UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua J. McElwee on Jun. 07, 2012 NCR Today
Sisters Under Scrutiny
In what appears to be the first public message of support sent from orders of men religious to U.S. sisters in the face of a sharp Vatican rebuke last April, seven provinces of Franciscan brothers and priests have published an open letter to the sisters, saying the Vatican’s move against them seems “excessive.”
The letter, dated May 31, was first made public Thursday morning by Jesuit Fr. James Martin over at America magazine.
Referring to the Vatican’s April move, which ordered the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) to revise and place itself under the authority of three archbishops, the Franciscans write:
Rather than excessive oversight of LCWR, perhaps a better service to the people of God might be a renewed effort to articulate the nuances of our complex moral tradition. This can be a teaching moment rather than a moment of regulation — an opportunity to bring our faith to bear on the complexity of public policy particularly in the midst of our quadrennial elections.
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