Recently, a Register reader, after perusing our online coverage of Catholic or Vatican objections to the practices of the Girl Scouts and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, stated: “The Inquisition continues! First the nuns; now the Girl Scouts.”
Indeed, the latest round of news reports has fueled the partisan spin that the Catholic hierarchy is waging a “war on women.”
The Vatican has appointed two U.S. bishops to help reform the LCWR and, in a separate action by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, released a statement repudiating a text by Mercy Sister Margaret Farley, a retired Yale Divinity School professor, stating that its doctrinal errors could cause “grave harm to the faithful.”
Yet, for all the bemused comments posted online or angry editorials in newspapers, many Catholics have also communicated their gratitude that Church leaders are addressing such problems.
That gratitude arises from the fear that practices and teachings which depart from Catholic doctrine or traditional values — without explicitly acknowledging that fact — are dishonest and dangerous.
During a June 5 conference call with Catholic media, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore acknowledged that many of the faithful and the broader public do not understand why the Church needed to correct an organization like the LCWR, just as many still are confused about the bishops’ reasons for challenging the HHS contraception mandate.
The archbishop recalled that one person told him that “we are becoming a Church of issues,” meaning that U.S. Catholics risk losing a deeper sense of belonging to the Church and embracing the fullness of its teaching in an integrated manner.
But Archbishop Lori, who also serves as the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, defended the right of Church leaders to help the faithful identify and resist false laws and teachings.
“Many will look at the LCWR and say, ‘The Vatican has attacked all the sisters across the board, no matter how much they have done,’” he said. “But, in simple fairness,” the Vatican’s letter to the LCWR “was more surgical” and not designed as a broad repudiation of the great legacy of women religious in the U.S.
In an increasingly secular world, he suggested, the public struggles to understand how such actions square with the Church’s stated mission: “While we are not of the world, we are in the world. The Church is going to experience the gales and headwinds our culture is dealing with.”
May she continue to proclaim boldly the teachings of Christ.
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I, FOR ONE, AM SO GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO ARE FINALLY CALLING OUT THESE SO-CALLED CATHOLIC AUTHORITIES WHO ACT AS THOUGH CATHOLICISM IS A MATTER OF WHAT THE CURRENT CULTURE SAYS IT IS, OR CAN BE REVISED IF A MAJORITY OF SO-CALLED CATHOLICS AGREE. IT’S TIME TO NOT ONLY TAKE AMERICA BACK, BUT TO TAKE CATHOLICISM BACK!!!!!
The Church should always be vigilant of false teachings and guard the deposit of faith. In fairness people should remember that the Legionaries of Christ (mostly priests and men)are also being reformed and hopefully closely supervised. It is sad that the faithful are being lead astray by false teachers pulling at heartstrings - all emotional arguments that don’t hold water next to the express teaching of Christ. While Christ dined with the sinner, He did not espouse their views or try to explain away their sin or shield them from their error. Without condemning, He called sin a sin and He called the sinner to Himself and to repentance or to healing - whatever was needed. He is still doing it today. His Word is life giving and it penetrates souls. We seem to have forgotten that just hearing it changes people.
St. John the Baptist called people evildoers and told them to show signs of their repentance…Jesus told the jews off in a passage and they told Jesus that his words were offensive to them; but Jesus didnt apologize to them….JUST EXACTLY HOW DOES ONE CORRECT??..with Vatican 2 we are told to accept other religions???, but the apostles of old went out to convert people to Jesus Christ, but now we are to be tolerate of other religions??so much division in the Church and the Bishops let feminist nuns go on for decades, the greater percentage of catholic women take birth control for decades and likewise he Bishops stand silent…..scripture says to instruct the person once about his error and if they persist to have nothing to do with that person then…THEN WHY HAVE THE SHEPHERDS OF THE CHURCH ALLOWED SUCH HERETICS TO CONTINUE TO EXST IN THE CHURCH???...this just drives me crazy and i ask Jesus to send His Divine Punishment down upon the Church and the world to correct it ....but the mess goes on everyday
Good editorial.
Thanks!
I have nothing but respect for what is happening in our Church. It is about time! The confusion I experienced at the hands of some CSJ’s from St. Kate’s University and other out of lines in other parishes has led me deeper into faith because of my confusion in their teaching. How can there be a truth if they say it’s subjective?!! But thanks to God there is but one Gospel, one Lord. He’s PRESENT and He speaks and He’s easy to find when you want to find Him. Pope Bennedict is a teacher of the faith. Carry on, Professor! Keep teaching!
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