God’s Spirit
A Prayer for our Sisters

In this time of pain and promise,
we call on God’s Spirit to bless
the leadership of LCWR, of our
Congregation, and all women religious
who strive to live the gospel in these
uncertain times.

We call on the Spirit of God to reveal
the way forward that is faithful to God’s
dream for us and our lives together.

May all who are called to engage
in prayer and conversation come to
the table with hearts that are open,
transparent, and faith-filled. May their
reflection be marked by a deep listening
to the voice of the Spirit at work in
our world.

May the holy ones who have gone
before us inspire us by their courage
and wisdom and affirm that we are
not alone.

May we continue to faithfully live the
questions of our time and witness to
the people of God that we are women
at home with mystery and filled with
fierce hope for our shared future.
Amen.

by Sister Chris Koellhoffer, IHM

Please feel free to use this prayer and distribute widely!

Carole Garibaldi Rogers is an oral historian and a poet. She is also author of Habits of Change: An Oral History of American Nuns (Oxford University Press, 2011). She recently blogged about the current situation involving the Vatican and U.S. Catholic Sisters drawing on her experience conducting interviews with 94 women religious across the United States and across religious communities beginning in the 1990s. Rogers’ message is clear: Get to know the Catholic sisters and nuns who are “behind the controversy”.

This is a welcome approach to the endless commentary on a situation that we continue to know very little about. Lest we baptize all of our personal opinions (indeed some rather scathing and unconscionable opinions) as undeniable fact, let’s shift the discussion and get to know U.S. Catholic sisters and nuns and see where religious life is in the ecclesial landscape.

Rogers first couple of blog posts introduce us to Sister Rosemarie Milazzo, a Maryknoll Sister, and to Sister Mary Rose McGeady, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

Reflecting on her work in Tanzania and Congo, Sister Rosemarie tells Rogers:

“That’s the cost of relationships. You’re into their lives. They’re into your life. We enter into the pain of people, and I guess for me it’s become more the pain of the world. It’s so deep. There are so many trouble spots and there are so many people who don’t get a share at the table. I hope my prayers are deeper. I hope my walking on this earth is gentler and more caring and more compassionate. I also feel that I have met the people and they’ve told me their story. So what is now my responsibility?” (read more at the Oxford University Press blog, May 6, 2012)

Sister Mary Rose, who succeeded Father Bruce Ritter as the Director of Covenant House, an agency to protect runaway teens, spoke to Rogers about her work:

“These kids are trying to figure out what they’re going to do with their drunken father who beats them or who sexually abuses them. Or they’re kids forced into prostitution to have money to buy their school books. What a different world it is. What it does, it just whets my appetite for what we do, to try to give these kids the second chance they need to get started over again. People will say to me, ‘How can you do that work all the time? Don’t you begin to feel overwhelmed by all these kids?’ And I always say, ‘The only way we can make a mistake is to stop.’ The only time the church fails is when it stops being a caring community.” (read more at the Oxford University Press blog, May 7, 2012)

Check out more by Rogers and her book Habits of Change at carolegaribaldirogers.net.

To see all the NUNDAY stories of Catholic sisters and nuns we’ve posted, visit the NUNDAY at aNunsLife.org. If you’ve got a photo and story (how you know Sister) of a real Catholic sister or nun, check out the details on submitting your photo for consideration.

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Join us for prayer tonight at 6 p.m.CT at aNunsLife.org/live – we pray together across the world using the Scripture of the day. During the prayer you can offer your prayers using the chat room.

News and commentary about the doctrinal assessment of LCWR by the Vatican Congregation for the Faith abounds. How to understand the Vatican call for reform of the LCWR?

We’ve had so much input coming from both professional and armchair commentators that it can be challenging to remember that all the “buzz” (no matter how well articulated or compelling) is not the story. While we might resonate with what commentator says or writes, we cannot hang our understanding on it without short-shrifting our own due diligence. Part of the problem, however, lies in the fact that precious few of us have expertise in all the areas involved in this particular event.

The relationship of U.S. Catholic sisters and the Church — which includes the people, the hierarchy, the teaching, the tradition, the faith — is a complex one which intersects theology, religious life, authority, history, politics, sociology, and other spheres of life. This relationship, however, resides ultimately in the sphere of God, the one in whom each of us lives and moves and has our being.

