UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
NCR Editorial Staff | Aug. 23, 2013
Four and half years ago, in February 2009, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith first announced it was beginning a “doctrinal assessment” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
It has been a long and arduous process, one that has tarnished LCWR’s reputation, sapped its energy, and made it a target of adversaries on the right.
The women leaders, among the most faithful and theologically educated in the church, have all been elected to leadership positions from within their congregations. They have continued to meet with Vatican officials, largely maintaining a Vatican-imposed silence, except for periodic short statements. …
One inescapable truth is that a group of men, meeting in secret, assessed, judged and found guilty a women’s organization. The LCWR tale is anchored in a culture of male clericalism, out of step with contemporary mores. The second-class role of women in the church and an exclusively male authority structure are fundamental starting points for understanding the dynamics of the Vatican/LCWR story.
By almost any contemporary standard founded in human dignity, the process has been unjust, with virtually no allowances for a reasonable defense. Indeed, the process reveals more about the state of our church than anything its findings have revealed about the women.
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