The Vatican DissesOpen-Minded Nuns

The Vatican intends to place the largest organization of nuns in the United States under supervision. Its members have not yet taken a public stand against abortion and homosexuality.

The Vatican says the group will be placed under supervision because of “deviations” from church dogma, “radical feminist themes” and insufficient pro-life activism.

A Vatican document lists numerous ideological shortcomings within the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The document charges Peter Sartrain, Bishop of Seattle, with shepherding the nuns back into line. He is to be assisted by two other bishops and will be given a five-year time frame in which to accomplish his mission.

The document from the “Congregation of the Doctrine Faith” is the result of a Vatican review of the LCWR nuns. It concluded that the LCWR is suffering a “severe crisis of the Doctrine of Faith.” The review took three years and was led by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which has been under the direction of American Cardinal William Lavada, previously the Archbishop of San Francisco, ever since Cardinal Josef Ratzinger was elected pope.

In the eight-page document, the doctrinaires praise the social engagement of the American nuns, but they complain that they aren’t actively opposing pregnancy terminations, don’t defend human life “from conception to death” and aren’t actively opposed to homosexuality. They also criticize the American nuns for thinking it wrong that only men are admitted to the priesthood.

The LCWR represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 American nuns. They work — often for minimum wage — in schools and hospitals and care for the homeless. The parent organization LCWR specifically supported President Obama in the debate over health care reform, although that decision isn’t mentioned in the eight-page report. There was, however, a clear dichotomy between the nuns and the upper levels of church hierarchy. Obama’s reform was denounced by the Council of Bishops.

Nuns in shock

There are also obvious differences in dealing with the question of homosexuality. While the LCWR advocates tolerance, the Archbishop of Seattle, who is charged with making the LCWR toe the church’s ideological line, led a state campaign calling for an anti-gay marriage referendum.

Asked for her reaction to the Vatican’s response, Sister Simone Campbell told National Public Radio, “Quite frankly, it’s very visceral. It’s like a sock in the stomach. The idea that Women Religious in the United States is not being faithful to the Gospel is just shocking,” she said. Campbell is director of “Network,” one of the largest groups under the LCWR umbrella.

Campbell said it was a “struggle of culture,” adding that it could also be that the Vatican is used to being a monarchy while nuns in the United States are living in a democracy. “I think we scare them,” she said.

Other spokespersons for the nuns said they were offended by the response. Sister Annemarie Sanders, spokesperson for the LCWR, said her organization would consult with its membership to decide on a unified position regarding the Vatican’s stance.