Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

To Give a Defense

Home
Catholic
No Hope and Change for LCWR Under Pope Francis

No Hope and Change for LCWR Under Pope Francis

Last updated on: March 9, 2017 at 6:10 pm by Scott Eric Alt

No Hope and Change for LCWR Under Pope Francis 2017-03-09T18:10:54-04:00 Scott Eric Alt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Wyrd Sisters (Photo credit: Thomas Altfather Good, Creative Commons)

Two days after the election of Pope Francis, Thomas C. Fox of the Not Catholic Reporter called attention to an “upcoming segment” of 60 Minutes; CBS described it this way:

One of the pressing problems newly elected Pope Francis may want to address is the disillusionment among American nuns. Many were shocked last year when the group that represents most of them was reprimanded by the Vatican, which says that the nuns’ liberal ideas were undermining the Church.

According to Mr. Fox, the 60 Minutes segment “comes at a time of considerable uncertainty in the church.” He goes on to surmise that “Without a CDF prefect, the authority of Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain, who officially serves as the Vatican ‘archbishop delegate’ for LCWR[,] is in question, at the very least.”

i. fox’s uncertainty resolved

Sartain it is, however, that the LCWR (and Mr. Fox of the NSCCR) can be “uncertain” no longer. On his blog at Patheos, Deacon Greg Kandra quotes a statement from the Vatican regarding a meeting between the CDF, the LCWR, and Abp. Sartain himself. According to the statement, CDF prefect Gerhard Muller

highlighted the teaching of the Second Vatican Council regarding the important mission of Religious to promote 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 (cf. Lumen Gentium nn. 43-47). … For this reason, [religious] Conferences are constituted by and remain under the direction of the Holy See (cf. Code of Canon Law, cann. 708-709).

Finally, [Abp.] Muller informed the [LCWR] that he had recently discussed the Doctrinal Assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed [its] findings … and the program of reform for his Conference of Major Superiors.

The Vatican statement could as easily have cited Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata.

A distinctive aspect of ecclesial communion is allegiance of mind and heart to the Magisterium of the Bishops, an allegiance which must be lived honestly and clearly testified to before the People of God by all consecrated persons, especially those involved in theological research, teaching, publishing, catechesis[,] and the use of the means of social communication.

It seems to me self-evident, let them deny it who will, that the very point of a religion is to advance claims about the Truth. Doctrine matters. Without that, you may be any number of things, but you’re not Catholic. And it is not good to have the laity in the pews confused about these points. That is why John Paul II was so at pains to point out the need for “allegiance of mind and heart” to what the Church has taught. That is particularly so for those in religious life. They are the face of the Church to the world.

ii. orthodoxy shock

So I am not sure why it is that the LCWR is said to have been “shocked”—shocked, shocked I say!—by the Doctrinal Assessment (DA) of the CDF. The Church has kept no secret about its teaching on, to name just two key points, abortion and contraception. Perhaps the shock can be explained by saying that there have (without question) been disciplinary problems within the Church for some time, and it could be that the LCWR thought they could just go on in heresy without ever being called on it.

Let them be “uncertain” on this point no longer. The CDF made its assessment under Pope Benedict, and Francis is not going to change any of it. His reaffirmation makes that as clear as day.

God bless Pope Francis.

updates

1. Fr. Z also discusses here and here.

2. The leftist rag Squawking Points Memo is outraged, to the surprise of no one. On that site, Nicole Winfield dusts off the alarmist description of the DA as a “crackdown.” Somehow I suspected it would not be long before the leftists turned on Pope Francis.

3. The LCWR issued their own terse statement here.

4. The shocked leftist despondency continues. Cathy Lynn Grossman at USA Today mourns that the “honeymoon between progressive[s] … and Pope Francis … may have ended” by the pope’s willingness to reaffirm the “stinging rebuke of most U.S. nuns.” [N.B., the LCWR is far from “most U.S. nuns,” but good luck convincing these people of that.] Ms. Grossman goes on to use all the standard buzz-phrases: the “controversial report” that was “a scandal,” [The LCWR is the scandal, Ms. Grossman.] the need for “mission integrity” in the LCWR, [For what?] the “political censure.” [Yawn.]

Expect this kind of bewailing and breast-beating among the far-left to continue.

***

If you like the content on this blog, your generous gift to the author helps to keep it active. I remember all my supporters in my Mass intentions each week.

Answers to Media Fictions

LCWR

Pope Francis

Previous Post

April 14, 2013

Associated Press Weeps for Gosnell's Staff

Next Post

April 16, 2013 Leftist Hysteria Continues Over Pope Francis and LCWR

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion About Me Answers for Calvinists Answers to Media Fictions Answers to Objections Anti-Catholicism Apologetics Apostolic Succession Atonement Authority of the Church Baptism Benedictines Biblical Exegesis Blogging Book Reviews Books & Writing &c. Calvin's Institutes Capital Punishment Catholic Church Chastity Christology Church Fathers Church Social Doctrine Confession Contraception Conversion Stories Crusades Debates Depression & Suicide Deuterocanon Development of Doctrine Ecumenism English Language Eucharistic Adoration Exorcism Extra Ecclesiam Fisks & Rebuttals Freedom of Religion Freedom of Speech Fundamentalism Gender Politics Gender Theory Good Works Homosexuality Humor Idolatry Immaculate Conception In the News Inquisition ISIS Islam Just for Fun Just War Justification LCWR Limbo Liturgical Abuse Liturgical Year Magisterium Marriage and Family Mary Mortal Sin New Evangelization NFP Papacy Papal Documents Papal Infallibility Personal Narrative Politics Pope Francis Pope Francis Derangement Syndrome Population Control Praying to the "Dead" Priesthood Primacy of Peter Protestant Denominations Purgatory Radical Islam Radical Traditionalists Real Presence Right to Conscience RIght to Life Saints Same-Sex "Marriage" Seven Quick Takes Social Justice Social Media Sola Scriptura Spirit of Vatican II SSPX The Eucharist The Mass The Resurrection Traditionalism Vatican II Year of Mercy

Select a Month August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 April 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 May 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which disciple is known as 'the Twin'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Philip Andrew Thomas James