CNA<\/a>).- Physicians who are also Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma are criticizing the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and its defenders for using an impoverished \u201clanguage of politics\u201d instead of \u201cthe language of faith\u201d in\u00a0the dialogue with the Catholic hierarchy.<\/p>\n\t\u201cThere is no basis for authentic dialogue between these two languages. The language of faith is rooted in Jesus Christ, His life and His mission, as well as the magisterial teaching of the Church,\u201d said the physician-sisters\u2019 statement, which was issued after a June 2 meeting on the contributions of religious women in the healing ministry of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe language of politics arises from the social marketplace,\u201d they said. \u201cThe Sisters who use political language in their responses to the magisterial Church reflect the poverty of their education and formation in the faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIn April 2012, the Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released the results of a four-year\u00a0 doctrinal assessment which determined that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious exhibited a \u201ccrisis\u201d of belief and \u201cserious doctrinal problems.\u201d The audit also found that letters from conference officers suggested the presence of \u201ccorporate dissent\u201d from Church teaching on issues like the ordination of men to the priesthood and homosexuality.<\/p>\n
\tThe conference is made up of leaders from 1,500 women\u2019s religious congregations. Those sisters represent some 57,000 American women religious.<\/p>\n
\tIn response, the conference\u2019s board members charged that the assessment was \u201cbased on unsubstantiated accusations\u201d and used \u201ca flawed process that lacked transparency.\u201d They said the report \u201ccaused scandal and pain throughout the church community, and created greater polarization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tCritics of the Vatican assessment have found sympathy in major media outlets, some of which have depicted the action against the leadership conference as an attack on all religious sisters and nuns.<\/p>\n
\tBut the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma see things differently.<\/p>\n
\tSr. Jane Mary Firestone, RSM, an internist at Sacred Heart Clinic in Alma, Mich., who helped write her religious congregation\u2019s statement, spoke about it with CNA. She said that there is no issue with people representing their perspective to the Church and stating where they see problems.<\/p>\n
\tHowever, she said that critics of Vatican\u2019s assessment are taking their action into \u201ca political arena of demonstrations\u201d and are \u201cgarnering support in a political sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThat doesn\u2019t feel very appropriate,\u201d Sr. Firestone said June 13. In her view, the social marketplace uses \u201cthe language of majority rule\u201d and does not necessarily have \u201ca regard for authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey\u2019ve taken this into the public political arena and it no longer stays in the dialogue of faith. Representation is always possible, dialogue is always possible, but it\u2019s with the reverence towards the hierarchical Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tShe said that the \u201clanguage of faith\u201d expresses belief in the Church and the authority of the Church. Catholics believe that when the bishops speak, they have \u201ca different degree of authority\u201d than when someone else does.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIn other words, the magisterial Church does direct for us the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as religious women,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\tSr. Firestone said that while Catholics do not believe the bishops are canonized saints, they are \u201cnot just \u2018a bunch of men.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThose who live as religious women should, \u201clive in the dimension of faith all the time\u201d and recognize when they fail to do so, she said.<\/p>\n
\tHer comments echoed the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma\u2019s broader statement. It said that a religious community\u2019s charism is given to \u201cenrich the Church\u201d and the Catholic hierarchy must determine its authenticity. A woman religious participates in this charism and \u201ccannot separate her work from the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe sisters praised \u201cthe generosity and service\u201d of the religious women who preceded them and foresaw \u201cgreat hope\u201d for the future of religious life in the Church.<\/p>\n
\tThey said that this hope rests in remaining within \u201cthe deposit of faith and the hierarchical structure of the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe cannot separate ourselves from sacred tradition or claim to advance beyond the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe sisters\u2019 June 2 meeting also addressed statements from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, various news agencies and other organizations. The Sisters of Mercy said these have created \u201cconfusion, polarization, and false representations about the beliefs, activities, and priorities of a significant number of women religious in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma have about 100 members who work in hospitals and teach in seminaries and primary schools. The order, which was founded in 1973, runs clinics in Michigan, Minnesota and Germany.<\/p>\n
\n
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Alma, Mich., Jun 14, 2012 \/ 02:15 am (CNA).- Physicians who are also Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma are criticizing the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and its defenders for using an impoverished “language of politics” instead …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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