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Bishop Leonard Blair, Appointed By Vatican To Oversee US Nuns, Says Sisters Are Promoting ‘New Kind Of Theology’
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One of the three bishops appointed to oversee the group which represents the majority of U.S. women religious took a hard line Wednesday towards the Vatican’s criticism of the organization, saying the sisters are “promoting, unilaterally…a new kind of theology that is not in accordance with the faith of the church.”
Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Leonard Blair, who was appointed with Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain and Springfield, Ill., Bishop Thomas Paprocki in April to oversee the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) made the comments Wednesday during an extended interview on the popular public radio program “Fresh Air.”
His interview comes a week after LCWR’s president, Sr. Pat Farrell, also appeared on the program, saying that a key question facing the faithful today is “Can you be Catholic and have a questioning mind?”
At points during the interview Wednesday, National Public Radio host Terry Gross played back some of Farrell’s responses from her interview on the show July 17 [4], when the LCWR president directly addressed the Vatican’s condemnation of her organization, which represents some 80 percent of women religious in the U.S.
In a document known as a “doctrinal assessment,” first released April 18, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said there was a “prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith” in the group’s programs and ordered it to revise and place itself under the authority of three bishops.
After hearing Farrell’s response from last week to the Vatican’s criticism that LCWR doesn’t focus enough on speaking against abortion, in which the sister said she thought the criticism was “unfair” because the group works on a range of pro-life issues, Blair said Farrell’s answer left him with “great disappointment.” [more]
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67 Comments
Jim,
We are led by the Spirit not by the law. Which “law” curtails our rights to investigate and explore and propose?
Francis — the “law” to which I was referring is not a specific law; it is a word being used to indicate that there are limits to these freedoms; and those limits are a judgment call. It matters of the real world, where lots of things are gray, it is impossible to specify that “you can come this far, but don’t go further than this.”
However, this freedom does not apply to issues of Magisterial teachings. Note that two of the three freedoms from your quote (enquiry and expression) pose no problem, as “enquiry” applies to enquiring to understand better what the Church teaches. “Expression”, likewise, poses no real problem; we can, for example, express the fact that we find a certain doctrine hard to believe — while believing it nonetheless. With regard to “freedom of thought” — the limit to that is that you are not free to think the Church is wrong; but your are free to try to connect the dots, for example; or you are free to be confused about what the Church teaches; but you are not free to say, “I think the Church is wrong on this one.”
Jim,
There are many magisterial statements that have been in error. For example, the teaching of several popes that only those who submit to the pope can be saved; certain elements of the Syllabus of Errors etc etc
Does anyone see women comments on this?
And this surprises us how? They have been silencing women for 2012 years!
I came across this the other day: “All the faithful, both clerical and lay, should be accorded a lawful freedom of enquiry, freedom of thought and freedom of expression” Gaudiuam et Spes, no 62; Canon Law no 212 3
Key word = “lawful.”
The US hierarchy desperately needs the support of LCWR for advancing its sexual-political agenda — anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion, and so on. Archbishop Sartain’s mission, with his bishop-confreres, is to obtain that support from the nuns, or to turn them into sacrificial lambs using the auto-da-fe technique of the Spanish Inquisition to silence them, permanently. Without the nuns fully on board, the bishops lose big in both church and marketplace.
Amazingly cynical, Florian. Let me propose another explanation to you: the bishops do what they do because they are charged by God with proclaiming the truth. So, so cynical, Florian.
Your proposal is at least ten years too late for Cardinal Law, then in Boston, who was charged by God with telling the truth but told lie after lie instead. And he’s not the only bishop, no siree!
Evidently the bishops have their truth, and we have ours.
Florian — a little logic, please. Let’s use an example. I buy a bag of 20 apples. One is rotten. Is apple #2 therefore also rotten? Ridiculous logic. No one said some bishops didn’t make mistakes in judgment. With regard to your allegation that Cardinal Law lied: sorry, I will not accept that at face value; in fact, until proven to the contrary by reasonable evidence, I will continue to believe that Cardinal Law made errors in judgment, but is not guilty of dishonesty.
But, to ensure my post makes sense: even IF Cardinal Law were guilty as charged by you, it means nothing about the majority of bishops, including this particular bishop who is the focus of this story. Talk about being judgmental: you have tried and convicted Bishop Blair with ZERO evidence. That should concern you, Florian.
Well now! Evidently you have your truth, and we have ours. Amen.
Florian — what I do have is smoking-gun evidence that you are judgmental — you judged Bishop Blair without having an real knowledge of the facts. So, your judgmentalness is indisputable, as is your cynicism.
Rules are great, but sometimes they don’t apply to those who work in the trenches on a daily basis, sometimes it is very sad, and you do the best you can. God wants us to care, and love.
How non-relevant can a hier arch be . . . see the dictionary entry for non-relevant where you will find Bish Blair’s photo. Who cares!