It is out of this place in God where each of us is called to understand and engage this event. What does this mean?

1. First, understanding and engaging the Vatican call for reform of LCWR  means letting go of the devil. Our human tendency is to demonize that with which we do not agree with or by which we’ve been hurt. This devilish language is laced into many a conversation and commentary and we must make it an act of our will to have no part in it. This does not mean that we agree with everything or that we cannot give voice to our experience. Clearing out the devil gives us space to be open to grace.
2. Second, it means taking to heart WWJD. Scripture reminds us: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). We must turn first to God before we turn to our favorite news outlet, commentators, and bloggers. That’s where our grounding is lest we become mere aggregators of others’ agendas. Praying with and reflecting on this in light of the Gospel must be our home page.
3. Third, it means extending our prayer to theological reflection. “Theological reflection is a way of doing theology that starts from the experiences of life and leads to searching in faith, for deeper meaning, and for the living God. However, it is deciding how to live out of this reflective search that is the critical intention of the process of theological reflection.” (Sister Kathleen McAlpin in Ministry That Transforms: A Contemplative Process of Theological Reflection) Read more at What is Theological Reflection?
4. Fourth, it means putting faith into action. Our faith is not a museum. It is alive with the breath of God. This means that our prayer and reflection transform us and impel us to engage with the world. In this particular context that means engaging the “primary sources” of the doctrinal assessment document as well as the statements of LCWR and the CDF-appointed Delegate Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle. It also means engaging in conversation with others, including the myriad of commentators and bloggers, both those we tend to agree with and those we tend not to agree with. Click here for helpful guidelines in engaging with articles, news stories, blog posts, etc.

Let us hold all who are involved in and affected by the doctrinal assessment in our prayers. We pray that the Spirit continue to breathe new life in each one of us!

After the Vatican made its announcement about the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR ) last week, many Catholics expressed a desire to learn more about the doctrinal assessment and reflect on its meaning in light of theology, which Saint Anselm described as “faith seeking understanding.”

To assist in this, we highlighted a few areas for consideration, based on a study guide that Sister Regina Siegfried, ASC, developed for the novices with whom she works. Sister Regina is a Catholic sister in the congregation of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. She has taught at Saint Louis University and Aquinas Institute of Theology and works with new members of religious communities and with people who are in RCIA in her parish. The study guide also includes questions from Sister Amy Hereford, CSJ, a Sister of Saint Joseph and an attorney canonist.

Downloadable and printable PDFs of this reflection guide as well as of the doctrinal assessment are available at the end of this post.

The Bigger Picture

1. What are the various centers of authority in the Catholic Church?

2. Name some of the many theologies that are operative in the Catholic Church today. How would you describe the theology at work in your life? in the Church? in LCWR?

3. What do you see as the place of religious life in today’s Church? In today’s world? How might others in the Church see the place of religious?

4. Discuss the notion of human dignity and human rights in this process.

The Assessment Itself

(pp. 1-2) The Introduction situates the assessment in the background of Vita Consecrata, an expression of gratitude for years of service to the Church and for the charism of religious life.  It also mentions that the investigation of LCWR does not mean judgment on the life and faith of individual women religious.

• What do you sense is the overarching concern of the assessment?

(pp. 2-3) This section outlines the chronological setting for the assessment including the three major areas of concern that surfaced in the April 8, 2008, meeting with LCWR and Cardinal Levada: LCWR assembly addresses, policies of corporate dissent, and radical feminism.

• Familiarize yourself with the work of NETWORK and the Resource Center for Religious Institutes (RCRI)

(pp. 3-4) Documentation presented to the ordinary session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)

• What are the issues at stake here?
• Where do these issues intersect in your own life?

(p. 5) Principal Findings of the Doctrinal Assessment

• What is one of the conclusions about LCWR assembly addresses?
• What issue from 1977 is still open?
• How do you make sense of the jump in the conclusion that since no clarification was offered, it  therefore is seen as an endorsement of the positions presented in talks?
• Note the discussion on prophetic office in the last paragraph. How does this paragraph agree or disagree with discussions on prophetic office by people like Walter Brueggeman, Michael Crosby, and Sandra Schneiders?

