I have yet to check what spin the MSM will give this story, considering that 'everyone', starting with the nuns concerned, had said after Pope Francis's election that he was going to take a more lenient line with them, As if there can be any leniency in upholding the doctrine of the faith. You stand by it, or you don't, as the LCWR superiors have failed to do in consistently advocating and practising their own ideas of what Catholic doctrine ought to be...
Pope Francis confirms CDF assessment
of LCWR's doctrinal divergences,
and approves proposed reform program
The Vatican released this bulletin today:
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
Today the Superiors of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with the Presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States of America. Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle and the Holy See’s Delegate for the Doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, also participated in the meeting.
As this was his first opportunity to meet with the Presidency of the LCWR, the Prefect of the Congregation, Most Rev. Gerhard Ludwig Müller, expressed 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 Prefect 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 (Cf. Lumen gentium, nn. 43-47).
He also emphasized that a Conference of Major Superiors, such as the LCWR, 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 (Cf. Code of Canon Law, cann. 708-709).
Finally, Archbishop Müller informed the Presidency 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.
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.
Pope Francis supports
crackdown on US nuns
By NICOLE WINFIELD
VATICAN CITY. April 15 (AP) — The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis supports the Holy See's crackdown on the largest umbrella group of U.S. nuns,
dimming hopes that a Jesuit Pope whose emphasis on the poor mirrored the nuns' own social outreach would take a different approach than his predecessor. ['Dimming hopes'? It is a definitive putdown! What hopes? 'Social outreach' does not justify defying Catholic doctrine - that's exactly what was wrong with the Latin American socialist concept of liberation theology, and what Pope Francis has denounced as nothing more than acting like a 'pious NGO'!]
The Vatican last year imposed an overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious after determining the sisters took positions that undermined Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." Investigators praised the nuns' humanitarian work, but accused them of ignoring critical issues, including fighting abortion.
On Monday, the heads of the conference met with the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, who is in charge of the
crackdown.
[What an odious and loaded journalistic term, conjuring images of slavemasters cracking the whip on miscreants and persecuting them in general!] It was their first meeting since Mueller was appointed in July.
In a statement, Mueller's office said he told the sisters that he had discussed the matter recently with Francis and that the pope had "reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform."
The conference, for its part, said the talks were "open and frank," and noted that Mueller had informed them of Francis's decision.
"We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the Church," the conference said on its website.
The Vatican crackdown unleashed a wave of popular support for the sisters, including parish vigils, protests outside the Vatican's embassy in Washington, D.C., and a U.S. Congressional resolution commending the sisters for their service to the country.
Following Francis's election, several sisters had expressed hope that a Jesuit Pope devoted to the poor and stressing a message of mercy rather than condemnation would take a gentler approach than his predecessor, Benedict XVI.
[And since when did Benedict XVI preach 'condemnation'? Even Pope Francis does not preach mercy for unrepentant sinners! God grants mercy infinitely but only if we ask for it with genuine repentance for our failings and sins.]
Francis has called for a more "tender" church and one that serves society's poorest — precisely a message American sisters have stressed in their ministry in hospitals, hospices, soup kitchens and schools that serve some of the most marginalized in the U.S.
The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit author who has been a staunch supporter of the U.S. sisters, cautioned against reading too much into the Vatican statement. [What is there to read 'too much' about? The current Pope agrees with the doctrinal assessment rendered by visitators appointed by his predecessor who investigated the dissident nuns for at least three years. He also agrees with the reform program that the visitators recommended. There is no turning back here, or even, any soft-pedalling. Fr. Martin has chosen to be delusional, feigning 'it's no big deal' perhaps because he is among those who invested too much in the illusion that the new Pope would turn out to be less than orthodox, if not outright liberal.]
He noted that Francis' first appointment to the Vatican bureaucracy was that of the Rev. Jose Rodriguez Carballo as the No. 2 in the Vatican's congregation for religious orders. Rodriguez Carballo had been superior of the Friars Minor branch of the Franciscan order that was founded by the pope's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, who devoted himself to helping the poor.
[So? That's a non sequitur, and no argument at all. Naming the Franciscan superior to the Curia does not necessarily mean the new Pope was giving carte blanche to all religious orders to do as they please!]
Martin said it would have been unusual for Francis to undo a process that has been years in the works and that as a Jesuit he is "naturally going to be sympathetic" to the challenges faced by members of religious orders, such as those represented by the nuns' conference.
[Gee, that's some spin, all right! Martin is as usual being overly self-indulgent, but beyond that, he chooses not to acknowledge the decision made by the Pope to confirm what was documented and verified under his predecessor and the program recommended to remedy the nuns' dissidence and lack of discipline. Sympathy for the nuns does not overrule the fact of their misbehavior and the need for the Church to set them straight. There is no way Martin and his ilk can downplay the Pope's decision]
As part of its imposed reforms, the Vatican appointed Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain and two other bishops to oversee a rewriting of the conference's statutes, to review its plans and programs, approve speakers and ensure the group properly follows Catholic prayer and ritual.
The conference represents about 57,000 sisters, or 80 percent of U.S. nuns. It has argued that the Vatican reached "flawed" conclusions based on "unsubstantiated accusations." The group's officers have said they would participate in discussions with Sartain "as long as possible" but
vowed they would not compromise their group's mission.
[What exactly is their mission anyway? No one is keeping them from doing service to the poor as much as their bleeding hearts will let them. But if they define their mission as advocating that they are 'beyond the Church and beyond Jesus' as they have arrogantly proclaimed, then they should leave the Church and set up their own shop.]
And would you like to see the initial spin from the National Fishwrap? One supposes the title reference is to Pope Francis, in which case what is being defined here as a 'duck' - a Pope who is also proving to be an orthodox, i.e., straight-thinking, Catholic?
If it walks like a duck
by Ken Briggs
April 15, 2013
All the bread of good faith that American sisters have offered Francis has been returned with a stone.
The Pope won't reconsider the indictment against the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. He might have decided to hear arguments again, but he hasn't. The coerced outcome may be somewhat different, but the appeal on the charges is lost.
It's likely we'll hear many attempts to find glimmers of hope. There will be a renewal of calls for further talks and reports of cordial treatment by Vatican officials.
Perhaps talks will ensue, but unless the sisters adopt a more challenging strategy, the discussion will be confined to "how" discipline will be administered rather that "whether." A more benign chastisement is still chastisement.
The problem is false hope that anything of substance will change on the Vatican's side. And from Rome's point of view why should it? Either LCWR did go against the grain of papal pronouncements or it didn't. Benedict and Francis say it did and they have a reasonable case. The sisters can either agree without apology, as valid theology with which most American Catholics concur, or disagree with solid reasons.
A third option has gained ground too: keep on walking a fine line,
ministering lovingly and justly without promoting dissenting theology, in the expectation that history will vindicate that theology. [Vindicate 'Beyond the Church and beyond Jesus'??? Besides, I don't see these smugly arrogant 'sisters' keeping their dissidence quiet at all!]
But Rome isn't going to do more than reiterate the charges. Popes don't contradict one another.
Still, note how restrained the polemic is, compared to the sulphur and brimstone called down by the Fishwrap on Benedict XVI when the CDF assessment and reform recommendations were first announced!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/04/2013 18:07]