LCWR claims 'positive outcome' from Vatican investigation

May 15, 2015

In a confident statement welcoming the “positive outcome” of a Vatican investigation, the officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) said that they hope the example set by their encounter with the Vatican will encourage “the creation of additional spaces within the Catholic Church” for dialogue on theological and pastoral questions.

In April, the Vatican announced that a “doctrinal assessment” of the LCWR had been concluded. By mutual agreement, the LCWR and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) agreed to wait 30 days before making any further public comments on the outcome of their dialogue. At the conclusion of that waiting period, the LCWR leaders issued a public statement saying that their interactions with the CDF and with the American bishops delegated to supervise the process “were always conducted in a spirit of prayer and openness.”

The LCWR statement said virtually nothing about the changes that were made as a result of the Vatican investigation, which included the creation of new statutes, affirming that the LCWR would be “centered in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church.”

In April, as the Vatican announced the conclusion of its intervention, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the CDF, had emphasized the same point, saying that the LCWR “has made clear its mission to support its member Institutes by fostering a vision of religious life that is centered on the Person of Jesus Christ and is rooted in the Tradition of the Church.” In an initial report critical of the LCWR, a Vatican investigation had questioned whether the LCWR—which represents most of the “mainstream” women’s religious orders in the US—had drifted away from “the fundamental Christological center and focus of religious consecration.”

The Vatican investigation has roused heated opposition and resentment within some women’s religious orders. In their May 15 statement the LCWR leaders implicitly acknowledged that many members had argued against cooperation with the Vatican. “The choice to stay at the table and continue dialogue around issues of profound importance to us as US women religious had its costs,” they said. The statement also lamented the “false accusations” in the Vatican’s initial report, without adding details.

Tensions surrounding the Vatican investigation were eased, the New York Times reports, when the prelate appointed by the Vatican to oversee the process, Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, first met with LCWR representatives. The women religious were anticipating a conflict, the Times said:

But instead of lecturing the nuns — women who had dedicated their lives to teaching, health care, academia and social justice — Archbishop Sartain listened.

The LCWR statement was signed by Sister Sharon Holland, the group’s current president, Sister Marcia Allen, the incoming president, and Sister Carol Zinn, the former president, along with the executive director, Sister Joan Marie Steadman.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• The Nuns Spoke Out, but the Archbishop Listened (New York Times)
• Statement of the LCWR Officers on the CDF Doctrinal Assessment and Conclusion of the Mandate (LCWR)
• Vatican completes doctrinal assessment of Leadership Conference of Women Religious (CWN, 4/16)