welcomed by LCWR members to their Aug. 7-11, 2012 annual assembly in St. Louis, Mo.

In case you missed the earlier posting on this meeting, check out the video on the following thread: LCWR Assembly Begins. What their keynote speaker brings to the Nuns. VIDEO

[Vince Ferrer]

“Crisis precedes transformation,” the futurist, Barbara Marx Hubbard, told the nuns. “You are the best seedbed that I know for evolving the church and the world in the 21st century. Now, that may be a surprise to the world. But, you see, new things always happen from unexpected places.”

These nuns are probably about an average of 70 years old. They are not the vanguard of a new movement. They are the last remnants of the dying hippie movement.

[ebb tide]

That lady is nuts and so are the nuns who fawn over her.

I felt the coming together of the planet as one living body. I felt light surround the planet -- the light that mystics see. The light was both beyond us and within us. I heard a tone, a harmonic. I felt that the light was intelligent, but that we were still too young to understand it. It was a kinaesthetic imprint of a "planetary birth experience," a collective awakening.

http://www.co-intelligence.org/newsletter/BarbMarxHubbardStory.html

[johngrace]

Wow!

[johngrace]

What a statement from a nun. Why don’t they go work for UNICEF.

[LadyDoc]

what is it with the fat old PC nuns and dance? It’s bad enough when my ten year old granddaughter dances at her charismatic church before the service to show her love of God: She’s ten and cute.

But the average age of these “ladies” is 65, and most of them are overweight, and most of them are not exactly attractive...

But what is worse is the context of their dance: they danced to greet this lady, as if they were David dancing in front of the Ark of the Covenant. And no one seemed to notice this blasphemy...

[windsorknot]

Not unlike a fallen angel that wasn’t about to play second fiddle to a higher authority.

[Salvation]

The plot sickens (LCWR)
US nuns facing Vatican order to reform, quash dissent will hold talks with church leaders
Cardinal Burke on nuns’ group: ‘If it can’t be reformed, then it doesn’t have a right to continue’

LCWR Assembly Update: How did keynote speaker Hubbard do?
LCWR Assembly Begins. What their keynote speaker brings to the Nuns. VIDEO
LCWR assembly begins; Vatican representative told attendance 'would not be helpful'
LCWR Prepares to Discuss Response to Vatican Mandate to Reform
Bishop Explains Vatican's Criticism Of U.S. Nuns (promoting non-Catholic theology)
Sr Patricia Miller in op-ed canonizes St. Obama for his respect for religious liberty. No, really.
LCWR nuns: “Catholic Church is pro-foetus but keeps silent on other essential issues”
Analysis of NPR’s interview of LCWR Pres. Sr. Pat Farrell: like a 7-y/o’s manipulative obfuscation
Biden brings cookies and ice cream to (dissenting) LCWR president’s motherhouse
Oh Sisters! Renegade Catholic nuns engage in media campaign (Nuns on Bus Alert!)

GUEST POST: “the sisters chose to put this out there for the public”
American Nuns Say Questions Not Defiance
Sister Keehan, CHA push dangerous compromise on HHS mandate (again)
Traditional Sisters Big Hit With Trendy Teens
LCWR reform is not criticism of religious orders, [Archbishop J. Peter Sartain] says
Sisters of Mercy doctors say LCWR is injecting politics into dialogue
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley Laments Discord on Nuns
Vatican Official Warns of 'Dialogue of the Deaf' with LCWR
Bishop Blair Pounds the Facts; LCWR Pounds The Table
Nun Who Leads Network Disparages Bishops, Hesitant to Call Herself Pro-Life

Analysis: Dispute With US Nuns Began Decades Ago
Vatican: LCWR under direction of the Holy See; must promote doctrine "taught through the ages"
“The Biggest Distortion of All” [LCWR vs CDF]
Nuns Brace for Vatican Meeting
Catholic Identity Once Again
Crisis of sisterhood: ‘Radical’ U.S. nuns clash with Vatican doctrine guardians
Franciscan Friars Back American Nuns in Vatican Spat
Pastor Completely Loses It Over LWCR
Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA stands behind LCWR
Nun Too Accurate Reporting

Sisters of Mercy President Defends Farley, Criticizes CDF
Major Vatican Assault Coming in October, Says Former Maryknoll Provincial
Vatican Warns Against Errors in Mercy Nun's 2006 Book on Sexual Ethics
Priests Come to Nuns’ defense
Leaders of U.S. Catholic Nuns to Address Vatican Reprimand About 'Radical' Feminism
Toldya About the Lesbian Nuns in Leavenworth [Ann Barnhardt]
Split over nuns' role plays out online (LCWR nuns complain about blogosphere)
ANOTHER WAY TO BEAUTIFY THE CHURCH or 10 REASONS NUNS SHOULD WEAR HABITS (Warning-graphic images)
Dallas bishop ‘communicating’ with nuns on their support for Gates’ global contraceptive campaign
When Reverend Mothers Cease Being Motherly
Nuns Issue Statement Defending Billionaire Contraceptive Campaigner Melinda Gates

Important Background Information About the CDF-LCWR Situation
Nuns Gone Wild: A Trip Down Memory Lane
Exhibit A for Explaining the LCWR Report
Vatican Crackdown on U.S. Nuns a Long Time Brewing
LCWR: getting to the truth of the matter (the blogosphere response to CDF document)
Radical feminist nuns’ group ‘stunned’ by Vatican criticisms, reform plan
Vatican announces reform of US women's religious conference (more details)
Citing doctrinal problems, Vatican announces reforms of US nuns' group
In hard-hitting document Vatican launches clean-up of feminist nuns in United States
LCWR Having a Bad Day. Vatican Names Archbishop Delegate to Continue Watching LCWR and Network