Rob pointed out this article and indicated that it deserved a good fisk, and then suggested me as the man for the job. The original source can be found here. Following the lead of Fr. Z, I’ve added my own emphasis and [comments]. I include some information that can be found by poking around this website in my own commentary, and recommend people take a gander for more information. Article and commentary can be found “below the fold.”
Inquisitions aren’t things of the past for the Vatican
According to my nun and ex-nun friends [which are apparently so numerous that they make a valid cross-section of consecrated religious to make the following generalization], Catholic sisters chose to think and act on what they believe God and Jesus calls them to do, rather than relying on male [those pesky men] authorities (who are often out of touch), to tell them how to guide their religious practices. [This is "Spirit of Vatican II"-speak for "we no longer want to subject ourselves to the legitimate authority Christ gave the Church." In other words, a rejection of the authority of the Church in favor of their own personal, or collective, autonomy.
But, let's look at this objectively for a moment and not evaluate from any sort of moral perspective. At some point circa Vatican II, societies of sisters around the country made a choice to do something different with their lives. From 1965 to 2000, the Catholic population increased 47% while the population of religious sisters DECREASED 54%. There were 239 Catholics per religious sister in 1965; in 2000 this number was up to 761, a 218% increase. Maybe some "out of touch" male authority figure in Rome thought there was something fishy about those numbers and thought it should be researched. Why are there so fewer sisters when there are so many more Catholics? Why is it that orders that were seedbeds for vocations for decades are literally dying away? Seems like a logical question for the Congregation that oversees religious life to ask. Now, correllation is not causation, but it might be worth looking into if this paradigm shift has resulted in the decrease in numbers.]
A second investigation instigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [Oh come on, Ms. Falconer, you forgot "formerly known as the Inquisition"] is to study the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. [N.B. Different Dicastery. The first is the Congregation for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which has oversight over religious institutes. The CDF is for doctrinal issues.] The LCWR, extremely diverse in its membership, is composed of the heads of various sister communities which “assists its members to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.” [There are two main leadership organizations in the USA for sisters. The LCWR, and the Council of Major Superiors of Women religious. Both have websites. They're worth a look. Oddly enough, there isn't a doctrinal investigation going on for the latter.]
Cardinal Levada has been appointed to initiate a “doctrinal assessment” of the LCWR. The investigation is based on the Vatican’s assumptions that the LCWR accepts homosexual love, the ordination of women, and the view that God accepts people of many faiths or of no faith. [It would appear that Ms. Falconer is in support of all three of these things. Her argument is that Rome thinks the LCWR supports these (in her mind) good things, that Rome does not support them, and so that's why Rome is cracking the whip. It is impertive to support assumptions with facts. Ms. Falconer is accusing Rome of making assumptions, but she does not present any evidence that this is what Rome thinks. Is it an assumption by the CDF? Do they have nothing better to do? Or has the LCWR perhaps said or done something(s) in the past that have been brought to Rome's attention? I think most dicasteries have enough on their plates that they don't have to go hunting based on assumptions. A cursory google search showed some sites that suggested some events at a conference back in 2001 led to concerns about this group's theology that have been bubbled up.] To quote Mary E. Hunt of Religious Dispatches, “The mind boggles … with war, economic inequality, ecological concerns, immigration, the well-being of women and dependent children, anti-racism work, and health care (to name just a few concerns occupying the vast majority of active nuns), makes this narrow agenda of Vatican concern morally embarrassing.” [To whom?]
Regardless of their ceaseless good works, the Superiors of Mother Houses are required to answer questions. [There's those out-of-touch men weilding their authority again. Mother Superior was going to go and feed 1000 starving lepers today, but she's gotta fill out this dang survey instead. ] For instance: “Is daily mass a priority?” [Shouldn't it be? The Eucharist is the source and summit of everything after all.] “Is the Eucharistic Liturgy according to approved form?” “How do you deal with sisters who do not follow the authoritative teaching of the church?” [That's easy, we make them mother superior....] “How do you live out the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience?”
These inquisitions are obviously a way to control a group of women, who place more emphasis on spreading love and justice in their communities [rather than the Gospel? Remember in John 6 after the loaves and fishes, Jesus rebuked those who came to believe simply because their physical needs were met. Spreading love and justice is good, but that's not the totality of the Christian message] than adhering to some rules demanding strict obedience [then why did so many take a vow of obedience] set up by a group of cloistered men. [If you want to spread love and justice and not adhere to a bunch of rules you disagree with, that's all fine and dandy. Go ahead and do it. But if you're going to call yourself a Catholic Religious Order, then there are certain rules you need to follow. You want to use our name, you gotta play by our rules. Imagine if a bunch of McDonald's franchisees decided not to follow the corporate rules because the owners felt that they were more interested in spreading cheap food and obesity rather than following some rules established by stuffy corporate types we were out of touch with reality. And so a dozen restaurants start selling Whoppers instead of Big Macs, another dozen abandon the golden arches, a few more get rid of hamburgers and fries and instead start selling pizza and tacos, and on and on. Eventually, you will end up with pure chaos in the fast food marketplace. If you want to run a McDonald's restaurant, you have certain menu, design, advertising, branding, and price requirements. Otherwise, you can start your own burger joint. If you want to abandon daily prayer and authentic doctrine and focus on hugging trees or being a social worker, okay, but you've started something that's not part of the Church.]
Does it not seem odd that these “visitations” started in the wake of the worst and most expensive scandal faced by the Catholic church hierarchy? [Ho hum. When you're done using nasty words like "inquisition" just bring up the sex scandal. Which, you know, was big news 8 years ago and has calmed down considerably. Clearly this was an attempt by the hierarchy to shift everyone's eyes to the repressed women so that those cloistered out-of-touch men can get back in touch -- if you know what I mean wink wink -- with their altar boys. Yep. Oh wait, there was that whole visitation of all the seminaries a year or two ago to crack the whip and get them on track. Wonder who the evil men were after with that little inquisiton? I read of nuns risking and sometimes losing their lives to fight for civil rights in Latin America, Africa and other Third World countries [and no priests have ever done this...just pay no attention to Oscar Romero, Maximilian Kolbe, Pope John Paul II], but never to amass material gain. I see their obedience to the gospel in their work in hospitals, as social workers, and comforters in prisons, but never to become famous. I am told [by whom?] that nuns are more highly educated, many with doctorates, than are most priests [maybe. Can you provide some data for this? And what does this have to do with whether the sisters are actually authentically living the consecrated life], but they are not allowed to teach in Catholic universities [Apparently all the IHM sisters on the faculty at Immaculata and Marywood Universities never got the memo]. Yet, I have never heard of a nun sexually abusing children. [maybe not. That's not to say it hasn't happened. But let's not forget the physical and emotional abuse many sisters subjected their school students to in past generations. That doesn't excuse priestly sexual abuse of course, but let's not think all sisters are completely innocent of any wrongdoing. We are ALL sinners.]
Is it possible that this whole inquisition of women religious is designed to mask the “sins of the fathers?” [These last two sentences are a cheap parting shot.] What group should the Vatican be investigating about the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience? Certainly, not the nuns. [Well, since consecrated religious are the only ones who take those vows, who else? But I guess Ms. Falconer doesn't know that.]
Sylvia Falconer is minister emerita of the Greeley Unitarian Universalist church. She served as a minister in Alaska, Illinois and Colorado. She is a freelance writer, an artist and a grandmother.
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Someone is very angry.
