LCWR Conference March. "The antidote to violence is love, not more violence."
I’ve written here a few times about the Vatican’s investigations (i.e., harassment) of women religious in the U.S. By far the most intimidating has been the apostolic visitation of all the congregations of women religious in the United States. When it was announced, many of the Sisters I worked with were afraid of what the consequences might be. Would they be forced back into habits? I thought this was crazy talk– could Rome actually do that?
At about the same time, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith began an investigation of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious (LCWR), an association that represents more than 80% of American nuns. The focus of this organization is to foster collaboration between communities and assist in training leadership. Its activities have focused primarily on social justice issues, but also on business issues– how to run large nonprofit organizations, which in effect is what religious orders are.
I was a member of an affiliate of this organization, the NCNWR, the National Communications Network of Women Religious, when I was a communications director for a monastery. We talked primarily about how to utilize social media, blogs and other technology to continue building relationships with the Sisters and the communities they served and how to manage the communications in communities that were aging, in decline and/or merging. We talked about telling the story of the Sisters’ legacy and of their ongoing local ministries.
When both of these investigations were announced, there was a fair amount of public outcry. The Vatican appeared to receive a black eye for picking on the women who educated and cared for many important people in this country, a lot of them in the media. Things died down. The investigations continued for a couple of years, but with a light hand and even at times a conciliatory tone. They resulted in secret reports submitted to the Congregation on the Doctrine of the Faith (LCWR) and, in January, to the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (apostolic visitation). The hierarchy in Rome are the only ones with access to these reports.
Yesterday, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ordered the LCWR to reform its statutes, programs and affiliations to conform more closely to “the teachings and discipline of the Church.” It also appointed Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain to oversee the LCWR, with “power to review and revise the organization’s policies,” according to an article in the National Catholic Reporter.
Whenever I start to think, “Who cares about Rome? Why are the women religious communities so cowed by the hierarchy?” something like this happens.
Wow. Rome can do that? Archbishop Sartain has agreed to play a role in this? It remains to be seen what will happen to the LCWR, but I fear its dismantling. Why would the women want to remain members of an organization so stripped of autonomy? Why are they not allowed to work in peace for their future and the future of their orders?
This action also shows the nefarious way that the Vatican works. It remains to be seen what the outcome of the apostolic visitation will be. The report is in, but no one has or can see it. And all that can be expected is a series of directives, remedies, pronouncements, to come back via press release from Rome. Who will be appointed to manage the liberal Sisters? How can we keep these Sisters from talking about women’s ordination, practicing reiki and compassionately serving the LGBT people in their communities?
And they wonder why the women go underground or leave the church? And they wonder why it’s so hard to convince young women to become nuns?