WUNRN
Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
USA - NUNS SURPRISED AT SEVERITY OF
VACTICAN ASSESSMENT REPORT, NOTING "RADICAL FEMINIST TENDENCIES"
WASHINGTON: While the US
priesthood is battered by controversies over paedophilia and cover-ups, the
Vatican has disciplined the country's largest organisation of nuns, prompting
fierce debate within the faith.
The Vatican found the
nuns' organisation had ''radical feminist'' tendencies and had not taken a
strong enough stance in support of Catholic doctrine against women's
ordination, ministering to homosexuals, and abortion and contraception.
In a statement, the
presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents
most of the US's 55,000 nuns, said it was ''stunned'' by the findings of the
assessment, conducted by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, which Pope Benedict led before his election.
''We had received a
letter from the CDF prefect in early March informing us that we would hear the
results of the doctrinal assessment at our annual meeting; however, we were
taken by surprise by the gravity of the mandate.
''This is a moment of
great import for religious life and the wider church. We ask your prayers as we
meet with the LCWR National Board within the coming month to review the mandate
and prepare a response.''
The Vatican has appointed
Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain to oversee the Conference's renewal. This
month he campaigned for a repeal of Washington State's new law permitting gay
marriage.
The Vatican's concerns
about the Conference appear to date as far back as 1979 when its former leader,
Sister Theresa Kane, appealed to Pope John Paul II to consider women's
ordination.
In 2009, the Vatican
announced it would conduct an ''apostolic visitation'', essentially an
investigation, into the group due to the content of various addresses made at
its annual meetings since 2001. More recently, the Conference has disagreed
with American bishops over the Obama government's healthcare reform, which it
supports but the bishops oppose.
The Vatican's statement
on its decision noted its concern over ''occasional public statements by the
LCWR that disagree with or challenge positions taken by the bishops, who are
the church's authentic teachers of faith and morals''.
Sister Jo'Ann DeQattro, a
Los Angeles nun for more than 50 years told the Los Angeles Times
columnist Steve Lopez that nuns felt insulted and demoralised by the ruling.
''This is the same church
that ignored people who were being paedophiles,'' she said, suggesting the
ruling was a way to shift focus the ongoing sexual abuse scandal.
''We really know why
they're focusing on the women. It's all about control. It's all about exercising
authority.''
The Vatican has also
targeted an arm of the Conference that lobbies in Washington in support of
programs supporting the homeless and healthcare reform.
''It's clearly payback
for healthcare, because I wrote the letter that the nuns signed that
[President] Obama said was the tipping point for getting healthcare reform and
the bishops had opposed it,'' Sister Simone Campbell told the Los Angeles
Times.
A 2002 study looked into
claims by 10,667 individuals against 4392 priests. The study was able to
substantiate 6700 accusations. Last year, church officials paid $US144 million
to settle abuse allegations and cover legal bills, the Los Angeles Times
reported.
But Ann Carey, author of
the 1997 book Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women's Religious
Communities, told the Catholic News Agency the Vatican had been patient
with the Conference and had tried in vain to give it guidance for years.
She said many holy orders
had veered away from ''loyalty and faithfulness to the church'' and the ''deference
to the hierarchy'' of religious life.