Vatican official says religious orders are in modern 'crisis'

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

Modern Nun in the UK

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A top Vatican official said religious orders today are in a "crisis" caused in part by the adoption of a secularist mentality and the abandonment of traditional practices.

Cardinal Franc Rode, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said the problems go deeper than the drastic drop in the numbers of religious men and women.

"The crisis experienced by certain religious communities, especially in Western Europe and North America, reflects the more profound crisis of European and American society. All this has dried up the sources that for centuries have nourished consecrated and missionary life in the church," Cardinal Rode said in a talk delivered Feb. 3 in Naples, Italy.

"The secularized culture has penetrated into the minds and hearts of some consecrated persons and some communities, where it is seen as an opening to modernity and a way of approaching the contemporary world," he said.

Cardinal Rode said the decline in the numbers of men and women religious became precipitous after the Second Vatican Council, which he described as a period "rich in experimentation but poor in robust and convincing mission."

Traditional Order Nun

Faced with an aging membership and fewer vocations, many religious orders have turned to "foreign vocations" in places like Africa, India and the Philippines, the cardinal said. He said the orders need to remember that quality of vocations is more important than quantity.

"It is easy, in situations of crisis, to turn to deceptive and damaging shortcuts, or attempt to lower the criteria and parameters for admission to consecrated life and the course of initial and permanent formation," he said.

In any case, he said, "big numbers are not indispensable" for religious orders to prove their validity. It's more important today, he said, that religious orders "overcome the egocentrism in which institutes are often closed, and open themselves to joint projects with other institutes, local churches and lay faithful."

Cardinal Rode, a 75-year-old Slovenian, is overseeing a Vatican-ordered apostolic visitation of institutes for women religious in the United States to find out why the numbers of their members have decreased during the past 40 years and to look at the quality of life in the communities.

He spoke Feb. 3 to a conference on religious life sponsored by the Archdiocese of Naples. The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published the main portions of his text.

Cardinal Rode said it was undoubtedly more difficult today for all religious orders to find young people who are willing to break away from the superficial contemporary culture and show a capacity for commitment and sacrifice. Unless this is dealt with in formation programs, he said, religious orders will produce members who lack dedication and are likely to drift away.

The challenge, however, should not be seen strictly in negative terms, he said. The present moment, he said, can help religious orders better define themselves as "alternatives to the dominant culture, which is a culture of death, of violence and of abuse," and make it clear that their mission is to joyfully witness life and hope, in the example of Christ.

Washington, DC, February 2, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A national group that promotes abortion and homosexual rights has deep ties with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, according to a report released Monday.

Top USCCB executive John Carr (pictured left, center) held simultaneous leadership roles, creating a conflict of interest, with the USCCB and the radical Center for Community Change.

"The closer we look at the Bishops Conference [staff and programs], the more we find a systemic pattern of cooperation with evil," said Michael Hichborn, American Life League's lead researcher into the USCCB scandal. "The CCC has lodged itself into the highest places of power in the USCCB while working to promote abortion and homosexuality."

John Carr is the USCCB executive director of the Department of Justice Peace and Human Development which oversees the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). He has been employed by the USCCB since 1987.

John Carr's relationship with the Center for Community Change goes back at least to 1983, serving in leadership roles from 1999 to 2006 - including as chairman of the board.  The Reform CCHD Now report details the organization's promotion of abortion, "reproductive rights" and homosexuality as among the CCC's core advocacy focuses.

In 2001, while Carr served as both a USCCB exec and CCC leader, the Catholic Bishops Conference funneled $150,000 to the pro-abortion group. The USCCB web site currently promotes the group and officials have spoken at CCC events.

"Strangely, Carr's leadership on the CCC's board shows up on several bios he's submitted for speaking engagements, but the word for word bio on the USCCB web site mysteriously omits that one detail," Hichborn said. "Why?"

Revelations of John Carr's involvement in the Center for Community Change come only months after members of the Reform CCHD Now coalition, including American Life League, uncovered 31 CCHD grantees partnered with the CCC.

"The CCHD claims it will immediately investigate accusations against organizations it funds yet it is silent on the CCC," said Hichborn.  "How can Carr and the USCCB possibly justify this intimate relationship with such an obvious enemy of the Church?"

The Reform CCHD Now coalition is a lay Catholic watchdog group comprised of some of the top Catholic pro-life organizations in the country including American Life League, Human Life International and Bellarmine Veritas Ministry. For a full list of all 15 coalition members see www.reformcchdnow.com.

