UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage
William D. Lindsey
Some brief excerpts of responses to the Vatican report on American women religious that have struck me as well worth reading:
Joan Chittister maintains that the lingering questions about why this witch hunt took place and what role women are to have in the church point to the following conclusion:
These are the questions that will make real both the concern of the universal church for the development of women religious and for the development of the male church itself.
Christine Schenck reminds us of some telling details about what Rome immediately demanded of American nuns when the investigation was sprung on them:
At first, each community was required to submit detailed financial reports of assets, liabilities and cash flow along with lists of all the properties they owned. Rome also wanted to know each sister’s age, her address, and her ministry. (This is especially puzzling since the Vatican seems to have had difficulty keeping track of whole orders of sisters, let alone individuals. Some communities were completely overlooked in mailings about the apostolic visitation.)
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