(p. 6) The Role of the LCWR in the Doctrinal Formation of Religious Superiors and Formators

• What’s the difference between “doctrinal content” and “theological education”?

(p. 7) The Mandate for Implementation of the Doctrinal Assessment

• Read Canons 708 and 709 in light of the broader context of religious life mentioned in Canon Law and lived through the centuries.
• What are the five points of the mandate of the Delegate? Do any of them strike you in particular?

(p. 8 ) Conclusion

• This is a five-year process. Any thoughts on where you will be personally in five years? Any thoughts on where you imagine religious life will be? The Catholic Church in the United States?
• The assessment calls for the formation of an advisory team. If you were on the team, what would you bring to the table?

We invite you to download this post to use for further personal reflection or in a discussion group.

• PDF Download: Resource for reflection on the doctrinal assessment of LCWR
• PDF Download: The doctrinal assessment of LCWR

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Join us for a live broadcast this evening and every weekday at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live. Tonight’s broadcast is “Praying with the Sisters,” a podcast where we gather around the Word of God and share prayer requests and prayers of thanksgiving with one another.

It is impossible to miss the flood of social media updates and news articles that have made LCWR a household acronym. The Leadership Council of Women Religious, a canonical organization representing the vast majority of Catholic Sisters in the United States, received notice by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) that Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle will be overseeing a “renewal” of the organization.

With our sisters and the broader Catholic family, we are shocked and saddened. We are still processing the news and there are still many unknowns. We do not know, for example, how the mandates in the Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will be implemented. As we’ve read and listened to the news, we’ve found some resources that have been helpful to us in looking at both the immediate story and the bigger picture. We hope these are helpful to you as well.

• Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR) website
• Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson’s guest blog post for The Tablet – Peggy is Professor of History  and has researched and written extensively on the history of women religious in the United States (and she’s a frequent A Nun’s Life guest!)
• Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK, talking with NPR’s Melissa Block (April 19, 2012)
• Scripture, in particular the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• The Transformation of American Catholic Sisters by Sisters Lora Quiñonez and Mary Daniel Turner (1993) – provides a history of LCWR including its relationship to the Vatican
• James Martin’s Twitter Drive #WhatSistersMeanToMe Supports US Nuns via Huffington Post (April 19, 2012)

We ask for your continued prayer and support of LCWR and the sisters it represents, of Archbishop Sartain and his assistants Bishop Leonard Blair and Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, and of the whole Catholic Church in the U.S.

We hold LCWR in our prayers for their faithful service to the Church and for furthering the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.

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Join the community of faith who gather here weekday evenings at 6 p.m. CT for prayer using the Scriptures of the day’s liturgy at aNunsLife.org/live. All are welcome.

Ilove this reflection on discernment! For me, it pretty much describes in a nutshell my experience of discerning God’s call, especially at times when I find an intersection where I thought only one road existed.

Photo by Alesa Dam

The reflection was written by Sister Mary Fran Gilleran, IHM, and was published in Midwiving a Vibrant Future, by the Leadership Council of Women Religious.

The work of discernment sets a challenge before us. We enter a process of choice and decision-making with many aspects to it. The deepest calls of our lives, the times when we know we have to choose, are profound moments.

These moments always seem to have two sides: call and dread. A call that challenges us, that we know is right, confronts us with dread at the same time. We know this call will require new demands of us. It will require taking on and letting go of familiar patterns and ways of being comfortable. It elicits dread even though we know it is time, it is needed, it is even good for us and for the whole.

Midwives of the new must know when to push for the next stage and when to simply breathe in and through both call and dread. They are two sides of the same invitation. There is a time to throw away. And it is all part of one process.

How does this reflection resonate with your experience of discernment?

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Join A Nun’s Life community tonight for prayer at aNunsLife.org/live at 6 p.m. CT (your time zone) Come a bit early or stay a bit late and chat with us in the chat room!

In her recent essay “When good (bad) things happen: Religious life in the wake of the investigation“, Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, hits a very key point about how we understand God and God’s relationship to us and the world. She also well articulates many of the positive effects of both the Apostolic Visitation and the doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Council of Women Religious (an organization representing 95% of women religious in the United States).

