LCWR president to sisters: Be 'fearless'
on Vatican mandate
Aug. 10, 2012
ST. LOUIS -- Hours before
the U.S. Catholic sisters meeting here were expected to decide how to respond
to the Vatican’s harsh rebuke of their leadership organization, its president
told them to be “truthful, but gentle and absolutely fearless.”
Franciscan Sr. Pat Farrell spoke Friday morning
at the annual meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which
represents some 80 percent of 57,000 Catholic sisters in the U.S.
As LCWR’s president, Farrell has been chiefly
responsible for handling the Vatican’s rebuke, which came in April 18 mandate
ordering the group to revise and place itself under the control of three U.S.
bishops.
Taking the stage to a standing ovation, Farrell
said that “some larger movement in the church … has landed on LCWR.”
A key question facing LCWR, she said, is “What
would a prophetic response to the doctrinal assessment look like?”
“I think it would be humble, but not
submissive,” she continued. “Rooted in a solid sense of ourselves, but not
self-righteous; truthful, but gentle and absolutely fearless.
“It would ask probing questions. Are we being
invited to some appropriate pruning and are we open to it? Is this doctrinal
process an expression of concern or an attempt to control?
“Concern is based in love and invites unity.
Control through fear and intimidation would be an abuse of power.
“Does the institutional legitimacy of canonical
recognition empower us to live prophetically? Does it allow us the freedom to
question with informed consciences? Does it really welcome feedback in a church
that claims to honor the sensus fildeum?”
Farrell also said that it would be a “mistake”
to make “too much” of the mandate.
“We cannot allow it to consume us,” she said.
“It is not the first time that a form of religious life has collided with the
church, nor will it be the last.”
“The doctrinal assessment suggests that we are
not currently living in an ideal ecclesial world,” Farrell continued.
Yet, she said, the sisters also “cannot make too
little” of the Vatican’s move. It’s “historical impact,” she said, is “apparent
to all of us.”
Ending her remarks with a reflection on the
Gospel parable of the mustard seed, Farrell showed an image of mustard plants
growing in a field, saying the seed is “uncontainable” and “crops up anywhere
without permission.”
Comparing the seed to the spirit of God, she
continued: “We can indeed live in joyful hope because there is no political or
ecclesiastical herbicide that can wipe out the newness of God’s spirit.”
Ending with a Spanish phrase she said she
learned while ministering in Chile during the military dictatorship there,
Farrell said: “They can crush a few flowers, but they cannot hold back the
springtime.”
As Farrell left the stage, the audience of about
900 stood slowly, clapping for some three minutes and shouting in affirmation.
Before Farrell’s address, LCWR announced that St.
Joseph Sr. Carol Zinn had been elected Thursday as the group’s new
president-elect.
In LCWR's model, three sisters, a president,
president-elect, and past-president govern the group collaboratively with the
group's secretary, treasurer and executive director.
The group's membership chooses a president-elect
at each year's assembly. Following a year in the position, she automatically
succeeds to the presidency, and then to the position of past-president the
following year.
During a formal ceremony set for Friday
afternoon, Farrell will move to the position of past president, while
Franciscan Sr. Florence Deacon, currently LCWR's president-elect, will become
its president.
Zinn, who serves on the leadership team of the
Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, Penn., previously served as the representative
of the international Congregation of St. Joseph Sisters at the UN, which enjoys
consultative status as a non-governmental organization there.
[Joshua J. McElwee is
an NCR staff writer. His email address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org]
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