1. Jim, you need to get a life.
2. Jim, did you know that the hierarchy taught at one time that the earth was flat? The hierarchy is NOT always right.
Think of it this way, Scott — if I don’t trust what the hierarchy says, WHY would I trust what you say? No have no authority to teach; but the Man Who raised Himself from the dead did in fact delegate teaching authority to the Roman Catholic Church. Are you a bishop, Scott? It may interest you to know that in internet chats on an atheism website, many posters were taken with their own smarts, and attacked me for being so stupid as to let the Church do my thinking for me. Your comment smacks of the same thing, so you might want to take a heads-up from that.
Jesus did not delegate teaching to the Catholic church. There was no Roman Catholic Church until the 4th Century. Read, study, know history and then make a statement.
Thanks, Jake — except you are completely wrong. Here is a suggestion for you: read, study, know history and then make a statement. The Church began at Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus died. Before He died, Jesus appointed St. Peter to be its head. Read, study, know history and then make a statement.
not the “Catholic” church as it exists today. They met in homes, there was no true hierarchy as it currently is structured. I’ve read history, but don’t have your revisionist view.
Fr. Mark — well, I didn’t claim the pope lived in Rome back then — of course you’re right about that. But, the Church as an insxtxtution did exist back then. For example, the Acts of the Apostles documents the apppointment of deacons to serve people in the Church to free up the Apostles for evanglization. Also, there has been a pope continuously since the first pope, St. Peter.
for this Bishop to say that, “the sisters are promoting, unilaterally…a new kind of theology that is not in accordance with the faith of the church” is a gross overstatement and certainly does not have anything to back it up. The Bishop should recant that statement and apologize.
The Bishop’s comments do not sound like dialogue that the Sisters are asking for.
JC — you are correct, the sisters won’t like what this bishop is saying at all. The problem is, there is no room for dialogue. What the sisters need to do is close their mouths and open their ears. If they do open their mouths, it should be to ask questions that help them understand what the Church teaches.
but if the sister simply shut up how is this going to be dialogue? Did you mean they need to simply hear the monologue?
Concerned — re-read my post again for the answer to your question; my post is not cryptic. For example, when I said, “There is no room for dialogue”, what is hard to understand about that? That is about as direct as you can get. So, yes, in case you still are not following me: indeed, it needs to be a monologue. The only time the sisters should speak is to ask a question that helps them better understand Church teachings; never for them to question the veracity of Church teachings.
These guys leave me feeling as though I need to apologize for being a part of the clergy. May God bless the sisters. They are prophets!
Amen Steve – Amen!
Steve — if you are clergy, you are not being obedient to the Church. Let me quote Mother Teresa, when she was talking to a group of seminarians: she said the Church needs priests, but she said if you’re going to be a priest, be a HOLY priest (which includes being obedient) — otherwise, she continued, please do not become a priest. The Church is better off without you as a priest than it is with you as a priest.
tsk, tsk, tsk Jim – very judgmental. Steve did not say one thing that is disobedient. He is allowed to have a view. You do not know what he does or does not do. You are assuming in a very negative way. Let me quote Jesus, remove the plank from your eye before you can remove the splinter from the eye of another.
Concerned — deflecting again. The matter at hand, before we can move on to anything else: my allegation that you were judgmental of me in your 4:03 P.M. post. Stand up and be a man, Concerned — quit hiding under your desk.
you are the one deflecting – you jump to something else without responding to the fact that you judged Steve in a very negative light when in fact you have nothing to back it up. More spiritual bullying.
Jim I do believe that Jesus heard the same discourse when he stood up to speak in his hometown synagogue. Sometimes we speak so loudly that we can’t hear the truth. No one likes to listen to prophets because they shake up our cozy parts of the world. Have you listened to these nuns or have you only heard them through the filter or the hierarchy?
Gerry — I have read several things about them over the last ten to 15 years, and as a result I have not contributed anything to any sister’s order except those with which I am familiar and I know to be orthodox; e.g., Mother Angelica’s group or the Nashville Dominicans. From what I have read, I completely agree with the bishops rebuke — these nuns have invited speakers in who state some of the most outrageous, and clearly heretical beliefs. So, there is no doubt in my mind that they need to be corrected. I have been accused numerous times by another poster (Concerned) of gloating in their rebuke, but I do not — what I do do is rejoice that finally, the Church is doing what needs to be done, primarily for the good of others who would be misled by these heretical nuns, but also for the good of the nuns themselves, so that they can be warned that they are headed in the wrong direction. I read you comment about the priest having no soul, no spunk in his speech, but that for me is irrelevant, just window-dressing — what I do care about is the truth, and keeping the Church pure.
Listened to Blair on NPR’s Fresh Air the other day. A sad sad spokesman for Mother church as he rambled through the list of Vatican talking points. There was no soul in his words
Yes they are…they are the voice of the people when no one else is!
And the Magisterium is the voice of God — and I listen to God, or at least strive to — I don’t listen to concupiscent humans.
Once upon a time the Archbishop of Paris used a similar objection to Thomas Aquinas; the turn of the last century critique of a generic “modernism” without nuance turned out to be misguided. Perhaps this is a knee-jerk response once again.
And you would think that the Church would learn from its mistakes wouldn’t you?
