Womens onna rampage!...
U.S. nuns crack back at Vatican crackdown
Jun 01, 2012 - The sisters have their dukes up.
U.S. nuns crack back at Vatican crackdown
Jun 01, 2012 - The sisters have their dukes up.
Leaders of the umbrella group of 55,000 U.S. nuns and sisters that was rebuked by the Vatican in April for failing to be doctrinally in line, is now fighting back. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, today blasted the Vatican report as a cause of "scandal and pain" and "greater polarization" in the church. Their leaders will go to Rome June 12 "to lay to rest misrepresentations" about them, said LCWR spokeswoman Sister Annmarie Sanders. They are set to meet with Cardinal William Leveda, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith which issued the critique, and Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, who was named by the CDF to take over the running of the group.
Reuters summarized the April report as a "stinging doctrinal assessment," accusing the women of promoting political views at odds with their Bishops and blasting them for listening to speakers on hot topics such as the oridination of women or the scope of ministry to homosexuals. The sisters and nuns were told to spend less time on social justice campaigns and more time stepping up to the microphones against gay marriage and abortion. To make that stick, the Vatican, in announcement quoting no women, named Sartain rewrite the LCWR statutes and supervise their meetings and to investigate their "relationships with politically active groups," Reuters said.
The LCRW, whose motto is "We risk being agents of change within church and society" had initially stayed silent until their Washington DC board meeting this week. But even if the LCWR was quiet, the public was not. Some Catholics applauded the rebuke and praised traditionalist orders that are not part of LCWR. Meanwhile, others howled that the sisters they treasured had been slammed. There was even a Twitter showdown as both sides tried to dominate #whatsistersmeantome.
The LCWR release today calls the Vatican assessment "based on unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency. Moreover, the sanctions imposed were disproportionate to the concerns raised and could compromise their ability to fulfill their mission. The report has furthermore caused scandal and pain throughout the church community, and created greater polarization." Sanders said that, as sad as they were over the CDF report, "We are very, very postive that, in this important time for the church, there is great solidarity among our members and Catholic sisters as a whole that we will move through this time together."
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