Italian Mayors Order Crufixes Put in Classrooms in Revolt
against European Court Ruling

Polish president and Greek Orthodox Church also hit out at decision
against crucifixes in classrooms

By Hilary White

ROME, November 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski and the
leadership of the Greek Orthodox Church have both hit out at a decision by the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) attempting to ban the display of crucifixes in Italian public
schools. At the same time, a general revolt against the ruling in municipalities all over Italy
has been started by public officials, who are now ordering the display of crucifixes in schools, a
nd levelling fines for non-compliance.

The November 3rd ECHR ruling, made in response to a complaint
by an Italian secularist campaigner, said that the display of crucifixes
violated the religious rights of pupils.

During Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday in Warsaw, Poland's
Kaczynski said that "nobody in Poland will accept the message that you can't
hang crosses in schools."

"One shouldn't count on that. Perhaps elsewhere, but never in Poland," Kaczynski
said.

The reaction from Poland has touched a national nerve in a country where crucifixes and other religious
symbols were banned under the atheistic communist rule and are now a prominent symbol of national
sovereignty.

Lech Walesa, the former president and leader of the Solidarity movement that eventually freed Poland
from its Soviet-controlled communist dictatorship, challenged the court ruling in a TV interview Thursday,
saying, "We must respect minorities but also protect the rights of the majority."

Nun Volunteering as Abortion Clinic Escort in Illinois

Sr. Quinn's prioress said in an email response to LSN that the nun sees her volunteer activity as "accompanying women who are verbally abused by protestors." By Kathleen Gilbert

HINSDALE, Illinois, October 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Dominican nun has been seen frequenting an abortion facility in Illinois recently - but not, as one might expect, to pray for an end to abortion or to counsel women seeking abortions, but to volunteer as a clinic escort.

Local pro-life activists say that they recognized the escort at the ACU Health Center as Sr. Donna Quinn, a nun outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, after seeing her photo in a Chicago Tribune article.

"I've called her sister several times, and she never responded," local pro-lifer John Bray told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). "But it's her." 

Amy Keane, a pro-life witness for 11 years, says Quinn has acted as escort for "six years, at least."  Keane described one incident in which Quinn began shouting at the pro-lifers as they spoke to a woman about to enter the abortion facility. 

"[Quinn] was so angry, and burst out very loudly so everyone could hear: 'Look at these men, telling these women what to do with their bodies!'" said Keane.  "She was so angry, that it really took all of us aback."  Keane says that the group was peaceful, and that the men present were not among those engaging the woman.

"For those of us who are Catholic, to have a member of a religious order so blatantly - it is so disheartening. It really is," said Keane.  "She's participating actively in abortion.  That is what is so disturbing for us."

Sr. Donna Quinn, OP, is renowned in the Chicago area as an advocate for legalized abortion and other liberal issues. 

In 1974 she co-founded the organization Chicago Catholic Women, which lobbied the USCCB on a feminist platform before it dissolved in 2000. She is now a coordinator of the radically liberal National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN), which stands in opposition against the Catholic Church's position on abortion, homosexuality, contraception, and the male priesthood.

While LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) was unable to reach Sr. Quinn for comment, NCAN's Sr. Beth Rindler confirmed to LSN that Quinn is still a member of their group, which favors unrestricted legalized abortion and disagrees with the teaching that abortion is intrinsically evil.  "We respect women, and believe that they make moral decision, and so we respect their decisions," Rindler explained.

In a 2002 address to the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School, Sr. Quinn described how she came to view the teachings of her Church as "immoral": "I used to say: 'This is my Church, and I will work to change it, because I love it,'" she said.  "Then later I said, 'This church is immoral, and if I am to identify with it I'd better work to change it.'  More recently, I am saying, 'All organized religions are immoral in their gender discriminations.'"

Quinn called gender discrimination "the root cause of evil in the Church, and thus in the world," and said she remained in the Dominican community simply for "the sisterhood."

Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, OP, Quinn's Prioress at the Sinsinawa Dominican community, said in an email response to LSN that the nun sees her volunteer activity as "accompanying women who are verbally abused by protestors.  Her stance is that if the protestors were not abusive, she would not be there." 
 
Though Sr. Mulcahey claimed that her sisters "support the teachings of the Catholic Church," she declined to comment on Quinn's public protest of Catholic Church teaching.

Joe Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League says Quinn came in contact with his own office in 1982, when she and a group of other pro-aborts picketed his building on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

"She figures it's part of her religion to take these women in and protect them, and get them abortions," said Scheidler of Quinn's recent activity.  "Something dreadful has happened to make a Catholic nun become an escort at an abortion clinic - that's the lowest form you can reach, where you escort a woman with a living child in her into a place to have the child killed, and to ruin that woman's soul." 