Read the article and let’s have a conversation here about our questions, concerns, observations and hopes. To start, here are just a few of the lines that struck me …

The “attribution of direct causality for mundane happenings to God can be a spontaneous reaction to bewilderment in the face of inexplicable evil and suffering, but it reflects bad theology and encourages worse spirituality.”

“God is not manipulating by some giant computer in the sky …”

“God is supporting us, urging us to the best responses to reality of which we are capable and even beyond what we think we are capable of, consoling us in suffering, sharing and affirming our joy, strengthening us in conflict, and enabling us to learn and grow through everything we experience no matter how tragic or overwhelming it may be. But this does not make God the direct and immediate cause of each event that happens in the universe.”

“In short, bad causes, whether natural disasters or accidents or stupidity or human evil, do not produce good results, but human beings dealing courageously and creatively with natural or moral evil can cause great good to emerge for themselves and others.”

“Many people … are beginning to realize that two Vatican investigations of U.S. women religious and their leaders … have nevertheless been the context for some very positive developments. These developments were clearly not intended by the investigations and certainly not caused by them. But God is not limited by human intentions …”

“Perhaps the most important development is the impetus … to articulate much more clearly the theology and spirituality that has developed in and energized the last 40 years of ministerial religious life in this country.”

“Are we taking time to interact with younger women who, as they were growing up, may not have known personally any sisters and perhaps thought of them as timid and domesticated “good little nuns” or “father’s little helpers” but who now are hearing and reading about educated and powerful women religious committed to a Vatican II church and a redeemed world?”

“Adversity often calls out of people conviction, strength and commitment that they were not conscious of possessing. That does not make adversity, especially gratuitous adversity caused by human beings, a blessing, even a “blessing in disguise.””

For more on Sister Sandra Schneiders, check out our recent interview with her on our monthly series In Good Faith as well as other articles we’ve written.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

The Leadership Council of Women Religion (LCWR) held its national assembly this year in Dallas, Texas (August 11-14, 2010). The gathering was an opportunity for education, reflection on issues pertinent to religious life leadership, networking, prayer and celebration.

Among the highlights of the week were the following:

Our own Sister Margaret Brennan, IHM received the 2010 LCWR Outstanding Leadership Award. Sister Margaret, a theologian and former LCWR president, played a key role in the renewal of religious life following the Second Vatican Council. In her response she gave testimony to the founding spirit of LCWR and its continued ministry and mission. (Download the full text of her response GIFT… In gratitude … and awe: A Response)

Richard R. Gaillardetz, PhD of the University of Toledo, spoke on the fidelity of Catholic sisters to the vision of the Second Vatican Council, noting that the tensions sisters are experiencing with the church hierarchy have significance for those not in religious life as well. “The way you respond to the ecclesial tensions you are experiencing right now will be a witness to all Christians, instructing all of us in how to most fruitfully and productively respond to the inevitable ecclesial tensions that we undergo,” he stated.

M. Shawn Copeland, PhD of Boston College emphasized that the prophetic ministry of Catholic sisters is critical for the future of the church. Noting that the Catholic tradition is in crisis, she asked, “How are we to live in the presence of God in this time of disappointment and diminishment? What are we to do in a situation in which nothing seems to be moving forward, when life-giving possibilities for the future seem foreclosed or beyond immediate realization? In such a situation, prophetic ministry not only is needed, it is imperative.”

In her address to the assembly, LCWR president Sister Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA urged the body to claim its role in the church. She said, “We do not have to mimic our founders to find the answer about how to articulate our ecclesial role. The Gospel will show us what to do, how we must act with the attitude of Jesus who emphasized an inclusive love of all in right relationships. We take our power from the Word of God.” (Download Sister Marlene’s full address Called to Hope as Prophets, Artists, Healers, & Lovers)

Before the close of the assembly, Sister Mary Hughes, OP of the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, New York, assumed the office of LCWR president for 2010-2011.

(sources: Leadership Council of Women Religious and Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; see also US Catholic article LCWR Members urged to maintain ‘hope in the midst of darkness’)

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

From the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR) about one of my nuns …

We are very pleased to announce that Margaret Brennan, IHM, has been chosen to receive the 2010 LCWR Outstanding Leadership Award. The honor will be presented to Margaret at the LCWR assembly in August in Dallas.

