Vatican Orders Reforms In Nuns' Group That Backed Obama Health Care Plan

Both AP and Zenit yesterday report on action of the Vatican to bring the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) more into line with positions of the bishops.  LCWR, which represents some 57,000 nuns, made the news in 2010 when it, through its affiliated Network, split with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and publicly supported President Obama's heath care reform bill. (See prior posting.) A press release yesterday from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced the publication by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) of a document titled Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and of an accompanying statement by CDF head Cardinal William Levada.

An initial review of LCWR by Rev. Leonard Blair, Bishop of Toledo, reported:

while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States. Further, issues of crucial importance to the life of Church and society, such as the Church’s Biblical view of family life and human sexuality, are not part of the LCWR agenda in a way that promotes Church teaching. Moreover, occasional public statements by the LCWR that disagree with or challenge positions taken by the Bishops, who are the Church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals, are not compatible with its purpose.

With the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, CDF has appointed Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle to oversee changes in LCWR. Sartain is to be assisted by Bishop of Toledo (OH) Leonard Blair and Bishop of Springfield (IL) Thomas John Paprocki.  Their mandate is to revise the governing documents of LCWR, review its plans and programs to ensure that its "mission is fulfilled in accord with Church teachings and discipline," to "offer guidance in the application of liturgical norms and texts," and to review LCWR's links to organizations such as Network and Resource Center for Religious Life.