Cardinal Levada gives LCWR, the association which brings together female leaders of American congregations, the thumbs down; to the surprise of its members.
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the association with the largest number of leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States, has come under a strict doctrinal assessment by the Vatican.
The text was the focus of yesterday’s meeting between the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and representatives of congregation and religious order leaders in the United States.
The Vatican has even appointed a supervisor, a kind of special administrator whose task will be to assess all the organisation’s activities.
The man chosen for the job is Mgr. Peter Sartain, the Archbishop of Seattle “the delegate in charge of examining, guiding and approving, in necessary, the Association (LCWR)’s work”.
He will work together with LCWR representatives “to fulfil the objectives outlined in the Assessment.” His mandate will last five years.
The delegate will then report back to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who will inform and consult with two other related dicasteries: the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the Congregation for Bishops.
A communiqué issued by the dicastery led by Cardinal William Levada, states that the Assessment “is in relation to the Association of Major Superiors and does not deal with faith or the life of nuns in the Institutes that are members of this Association.”
However, “serious doctrinal problems” did emerge, “many of which affect consecrated life.”
The Assessment speaks of certain unacceptable positions taken by the Association in its annual assemblies, including dissenting stances – in relation to the ordination of women priests, for example, and to its pastoral approach to homosexuality – and the issuing of “radically feminist statements that are incompatible” with Catholic teaching.
In the text, Cardinal Levada goes on to state that there is a tendency among leaders and American nuns to “take a position that is not in agreement with the Church’s teaching on human sexuality.”
“It is a serious matter – Cardinal Levada explained - when these Leadership Teams are not providing effective leadership and example to their communities, but place themselves outside the Church’s teaching.”
The response given by the major Superiors of American religious congregations was not long in coming. The presidency of the LCWR issued a brief communiqué expressing its amazement at the Vatican’s decision.
An LCWR note said that “The presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was stunned by the conclusions of the doctrinal assessment of LCWR by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
“Because the leadership of LCWR has the custom of meeting annually with the staff of CDF in Rome and because the conference follows canonically-approved statutes, we were taken by surprise.”
“This - the note stated - 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.”
Sister Janet Mock is currently executive director of the LCWR which has approximately 1500 members who represent more than 80 percent of the 57,000 women religious in the United States.