COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING DOCTRINAL ASSESSMENT OF LCWR (i.e., the meeting they had)

From VIS:

COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING DOCTRINAL ASSESSMENT OF LCWR
Vatican City, 12 June 2012 (VIS) – Given below is the text of an English-language statement released by the director of the Holy See Press Office concerning a meeting held at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about the doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR.

“Today the superiors of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with the president and executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States of America. Archbishop Peter J. Sartain of Seattle, the Holy See’s delegate for the doctrinal assessment of the LCWR, also participated in the meeting.

“The meeting provided the opportunity for the Congregation and the LCWR officers to discuss the issues and concerns raised by the doctrinal assessment in an atmosphere of openness and cordiality.

According to Canon Law, a conference of major superiors such as the LCWR is constituted by and remains under the supreme direction of the Holy See in order to promote common efforts among the individual member institutes and cooperation with the Holy See and the local conference of bishops (cf. Code of Canon Law, canons 708-709). The purpose of the doctrinal assessment is to assist the LCWR in this important mission by promoting a vision of ecclesial communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church as faithfully taught through the ages under the guidance of the Magisterium.

Get that?

The Magisterium.

Not the Magisterium of Nuns or any other pretended teaching authority.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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14 Comments

  1. smad0142 says:

    “The purpose of the doctrinal assessment is to assist the LCWR in this important mission by promoting a vision of ecclesial communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ…”

    Pretty strong statement. Is the CDF implying that as of right now the LCWR appears to lack faith in Jesus Christ? That to me seems much harsher than simply saying they are heterodox.

  2. tzard says:

    Nice to note the press office is on the ball – getting out before the LCWR gets to the press.

    Appropriate action when dealing with a group which battles through the press.

  3. BaedaBenedictus says:

    For all the shrill carping and crying from the Magisterium of Nuns and its allies about the “rudeness” and “attacks” from the “old men” in the Vatican, the language coming out of Rome has been unfailingly diplomatic, courteous, and polite. The reality: gentlemen vs. seething, poison-spitting rebels.

  4. PhilipNeri says:

    So. . .please pray for the poor “bidello” who had to clean the mess after the sisters’ head exploded!

    Fr. Philip Neri, OP

  5. aviva meriam says:

    Firm yet Kind. I dont know if I could have been That cordial if I’d been in the meeting.
    Deo Gratias.

    Archbishop Sartain and the CDF will be in my prayers.

  6. jhayes says:

    From the LCWR:

    [Silver Spring, MD] On June 12, LCWR president Sister Pat Farrell, OSF and executive director Sister Janet Mock, CSJ, met with Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), and Archbishop Peter Sartain. The meeting had been requested by the LCWR to address what the conference considered deficiencies in the process and the results of the doctrinal assessment of the organization released by the CDF in April.

    “It was an open meeting and we were able to directly express our concerns to Cardinal Levada and Archbishop Sartain,” said Sister Pat Farrell.

    Sister Pat and Sister Janet will now return to the United States to discuss the meeting later this week with the LCWR board. As previously stated, the conference will gather its members in regional meetings and in its August assembly to determine its course of action in response to the CDF assessment.

    https://lcwr.org/media/news/lcwr-statement-meeting-cdf

  7. papaefidelis says:

    …Whilst the elderly, pantsuited sisters quivered their jowls mightily in indignation.

  8. frjim4321 says:

    “It was an open meeting and we were able to directly express our concerns to Cardinal Levada and Archbishop Sartain,” said Sister Pat Farrell.

    Seems like an indication that this could be an open process.

    I suspect that Levada and Sartain are on notice that their actions in this matters will receive quite a bit of well-deserved scrutiny.

  9. Diane at Te Deum Laudamus says:

    Note the brevity of that communique from the Holy See. They didn’t stroke anyone’s self-esteem either. Brief and to the point.

    I’m glad the LCWR had an equally brief statement.

    In any event, there are objective measures for all to compare publicly available information from the LCWR. One of those is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

  10. Pingback: COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING DOCTRINAL ASSESSMENT OF LCWR (i.e., the meeting they had) | Catholic Canada

  11. robtbrown says:

    frjim4321 says:

    “It was an open meeting and we were able to directly express our concerns to Cardinal Levada and Archbishop Sartain,” said Sister Pat Farrell.

    Seems like an indication that this could be an open process.

    I suspect that Levada and Sartain are on notice that their actions in this matters will receive quite a bit of well-deserved scrutiny.

    And who would have put them on notice?

  12. @smado Christ and His Church are absolutely one, a Head and a Body. To lose Faith in Christ’s Church is to lose faith in Christ and the protection of His Spirit to guide the Church.

  13. Clinton R. says:

    “The purpose of the doctrinal assessment is to assist the LCWR in this important mission by promoting a vision of ecclesial communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ…”

    I can just hear the LCWR: “Faith in Jesus? But we go beyond Jesus!”

  14. terryprest says:

    It is surely significant that today, 12th June 2012, the CDF published on its website in English

    (a) the Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious
    http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20120418_assessment-lcwr_en.html

    and

    (b) the Statement of Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR
    http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20120418_statement-lcwr_en.html

    Two of the most significant passages in the Assessment would appear to be:

    “The Role of the LCWR in the Doctrinal Formation of Religious Superiors and Formators

    The program for new Superiors and Formators of member Communities and other resources provided to these Communities is an area in which the LCWR exercises an influence. The doctrinal Assessment found that many of the materials prepared by the LCWR for these purposes (Occasional Papers, Systems Thinking Handbook) do not have a sufficient doctrinal foundation. These materials recommend strategies for dialogue, for example when sisters disagree about basic matters of Catholic faith or moral practice, but it is not clear whether this dialogue is directed towards reception of Church teaching.

    As a case in point, the Systems Thinking Handbook presents a situation in which sisters differ over whether the Eucharist should be at the center of a special community celebration since the celebration of Mass requires an ordained priest, something which some sisters find “objectionable.”

    According to the Systems Thinking Handbook this difficulty is rooted in differences at the level of belief, but also in different cognitive models (the “Western mind” as opposed to an “Organic mental model”). These models, rather than the teaching of the Church, are offered as tools for the resolution of the controversy of whether or not to celebrate Mass. Thus the Systems Thinking Handbook presents a neutral model of Congregational leadership that does not give due attention to the responsibility which Superiors are called to exercise, namely, leading sisters into a greater appreciation or integration of the truth of the Catholic faith. …

    The mandate of the Delegate is to include the following: …

    2) To review LCWR plans and programs, including General Assemblies and publications, to ensure that the scope of the LCWR’s mission is fulfilled in accord with Church teachings and discipline. In particular:

    – Systems Thinking Handbook will be withdrawn from circulation pending revision

    – LCWR programs for (future) Superiors and Formators will be reformed”

    Is this another way of saying that in one of its major roles, the training of leaders of religious orders and bodies, the LWCR is not fit for purpose ?

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