The Great Inquisition of American Sisters
April 12th 2010 00:04
I have written and attempted to publish this particular post three times and each time something happens and the post disappears! If I were paranoid, I might believe that my unrelenting criticism of the Pope had something to do with this mystery. In order to disprove that thought, I will attempt this last time to share with you the situation faced by many American Orders of Sisters.
Two years ago, Cardinal Franc Rode', The Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, declared that the time had come to look into the lives of American Sisters. They had been pretty much left on their own since Vatican II and Roman simply needed to know how they had implemented the changes allowed by Vatican II, why their numbers had declined dramatically, and what their prayer lives were like and whether or not they held to the truths of the Roman Catholic Church regarding an all male priesthood, the immorality of homosexuality, and the belief that the Roman Catholc Church is the only way to salvation.
Mother Clare Millea, the major superior of a Rome based religious community, was appointed to organize what would be a three part investigation. Controversy was nearly immediate when Cardinal Rode' responded to Mother Clare's concern regarding compensation for travel. Neither he nor the Congregfation for Insititutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostoloic Life would provide compensation. The teams would have to approach the individual communities with whom they visited and ask them for travel and other reimbursement!
The first phase was the selection of communities to be visited and to request meetings with the major superiors. I have spoken with several of these sisters who reported that the tone was non threatening and low key and the purpose of this "investigation" was the wellbeing of American Religious communities in relation to the diminishing membership and lack of women requesting admission to these communities.
Phase Two was much more controversial. This took the form of a questionaire mailed out to the major superiors regarding community life, various ministries of community members, prayer and sacramental routines, and more. A number of those who received the questionaire were apalled by many of the questions believing them to be invasions of the privacy and personal relationship the Sisters to God and community. This resulted in many questionairs being returned incomplete or, in the case of questions regarding individual salaries, number of times each S8ister received the sacraments and others, a copy of the Constitutions of the congregation was attached with an explaination that the Constitutions answered many of the questions as they were written. Despite continued reqrests for cooperation in responding fully to the questionaires, Phase Three was about to begin without all of the information Mother Millea and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life had requested.
You will soon understand the difficulties with Phase Three. Mother Clare has sent letters to the major superiors of the communities that will be visited. The visitors will consist of teams of sisters who will spend approximately a week at the motherhouse of each of the selected communities. The letter requests the following:
-That somone meet the Sisters when they arrive
-An open gathering of Sisters and visitors
-A daily schedule forvisitors
-Blocked out times for both group and individual interviews
-Daily meals
-Community liturgy and prayer
-Reimbursement for room, board and transportation
-Private work space for each of the visiting Sisters
-Private work space (one for each member) containing paper shrader, copy maching, fax, computer and printer.
;Vatican II set the stage for reformation of relgious life in order for religious communities to be more open and able to reach out to the larger community of the People of God. Cardinal Rode' has attempted to obliterate the work, mission, and integrity of religious congregations by raising questions that indicate mistrust and are clothed in secrecy and deceit.
Sisters are now in ministries around the world, reaching out to people and sharing the love of Jesus Christ in ways that previously were not possible. Perhaps the Church would be better served if Cardinal Rode' and others looked deeply into the life of Benedict XVI and his side stepping of concerns regarding the sexual abuse of boys in droves by priests of the church.
Two years ago, Cardinal Franc Rode', The Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, declared that the time had come to look into the lives of American Sisters. They had been pretty much left on their own since Vatican II and Roman simply needed to know how they had implemented the changes allowed by Vatican II, why their numbers had declined dramatically, and what their prayer lives were like and whether or not they held to the truths of the Roman Catholic Church regarding an all male priesthood, the immorality of homosexuality, and the belief that the Roman Catholc Church is the only way to salvation.
Mother Clare Millea, the major superior of a Rome based religious community, was appointed to organize what would be a three part investigation. Controversy was nearly immediate when Cardinal Rode' responded to Mother Clare's concern regarding compensation for travel. Neither he nor the Congregfation for Insititutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostoloic Life would provide compensation. The teams would have to approach the individual communities with whom they visited and ask them for travel and other reimbursement!
The first phase was the selection of communities to be visited and to request meetings with the major superiors. I have spoken with several of these sisters who reported that the tone was non threatening and low key and the purpose of this "investigation" was the wellbeing of American Religious communities in relation to the diminishing membership and lack of women requesting admission to these communities.
Phase Two was much more controversial. This took the form of a questionaire mailed out to the major superiors regarding community life, various ministries of community members, prayer and sacramental routines, and more. A number of those who received the questionaire were apalled by many of the questions believing them to be invasions of the privacy and personal relationship the Sisters to God and community. This resulted in many questionairs being returned incomplete or, in the case of questions regarding individual salaries, number of times each S8ister received the sacraments and others, a copy of the Constitutions of the congregation was attached with an explaination that the Constitutions answered many of the questions as they were written. Despite continued reqrests for cooperation in responding fully to the questionaires, Phase Three was about to begin without all of the information Mother Millea and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life had requested.
You will soon understand the difficulties with Phase Three. Mother Clare has sent letters to the major superiors of the communities that will be visited. The visitors will consist of teams of sisters who will spend approximately a week at the motherhouse of each of the selected communities. The letter requests the following:
-That somone meet the Sisters when they arrive
-An open gathering of Sisters and visitors
-A daily schedule forvisitors
-Blocked out times for both group and individual interviews
-Daily meals
-Community liturgy and prayer
-Reimbursement for room, board and transportation
-Private work space for each of the visiting Sisters
-Private work space (one for each member) containing paper shrader, copy maching, fax, computer and printer.
;Vatican II set the stage for reformation of relgious life in order for religious communities to be more open and able to reach out to the larger community of the People of God. Cardinal Rode' has attempted to obliterate the work, mission, and integrity of religious congregations by raising questions that indicate mistrust and are clothed in secrecy and deceit.
Sisters are now in ministries around the world, reaching out to people and sharing the love of Jesus Christ in ways that previously were not possible. Perhaps the Church would be better served if Cardinal Rode' and others looked deeply into the life of Benedict XVI and his side stepping of concerns regarding the sexual abuse of boys in droves by priests of the church.
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