The Jesuit-run University of San Francisco honored the Leadership Conference of Women Religious at its fall commencement exercises on Friday, Dec. 17, in what the
National Catholic Reporter characterized as “a signal to the Vatican.”
In 2009, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was under doctrinal review because of the “tenor and doctrinal content” of various addresses at the organization’s annual assemblies since 2001. That investigation is still under way, along with a series of apostolic visitations to women’s religious communities in the U.S.
More recently, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was among a handful of Catholic groups that endorsed President Obama’s healthcare reform bill despite opposition from U.S. Catholic bishops. That action prompted George Wesolek, director of the San Francisco archdiocese’s Office of Public Policy & Social Concerns to write a letter published in the archdiocesan newspaper that said, in part, “For years, most of the leadership of the LCWR and the Catholic hospitals (most of which are owned by these very same LCWR leaders) have been advancing a view of Catholic social teaching that reflects a vision that they learned in the 60s and 70s – a tired feminism that distorts the role of women and has at its center the freedom of women to ‘choose’ to kill the infants in their womb if they so desire.”
“Speaking at the College of Arts and Sciences commencement will be Sister Mary Hughes, O.P.,” said a news item posted on the USF website. “Sr. Hughes will accept an honorary doctoral degree on behalf of the Leadership Conference of Catholic Women Religious (LCWR), of which she is president, for their contributions to the country and to the Catholic Church.” The event was held at St. Ignatius Church on the USF campus.
“We honor Catholic Women Religious to recognize their uncompromising commitment to serve those underrepresented and underprivileged with love and concern,” USF president Fr. Stephen Privett, S.J., was quoted as saying in the university’s announcement. “The sisters are extraordinary persons of faith devoted to building a better world through prayer and hard work. They offer an inspiring example of service in the modern world for our students and graduates.”
The
National Catholic Reporter said the honor bestowed on the LCWR “appears to be yet another visible contrary endorsement of the work of the women and one more signal to the Vatican that U.S. Catholics are not at all pleased with the Vatican moves.”
“The investigations have revealed a rift between Rome and a large section of U.S. Catholics,” said the
Reporter. “When the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith first told LCWR it was beginning an doctrinal inquiry, a letter to LCWR said the congregation was especially concerned that LCWR had not adequately held the official church line on abortion, women’s ordination and the primacy of the Catholic faith as the means of universal salvation.”
According to the
Reporter, “Cardinal Franc Rode, whose congregation heads the Apostolic Visitation is expected to retire in the coming weeks. Many women religious hope his successor will by more sympathetic to their work and could have a greater understanding for the way U.S. Catholics view their women religious.”
“Meanwhile,” said the
Reporter, “scores of U.S. and international religious and lay groups have issued statements in support for the U.S. women religious during the past eighteen months. However, the USF is the first university to honor the women with an honorary degree.”
“Given both the tenor and the doctrinal content of various addresses given at the annual assemblies of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the intervening years, this Dicastery can only conclude that the problems which had motivated its request in 2001 continue to be present,” Cardinal Levada said in a letter announcing the Vatican’s review of the group.
The Catholic Key, diocesan newspaper of the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, reported that a 2007 keynote address at the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious had provoked “particular concern and discussion.” The address, “A Marginal Life: Pursuing Holiness in the 21st Century,” was given by Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Laurie Brink, in which she discussed the decline of many women’s religious orders and criticized some successful new orders as “acquiescent” to others’ expectations, the Catholic News Agency reported.
Sr. Laurie said a “sojourning congregation” was “the dynamic option for Religious Life.” Such a congregation, she said, involves “moving beyond the Church, even beyond Jesus.”
“A sojourning congregation is no longer ecclesiastical,” said Sr. Laurie. “It has grown beyond the bounds of institutional religion. Its search for the Holy may have begun rooted in Jesus as the Christ, but deep reflection, study and prayer have opened it up to the spirit of the Holy in all of creation. Religious titles, institutional limitations, ecclesiastical authorities no longer fit this congregation, which in most respects is Post-Christian.”
USF’s decision to honor the LCWR is not the first time the Jesuit school has singled out dissident nuns for acclaim. On Nov. 23, USF’s Office of University Ministry honored Sr. Carol Keehan, the leader of the Catholic Health Association who openly defied U.S. bishops on passage of 'healthcare reform' and supported the appointment of pro-abortion bureaucrats by the Obama Administration.
