Response to Vatican:LCWR will continue dialogue, but not compromise its mission

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http://ncronline.org/news/women-religious/lcwr-will-continue-dialogue-not-compromise-mission
....it would continue discussions with church officials regarding a Vatican-ordered takeover, but “will reconsider” if it “is forced to compromise the integrity of its mission.”....

The LCWR expect “open and honest dialogue” with Sartian that “may lead not only to increasing understanding between the church leadership and women religious, but also to creating more possibilities for the laity and, particularly for women, to have a voice in the church,”

“Religious life, as it is lived by the women religious who compromise LCWR, is an authentic expression of this life that must not be compromised,” it said.

“The assembly instructed the LCWR officers to conduct their conversation with Archbishop Sartain from a stance of deep prayer that values mutual respect, careful listening and open dialogue,” the statement said. “The officers will proceed with these discussions as long as possible, but will reconsider if LCWR is forced to compromise the integrity of its mission.”

LCWR members, the statement reads, recognize that many lay people had urged the group to help “reconcile the differences that exist within the Catholic church” and create “spaces for honest and open conversation on the critical moral and ethical questions that face the global community.”

LCWR’s members also urged their officers “not to allow the work with CDF to absorb the time, energy and resources of the conference nor to let it distract the conference from the work its mission requires,” reads the statement.

“Our starting point will be about our own life and about our understanding of religious life,” Farrell continued. “And the documents, in our view, misrepresent that.”

“But there is change over and that really speaks to who we are and how we share leadership,” Farrell continued. “It really speaks to who we are.”