Margaret, a Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan, is a theologian, a former president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and a professor emerita of theology at Regis College (University of Toronto), where she taught for 25 years.

She has made numerous contributions to the renewal of religious life and has been a courageous voice in the church. Novalis Publishing released her memoir last year, What Was There for Me Once.

At the assembly … we will commemorate Margaret’s life and celebrate her significant influence as an inspirational leader in the church and in religious life.

Read more about Sister Margaret Brennan on aNunsLife.org.

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Join Sister Maxine and Sister Julie for LIVE prayer podcast today at 6 p.m. Central Time (check your time zone). You can share your prayer requests with us and the A Nun’s Life community. http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE

Sister Maxine and I got home late last night and are getting today’s podcast together. Since being on the road all week, we’ve not had too much time to prepare so this podcast will be a fun one! As mentioned yesterday, we’ll talk about our mission out west this week plus some of the nun news stories from the week. We now have an “ask sister” portion of the podcast where we’ll take your questions and comments on the air (via chat room or call in).

Here’s what we’ve got today:

• Cardinal O’Malley’s letter of affirmation for the Leadership Council of Women Religious — also mentioned is the Thank You, Sister Campaign which you are invited to participate in
• Mother Angelica of EWTN receives the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award  — also mentioned is the book Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles
• National Communicators Network of Women Religious conference in San Francisco — Sister Julie presented on blogging and social media (FYI A Nun’s Life is on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube)
• a visit to Muir Woods and the redwoods and with our friend Sister Pat Farrell, OP, of the San Rafael Dominicans
• The article Confessions of a Modern Nun in America magazine by Sister Ilia Delio
• a discussion on the Apostolic Visitation and LCWR doctrinal assessment
• Ask Sister – a visitor in the Talkshoe chat room asks why there are age limits for entering a religious community

Visit ANunsLife.org/live
Today
12 p.m. Central Time / UTC-5

Join in on the conversation during the live broadcast by listening and chatting in our chat room.

POST SHOW UPDATE: Here’s the link to today’s podcast which was broadcast earlier today.

The investigation of women religious (aka Catholic sisters or Catholic nuns) in the United States has raised many questions and concerns since it was first announced earlier this year. Here at A Nun’s Life Ministry, we’ve received a number of questions about the Apostolic Visitation and the doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR), an organization representing 95% of women religious in the United States. Because of the concern that so many people have shared, we’d like to open the door to your questions so that we can begin to address them with the help of experts in the field of religious life and the Catholic Church.

We would like to begin gathering your questions about the investigations. Some of the questions we’ve already received touch on the following concerns:

• why are sisters being investigated? And why only in the United States?
• is this Apostolic Visitation like the Visitation of the Legionaries of Christ?
• why are sisters upset if they have nothing to hide?
• who are Cardinal Rodé and Mother Mary Clare Millea?
• is this a friendly visit?
• why aren’t contemplative nuns and religious brothers and priests being investigated?
• should this be of concern to me as a lay person? as someone who is ordained? as a religious who is not being investigated?

In the next few weeks, A Nun’s Life Ministry will be collecting your questions as well as creating a resource page with information on the Apostolic Visitation and the doctrinal assessment. We welcome all respectful questions. Please use the comment box below or email us at with your questions. We’ll keep you updated as we go along.

Just got word that Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, will be a panelist on the NPR “On Point” program today, Wednesday, July 8. The topic is “U.S. Catholic Nuns and the Vatican” which will probably include discussion about the Apostolic Visitation. One of the other panelists will be Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, RSM (Religious Sister of Mercy), who currently leads the Conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious, one of two women’s religious leadership groups in the United States (the other is the Leadership Council of Women Religious).

Also on the panel is Sister Mary Traupman, CDP (Sisters of Divine Providence), an attorney who helps senior citizens with legal work, and Laurie Goodstein, national religion correspondent for The New York Times. Goodstein wrote a recent article “U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny” (July 1, 2009) which included a misquote of Sister Sandra when it stated she “urged fellow nuns not to participate/cooperate in the study” — Sister Sandra has requested a correction.

Check your local station for the broadcast time of “On Point” is aired. You can also listen live on the “On Point” website 10am – Noon, 7 – 9pm (ET). The program will likely be available on the website after the broadcast too.