Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle praised American religious women as a “great gift” days after being asked by Pope Benedict to help reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
“What I hope and pray for every day is that I, first of all, do as the Lord asks and do as the Holy Father asks,” said the archbishop, describing the task of renewal ahead to CNA on April 23.
He said he hopes “to work in a positive way,” recognizing “the wonderful contribution of religious women in the United States, and to work in a way that shows our continued love and support for their extraordinary contribution.”
Archbishop Sartain made his remarks in Rome only days after Pope Benedict XVI also publicly praised the contribution religious women make to the U.S. Church and society.
“In coming months I will have the honor of canonizing two new saints from North America,” the Pope said in a Saturday April 21 address to the Papal Foundation, a U.S.-based charitable institute.
The Pontiff described Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Mother Marianne Cope, set to be canonized on Oct. 21, as “striking examples of sanctity and heroic charity” who also “remind us of the historic role played by women in the building up of the Church in America.”
“Those are exactly my views,” Archbishop Sartain echoed, “which makes me very happy because, obviously, in the United States the role of women has been important from the very beginning.”
The archbishop explained that it was the women religious of the Archdiocese of Seattle who were the “pioneers” in the “evangelization of the Gospel, care for the poor and the sick and education,” as happened elsewhere across America.
Controversy ignited, however, when the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ended a four-year audit of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious on April 18, concluding that the organization was in the midst of a “crisis” of belief. The LCWR has more than 1,500 members, whose congregations represent over 46,000 religious sisters. The average age of membership is 74.
Among its key findings, the assessment documented serious theological and doctrinal errors in presentations at the conference’s annual assemblies in recent years.
Several depicted a vision of religious life that is incompatible with the Catholic faith, the assessment said, with some attempting to justify dissent from Church teaching and showing “scant regard for the role of the magisterium.”
The document also cited one address which spoke of “moving beyond the Church” and even “beyond Jesus.”
Archbishop Sartain stressed that he firmly believed the vocation of women religious continues to be a “great, great gift” to the Church and the world.
He praised what he called the “total consecration of one’s life, of the life of these religious women to Christ, who in every way are giving themselves in sacrifice and love to be the embodiment of the Gospel itself and to be in relationship with Christ their entire lives.
“I think it is such a wonderful witness to the world and something I have had the benefit of seeing throughout my whole life and the four dioceses that I have served."
Tim Drake: Register Radio: New Age Influence at the LCWR Assembly
Ann Carey: LCWR assembly Day 3: High Expectations
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The nuns that taught me for 12 years were all Orthodox, Holy Cross nuns, and each were terrific. Those nuns, now in retirement, or in Heaven, deserve support. But those nuns that belong to the mainline Protestant denominations need to be muzzled, and not allowed to teach what they think, their own opinions, because much of it is heresy, and for anyone that honors God. These nuns use “social justice” as a banner to spread bad teachings. Bishop Sartain and the Vatican is wise to oversee them, and to stop them from doing damage among those that are less educated in the faith.
It saddens me to see the Catholic church become so involved in secular politics. Render onto Ceasar…has been replaced with something Jesus never modeled. So to accuse these holy women of errors in their quest to follow where the Holy Spirit leads them to go..is laughable. These witch hunts will drive moderate Catholics from the church in droves. I did not Come Home to be dictated to by a bunch of men. These are dark days for our church.
Of course, the Catholic Church MUST be involved in secular politics! Kudos to the bishops and the Vatican for finally taking the initiative to clean up our messes. New Age nuns have been in control too long. They are not Bible literate. They just fly by the seat of their pants (or skirts).
The entire Body of Christ, such as the people Chuck Colson put together, Catholic priests and lay people among them, are speaking out now in the Manhattan Declaration, in a similar manner to how our country was founded.
We are to be Salt and Light to the world, not Doormats.
It was for Christian religious freedom that America was formed by those that objected to English imperial rule. Bishop Sartain has to rein in any group of free-thinking nuns, and sorry, Janet, NO WOMEN are to be ordained priests, if that’s what you’re hoping for. It’s right there, in our Deposit of Faith (the Bible), that those ordained to ministry be MEN.
A caveat: the sections of the Bible that pertain most to ordained men indicate that the ideal candidate for ministry is a married man, with believing children, so that means they’d be old enough to have developed wisdom, and they can manage their own households, in order to be credible to those they oversee.
Lastly, for the record, EVERYTHING is God’s. Nothing belongs to secular government. Read what happened with Nebuchadnezzer in the Old Testament.
We serve a Sovereign Triune God, not Washington DC. Everything in our faith must be reflected in our lives, or our “faith” is useless, because it’s not based on FACT.
Janet, Who do you say Jesus is, and how does what you know about Him affect YOUR life?
Archbishop Sartain stressed that he firmly believed the vocation of women religious continues to be great, great, great gift to the Church and the world. It is a well known fact that some of the congregations do tremendous service to humanity. These need not be said again and again by us catholics as the crudos must come from outside. Here the problem is whether these nuns individually or in groups defy the Church teachings on sexual morality and whether they should not be under the authority of the Bishops and Pope in all matters . Is there any place for atheism, or rejection of sexual morality or any Commandments in the congregations ? That is what we should discuss
Women are a great gift to the church as are men. Heretics are not.
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