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Pope Reaffirms Vatican's Call for Reform of U.S. Nuns' Group
American Catholic ^ | April 15, 2013 | CAROL GLATZ

Posted on 04/15/2013 1:40:55 PM PDT by NYer

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis reaffirmed the Vatican's call for reform of the U.S.-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the U.S.-based nuns' group that he had "recently discussed the doctrinal assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform for this conference of major superiors."

The doctrinal congregation met April 15 with the LCWR leadership and Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who had been assigned by the Vatican to oversee the reform of the pontifically recognized leadership group.

LCWR, in a statement on its website, said its representatives included Franciscan Sister Florence Deacon, president; Sister Carol Zinn, a Sister of St. Joseph, president-elect; and Sister Janet Mock, a Sister of St. Joseph and the organization's executive director.

LCWR is a Maryland-based umbrella group that claims about 1,500 leaders of U.S. women's communities as members, representing about 80 percent of the country's 57,000 women religious.

The organization said in its statement that "the conversation was open and frank."

"We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the church," it said without further elaboration.

Last April, the doctrinal congregation issued an assessment of LCWR, citing "serious doctrinal problems which affect many in consecrated life." The assessment called for the organization's reform to ensure its fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women's ordination and homosexuality. LCWR's canonical status is granted by the Vatican.

During the April 15 meeting at the Vatican, Archbishop Muller said the group, like any conference of major superiors, "exists in order to promote common efforts among its member institutes as well as cooperation with the local conference of bishops and with individual bishops."

"For this reason, such conferences are constituted by and remain under the direction of the Holy See," said the written statement released by the doctrinal congregation.

"It is the sincere desire of the Holy See that this meeting may help to promote the integral witness of women religious, based on a firm foundation of faith and Christian love, so as to preserve and strengthen it for the enrichment of the church and society for generations to come," the statement said.

The meeting marked the first time Archbishop Muller met with the LCWR leadership, giving him the opportunity to express "his gratitude for 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," the statement said.

During the meeting, the archbishop "then highlighted the teaching of the Second Vatican Council regarding the important mission of religious to promote a vision of ecclesial communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the church as faithfully taught through the ages under the guidance of the Magisterium," it said.

Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio, and Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., were named last year to assist Archbishop Sartain in reviewing and providing guidance and approval, where necessary, of the work of LCWR. They were also to draw on the advice of fellow bishops, women religious and other experts.

Bishop Paprocki has said, "It is important to note that the doctrinal assessment of LCWR does not deal with the faith and life of the 57,000 women religious in the United States" nor is it meant "to call into question the faith and witness of so many dedicated and faithful women religious throughout the country."

In an article he published last May in the Catholic Times, the diocesan newspaper in Springfield, the bishop said the major concerns center on "problematic statements and serious theological, even doctrinal, errors" in talks at LCWR's annual assemblies; "policies of corporate dissent" on such issues as women's ordination and ministry to homosexual persons; and the "prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith" in some LCWR programs and presentations.

Bishop Paprocki had said the work with Archbishop Sartain and Bishop Blair included "the development of initial and ongoing formation material that provides a deepened understanding of the church's doctrine of the faith" and "guidance in the application of liturgical norms" to give the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours "a place of priority in LCWR events and programs."

"In sum, the purpose of the doctrinal assessment is to work collaboratively to renew LCWR and strengthen the doctrinal foundations that should guide the organization's many important initiatives and efforts," Bishop Paprocki had said.


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Ministry/Outreach; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: feminism; feminists; lcwr; lesbians; nuns; popefrancis

1 posted on 04/15/2013 1:40:55 PM PDT by NYer
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To: netmilsmom; thefrankbaum; Tax-chick; GregB; saradippity; Berlin_Freeper; Litany; SumProVita; ...
COMMUNIQUE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH CONCERNING A MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENCY OF THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN THE USA

The Francis "effect" continues ; - )

2 posted on 04/15/2013 1:41:56 PM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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To: NYer

Wow. The Vatican wants to get the lesbians out of the convents. Poor women will just have to go run a Girl Scout troop instead.


3 posted on 04/15/2013 1:47:57 PM PDT by MeganC (You can take my gun when you can grab it with your cold, dead fingers.)
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To: NYer
Toldya About the Lesbian Nuns in Leavenworth [Ann Barnhardt]
4 posted on 04/15/2013 1:49:14 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth." --Alan Greenspan)
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To: NYer

I have a seventy plus year old aunt that is a nun. Let’s just say they are so far off the ‘reservation’ and have been for so long, I can’t imagine maybe will be able to be reigned in. Should be interesting. Many of these women are rabid Obama supporters.


5 posted on 04/15/2013 1:49:31 PM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: NYer
Hooray. Watch this group start to turn on Pope Francis now! LOL!

Click on the second bolded link to see some pictures of them -- Warning -- sort of scary! No habits!

Pope Reaffirms Vatican's Call for Reform of U.S. Nuns' Group
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LCWR assembly begins; Vatican representative told attendance 'would not be helpful'
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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”
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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]
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Priests Come to Nuns’ defense
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ANOTHER WAY TO BEAUTIFY THE CHURCH or 10 REASONS NUNS SHOULD WEAR HABITS (Warning-graphic images)
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When Reverend Mothers Cease Being Motherly
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Important Background Information About the CDF-LCWR Situation
Nuns Gone Wild: A Trip Down Memory Lane
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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
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LCWR Having a Bad Day. Vatican Names Archbishop Delegate to Continue Watching LCWR and Network

6 posted on 04/15/2013 1:53:49 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: NYer
I wonder if Sister Carol Zinn is any relation to Howard Zinn the huge LEFTIST?

I LOVE THIS POPE....SIC EM!

7 posted on 04/15/2013 1:55:55 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....the HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: NYer
Ahh nuns! When I was in college I worked at Holy Angels Residential Facility run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows, an order from Romagna, Italy.

They were positive nightmares to work for. :p A nun has NO concept of paying an hourly wage. They fully expect you to take hours and hours of work home or work insane overtime for free because it is suppose to make you happy to do work for the Lord.

Also, they kept bringing over these poor scrawny young orphaned foreign girls. They would keep them secluded on campus and (in my opinion) pressure them into taking vows. But what do I know? Maybe I was seeing it wrong.

Sister Concetta once asked me if I had interest in the life. I told her I was madly in love with a man and she never spoke to me again unless it was about work. :p

8 posted on 04/15/2013 2:01:11 PM PDT by Casie (democrats destroy)
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To: NYer

I just wish the Bishops would just let the LCWR leadership meet with some Carmelite Nuns. Just lock them in a room and wait for the white smoke to rise from the chimney. Problem solved!


9 posted on 04/15/2013 6:27:08 PM PDT by Shark24
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To: Shark24
I just wish the Bishops would just let the LCWR leadership meet with some Carmelite Nuns. Just lock them in a room and wait for the white smoke to rise from the chimney. Problem solved!


10 posted on 04/15/2013 6:52:03 PM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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To: NYer

Thanks for the belly laugh!


11 posted on 04/15/2013 7:45:36 PM PDT by Shark24
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To: Shark24

No ... thank you! Just wish I had Photoshop so I could add some “white smoke” billowing from her ears ; - )


12 posted on 04/15/2013 7:59:39 PM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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