US: Rebel nuns gather to respond to the Vatican

FABRIZIO MASTROFINI
Vatican Insider
Aug. 9, 2012

The American nuns have so far kept a low profile. Yesterday their yearly assembly began. In the opening address to her 900 fellow sisters, the Franciscan sister Pat Farrell made an allusion to the strong disagreement with the Vatican by saying: "This is a very historic moment for the life of this organization, like no other we have ever had". But then silence dropped over St. Louis where the yearly assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (Lcwr), which represents 60 thousand American nuns, is taking place. Closed meetings are being held to discuss the Vatican's request to change the status and the criticism to the sisters' opinions that are deemed too open.

At the end of the assembly, on Saturday, the leadership of the LCWR will gather for the whole of Sunday and they have scheduled the first meeting with the archbishop of Seattle Peter Sartain, who has been given by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith the responsibility of negotiating an agreement with the nuns.

Each of these private meetings behind closed doors will follow a strict routine, explained sister Farrell in her opening address. They will start with songs and prayers, to aid the attainment of a meditative state before exchanging any opinion as the situation is delicate.

Before the opening, sister Joan Chittister, renowned Benedictine theologian, who was president of the LCWR in the 80s, expressed confrontational opinions. She recalled that back when she was president the Holy See showed itself to be very closed off towards the more open views of the American sisters who saw peace, human rights and social action as privileged pathways to leave the safety of convents and meet people of all races, cultures and religions.

The disagreement with the Holy See, which is now being discussed, was made official by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a document released in April which stigmatized "certain radical feminist themes”(found in many initiatives of the LCWR) “incompatible with the Catholic faith". This led to instructing Mgr. Sartain to meet the nuns and check which is the most appropriate of the two current options: modify their views or, if that was not possible, change their statue. Whatever the outcome, this is a time of transition for the nuns, a delicate and important time. Since April, the initiatives to show support to the LCWR have multiplied and they culminated in a demonstration of a group of nuns and lay women in front of the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington where they were met by the Nuncio, archbishop Viganò, to whom they talked about their motivations. Now, however, the assembly of the LCWR has come to a decisive point, they need to find an answer to the clear position of the Holy See.

Tomorrow there will be a handover of responsibilities. The LCWR is lead by a “troika” (trio) that operates in a specific way, the current president will end her term and hand over the presidency to sister Florence Deacon who from elected president will become effective president, but sister Farrell will remain within the governing body to ensure continuity. The assembly will also elect the next president who will join and thus “complete” the management board which will remain in charge up until the next gathering in August 2013.