U.S. Nuns Reject Vatican’s Accusations

Fabrizio Mastrofini
June 1, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/stati-uniti-united-states-estados-unidos-15590/

American nuns reject Vatican's criticisms

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) has defined the Vatican’s accusations of their doctrinal infidelity as “unsubstantiated”. On 12 June the congregation is to meet Cardinal Levada in Rome

t took them more than a month but in the end, U.S. nuns have rejected the Vatican’s accusations. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) finally reached a decision at a meeting which took place on 30 and 31 May. The accusations made against them by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith were defined as “unsubstantiated” “and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency.”

The sanctions imposed - they added - are “disproportionate” and could compromise their board members' ability to fulfil their mission. It was over a month ago that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had asked for a deep reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the organisation which represents the majority of orders of women religious in the United States. The investigation concluded that the “the current doctrinal and pastoral situation of the LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern.” The Archbishop of Seattle, Peter Sartain, was nominated as Vatican delegate for the supervision of the reform work, the revision of the organisation’s statutes, programme planning and the revision of liturgical texts.

Over the past month and a half, the number of demonstrations in favour of the nuns has risen in the U.S., with marches, debates and telegrams expressing solidarity. Three days ago, a group of nuns, and lay people marched before the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington. To everyone’s surprise, the city’s Nuncio, Mgr. Carlo Maria Vigano, went out to speak to the demonstrators, asking two of them to enter his office for a more in depth face to face dialogue. This gesture received a great deal of attention in the progressivist Catholic press and was seen as a sign of sensitivity at the very least.

For the nuns, this is now the time to take action. The communique issued by Washington early this morning stated that the LCWR summit will be held in Rome on 12 June, where the organisation will meet Cardinal Levada, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Archbishop Sartain. The results of the meeting will be discussed by the LCWR on various levels and then reported on during the annual assembly in the U.S., in August. A definitive answer will then be given to the Holy See. “As the church and society face tumultuous times, - the LCWR concluded in its communique - the board believes it is imperative that these matters be addressed by the entire church community in an atmosphere of openness, honesty, and integrity.”