American Nuns Resist Vatican Rebuke

By Cara Matthews
USA Today
May 21, 2012

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-05-21/catholic-nuns-america-vatican/55117584/1

"With the sisters, they've worked their fingers to the bone. They deserve more than this," said Eileen Sammon, a parishioner at St. Ann's Church here and a former Dominican nun. "They're like a helicopter hierarchy hovering over the sisters instead of cleaning their own house," referring to the continuing problem of priests' sexual abuse of children.

Sammon is organizing a prayer vigil Tuesday in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan with the hope that Cardinal Timothy Dolan will contact the Vatican and ask to have the reprimand rescinded.

STORY: Vatican orders crackdown on American nuns

Fifty-six years ago, the Vatican's Congregation for Religious asked Catholic nuns in the United States to create a national conference. The organization, now called the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, is a unified voice for sisters across the country who aid the poor, nurse the sick, perform missionary work in developing nations, educate students and advocate against violence.

The group, which includes about 80% of all Catholic sisters in the United States, is now being accused of focusing too much time and energy on social justice issues and not enough promoting the teachings of the church on right to life, human sexuality and other issues.

The church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which issued the assessment last month, criticized the conference for being "silent on the right to life from conception to natural death" and for not having the church's views on family life and human sexuality on its agenda "in a way that promotes Church teaching."

"Moreover, occasional public statements by the LCWR that disagree with or challenge positions taken by the Bishops, who are the Church's authentic teachers of faith and morals, are not compatible with its purpose," it said.

Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle has been appointed to bring reforms to the conference. He will help revise its statutes, which the Vatican will have to approve, and review the group's plans and programs to ensure its "mission is fulfilled in accord with Church teachings and discipline."

A spokesman for Sartain said the archbishop would not make any public comments on the matter before he meets privately with the Leadership Conference.

In a statement released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last month, Sartain said the ministry of the religious sisters, especially in the United States, "is deeply respected and paramount to the mission of the Church."

He hopes to be of service to the Leadership Conference and the Vatican "as we face areas of concern to all," he said.

Chicago-based Call To Action, the country's largest Catholic Church justice organization, has joined with other groups on what it calls the Nun Justice Project.

The website —www.nunjustice.org— encourages members to organize or join vigils leading up to the Leadership Conference's national board meeting, which starts May 29. The project's goal is to get 57,000 signatures — one for every sister — on an online petition. As of Monday, more than 48,000 people had signed.

"From my point of view, what the Vatican's trying to do is crack down and prevent open dialogue within the church," said Jim FitzGerald, executive director of Call to Action.

A relatively small group of people are trying to determine what's Catholic and what's not, he said.

"Women religious, they've been the backbone of the church," FitzGerald said. "When it comes to putting Gospel into action, women religious have been doing that for so long."

Sister Eileen Finnerty of St. Ann's parish, an Ursuline sister, said she is confident that with the collective wisdom of the conference, it will "make a choice that's in the best interest of women religious and women in the church in general."

Sister Mary Murray, president of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, N.Y., said she is confident the Leadership Conference could work with the church.

"We're all looking forward to a very hopeful, positive outcome," she said.