"If I didn't even believe in the humanity of the child - which of course would be crazy - even if I didn't, I would fight abortion for the sake of the women," Scheidler added.  "They miss that baby, and they can't get it back. They never can."

To respectfully express concern (See: LSN Guidelines for Effective Communication):

Cardinal Francis George
Office of the Archbishop
Archdiocese of Chicago
PO Box 1979
Chicago, IL.  60690-1979
Phone:  312-534-8230
E-Mail:  archbishop@archchicago.org

Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, OP
Prioress - Sinsinawa Dominicans
E-mail: Spatmul@aol.com

 Archbishop Pilarczyk bans nun from teaching
Sisters of Charity  

By Dan Horn • dhorn@enquirer.com • September 2, 2009

Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk has banned a nun from teaching at archdiocesan parishes and institutions because she supports the ordination of women priests.
Church officials said Wednesday that Pilarczyk made the decision after Sisters of Charity Louise Akers, who has taught in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for 40 years, refused to publicly renounce her support for a position the Vatican considers a violation of church teachings.
"The principle here is that someone who is teaching in the name of the church should be in accord with the teachings of the church," said archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco.
• Discussion on CincyMomsLikeMe.com

Opinions:
• Church's male-only rule is infallible
• Catholic church should change with times

Akers' supporters say she has served the church well for decades and her views on the ordination of women should not overshadow her other work. They say punishing Akers is an attempt to stifle debate and is unfair to her and the people she serves.
"This is just bullying," said Erin Saiz Hanna, executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference.
The archbishop's decision to discipline Akers comes as Vatican officials begin an "apostolic visitation" that will study the practices of women's religious orders in the United States to ensure they adhere to church law.
The visitation, which will take more than a year to complete, is an investigation into American nuns that is welcomed by many Catholic conservatives but feared by liberals and others wary of a Vatican crackdown.
Pilarczyk told Akers his decision was unrelated to the investigation, but the timing raised concerns about future actions against nuns and religious orders that sometimes are at odds with the Vatican.
Akers, 66, said she asked for a meeting with Pilarczyk last month after she learned he was concerned about comments she made about the ordination of women. She was teaching a class for religious educators at the time and said she wanted to clarify "what was expected of me."
She said Pilarczyk gave her an ultimatum: Remove her name from the web site of the Women's Ordination Conference, which supports the ordination of women, and publicly renounce her support of women priests.
She told him she was willing to take her name off the web site, but she could not reject her strong belief in the ordination of women and embrace the church's male-only doctrine.
"For me, it's an issue of justice within the church," Akers said Wednesday. "To make a public statement in support of the doctrine would be to go against my conscience, and I can't do that."

Akers, who has spoken out on social justice issues for years, said the ordination of women is both a practical and a fairness issue. She said allowing female priests would help address the shortage of priests in the United States and would put women on equal footing with men in the church.
"The primary motive for taking the stand I've taken is the value, dignity and equality of women in the church," Akers said.
Andriacco confirmed the meeting with Akers took place last month, but he said the archbishop would not publicly discuss personnel matters. He said the archdiocese has a vested interest in making sure its educators follow church teachings.
He said church doctrine clearly states that because Christ chose only male apostles, the church must allow only male priests.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord Himself. For this reason, the ordination of women is not possible."
"Some people argue that ordaining women is a justice issue," Andriacco said. "The church would say there is only injustice when you deprive someone of something they have a right to. Ordination is not a right, nor is the ability to teach in the name of the church."
Conservative Catholics have adopted a similar view and have applauded efforts by Pope Benedict XVI to emphasize traditional church teachings, as well as his decision to investigate women's religious orders in America.
Pilarczyk's decision means Akers' name will be removed from a list of educators approved by the archdiocese and she no longer can teach in parishes or institutions associated with the archdiocese. She still can - and does - teach at non-archdiocesan institutions, but many schools and parishes where she once worked now are closed to her.
"It's very painful," Akers said. "I'm just amazed that it's happening in my life."
Sister Barbara Hagedorn, president of the Sisters of Charity, offered support for Akers on Wednesday and described her as a gifted teacher and tireless advocate for social justice. But she said the religious order, which is based in Delhi Township, would not become involved in the dispute.
"The issue is between herself and the archdiocese," Hagedorn said.
Akers said she was saddened the archbishop gave her an ultimatum when a public conversation about their differences would, in her view, be far more productive. Various polls in the past 10 years show that about 60 percent of American Catholics favor allowing women to become priests.
"Whenever there is a difference or dissent, dialogue is important," Akers said. "I think in our country and our church right now, that's hard to come by."

Father Euteneuer, president of Human Life International:

'The following quote from David Gibson's ugly article says it all: 'Whatever the ins and outs of the internal church maneuvering, the upshot is that a leading voice in the anti-Obama wing of the church hierarchy has been silenced while both Obama and Biden continue to take center stage.'

'The Catholic left in America is allowing this administration to divide the Catholic Church in America. Anti-Catholics like Gibson, because of their ill-will and disdain for the Church, see the departure of one of America's great shepherds as a victory. That the wonderful Bishop Martino was 'silenced' is the musing of sick media minds like Gibson's who look for scandal everywhere. Scandal indeed is the media's business while the care of souls is the business of the Church. Bishop Martino was one of those courageous shepherds who simply got attacked for doing everything a bishop is supposed to do, and for that reason he received HLI's Cardinal Von Galen Award last year for his uncompromising witness.

'If his stepping down symbolizes anything, it indicates the warfare that a good bishop must go through, even from within the Church, to set things aright. The battle for orthodoxy is literally ferocious in today's Church, and it will be the dividing point between the sheep and the goats. When did 'go along to get along' become the dominant view of so many American bishops and Catholics? Where exactly in the Gospel is this written? How can we justify shrinking from the defense of human life and other unpopular Catholic teaching under the most anti-Catholic administration in modern history?

'We cannot let such Catholics claim the mantle of Catholicism. We implore our shepherds to defend their brother Bishop Martino, and again unequivocally restate the importance of defending Church teaching even when it is most politically inconvenient. We must not give dishonest hacks like David Gibson even the appearance of endorsement for the view that all normal and faithful Catholics are those who endorse everything this anti-life administration does.'

Indeed. And it's a sad, sad day when neo-modernists can cite the words and actions of certain bishops in an attempt to legitimize their foolish and fatuous viewpoints on matters Catholic.

Our Lady of Akita, pray for us.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Lord Jesus, help us all.

Mark Alessio
REMNANT COLUMNIST, New York

"Apostolic visitors should be treated as uninvited guests who should be

received in the parlor, not given the run of the house."

 

(Posted 08/15/09 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) The Vatican is quietly conducting “two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition,” reports Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times (July 1, 2009):

In the last four decades since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, many American nuns stopped wearing religious habits, left convents to live independently and went into new lines of work: academia and other professions, social and political advocacy and grass-roots organizations that serve the poor or promote spirituality. A few nuns have also been active in organizations that advocate changes in the church like ordaining women and married men as priests.

Some sisters surmise that the Vatican and even some American bishops are trying to shift them back into living in convents, wearing habits or at least identifiable religious garb, ordering their schedules around daily prayers and working primarily in Roman Catholic institutions, like schools and hospitals.

The investigations were ordered by Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who has complained that some nuns in the United States “have opted for ways that take them outside” the Church. In his decree of December 22, 2008, Cardinal Rodé announced that the Apostolic Visitation would examine “the quality of life" at the general houses, provincial houses, and centers of initial formation of women religious in the United States (not included here are cloistered and contemplative orders).

 In a private e-mail to friends (which became public and was quoted in the Times article), Sister Sandra M. Schneiders, professor emeritus of New Testament and Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California, advised that the investigators of the Apostolic Visitation should be treated as “uninvited guests who should be received in the parlor, not given the run of the house.”

Any guess as to which IHM group below she belongs to?

 

IHM - Monroe, MI

IHM - Immaculata, PA

Mission   Urged by the love of God, we choose to work with others to build a culture of peace and right relationship among ourselves, with the Church and with the whole Earth community. Vision   The IHM community envisions and is committed to bringing about the dream of God on planet Earth through respect for, nurturing of and promoting the liberation and well-being of all persons and all of nature as God's good creation.  Read about Sustainability-A Moral Mandate.  Profile - Our Legacy Fast Facts Sustainability - A Morale Mandate IHM Sisters Today

The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is a Pontifical Religious Institute, whose members are committed to God and to the Church by the profession of the public vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The charism of the sisters is Love, which continues to manifest itself today in the sisters’ joyful service of God and his people; creative Hope, which puts all its confidence in God’s loving Providence; and Fidelity, which inspires fervor in their vocation in Christ and in their mission in the Church. The Immaculata branch of the Congregation comprises approximately 930 Sisters who currently staff Catholic schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida and in the South American countries of Peru and Chile. The sisters also serve the Church in pastoral and other religious ministries in other states as well.