Deacon — this is not a knee-jerk response at all. This investigation has been going on for over 20 years — and the Church was silent until now. People like me kept asking, “When are they going to correct these heretics, so that they don’t lead others astray?” Nothing knee-jerk at all.
Heretics? Isn’t that judgmental Jim? I was not aware of any such charge. Are you the grand Inquisitor?
Deflection again, Concerned — be a man, and address the issue at hand.
Or, Concerned, just tell me you are unwilling to address the matter at hand. You can plead nolo contendere if you like, to save face.
I am not on trial – but this lend evidence to the fact that you believe you put everyopne on trial and that somehow you have been made the judge, jury and executioner. The more you talk – the more it shows your true nature.
and gloating when someone is called pon the carpet – how very Christian – oh but we don’t know that you are a follower of Christ.
Concerned — this is getting ridiculous, so this is my final post (at least for now). I can clearly see that you don’t have the integrity to address my charge of your judgmentalness; you also don’t have the intellectual firepower. So, have a good day.
oh how original – and of course childish.
see – once again you use what someone says about you and simply think you can say it fits that person. What a shame.
They’ll correct them right after they figure out how to handle the upcoming tidal wave of upcoming criminal action for spending 50+ years hiding all those pedophiles. I’ll be much happier when a few of these “bishops” are behind bars. Heretics? The bishops shouldn’t be throwing stones…
Heretic is defined as soemone who espouses beliefs contrary to what the Catholic Church teaches. No bishop is a heretic, or at least he won’t be for very long — Rome will remove him if he won’t recant, and will even defrock him if necessary. So, indeed, many of these nuns are heretics, but the bishops are not.
I never read in any of the Vatican II documents where abortion is defended and gay marriage endorsed. Vatican II talks about social justice, but always in line with the offical teachings of the church. Unfortunately, there are groups of nuns who believe that they are above the law and can teach as they please. Talk about Catholic Schools, I remember the time when some radical nuns were imposing on students their idea of church, which was based on total relativism. Look at the Catechisms of the 70′s and 80′s where doctrine was out and social justice was only taught in religious classes. Kids were not taught their basic prayers or the 10 commandments. That’s why catholic schools closed. They became nothing more than private schools with public school values. I have had the opportunity to deal with many sisters. Some were very good and faithful to the church, even without a habit, (which I don’t care what they wear). I have also had my run ins with sister like Farrell who are frustrated because they can’t be ordained, therefore they will punish the established church by creating their own. In 10-20 years these Orders will die out. The only ones who are getting vocations are those true to the Pope, Bishops and teachings of the Church. Obedience is out with the LCWR. By the way, where does the media get the idea that they represent 80% of Women Religous. I don’t believe that for an instant. There are many nuns in these radical orders who oppose the Leader Conference, but are afraid to speak out because of persecution from within. Some are to old to go to another order so they bide their time waiting for God to call them. This is worse than what the Communists did to Catholics on Eastern Europe. Where have I gotten my information? From such nuns as these. My prayers go out to them. They are living saints and martyrs.
Thanks, Michael — you always have good, informative posts. Unfortunately, I’m afraid there are many posting on this site who are so entrenched in their disobedience and pride that they just reject any information which disagrees with their false beliefs. It is uplifting for genuine Catholics to hear other genuine Catholics like yourself reiterate the timeless truths.
so judgmental that others who have a thought, opinion or voice are not authentic Catholics.
The Sisters of life are very prolife, they don’t teach in the class room, they don’t feed people in soup kitchens, the don’t fight for othe social justce issues because those things are not their expertise. By the same token many of the communities who are into social justce are not as vocal as the Sisters of life because it is not their focus and expertise.
All orders have their respective charism and spirituality and Rule, each should be left to flourish as the Holy Spirit desires.
Yes religious life is changing as it always has, thre are very few hermits now. Very few or no anchors, do you know what an anchor even is? Hopefully the laity will realize its vocation and baptisimal calling to serve and there will be less of a need of women to place themselves under the mind controlling bishops.
Bingo, Bishop Blair!
Well said Tony. The catholic church in America has become similar to the Episcopalian church in that we now have your High church, (Mother Angelicia’s, Benidect Groshell’s,Franciscans of the Renewal. Your broad or low church that are open and more lax. Then you have your Catholic visiters that come to mass Ash Wed, Christmas, Easter. There are two parishs in my area that are closing. The catholic school is closed and has been bought by Orthodox Jews. When I attend mass on Sunday I see a ocean of gray hair as each week we die off. In time if you want to go to mass, it will be said by a priest from another country who you can’t understand on top of the Chinese restaurant. I saw the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
The Sisters have taken the documents and mind set of Vatican II and have ran with it,
The Bishops have taken the docutments of Vatican II, gotten frightened and are going backwards into a medival church that no longer existe.
Bishops, listen to your Sisters. The rest of the word is either laughing at the Bishops, or just don’t care anymore.
Extremely well said Tony. And it is such a shame that they choose to go backwards. They simply don’t get the message of Jesus.
Right, Concerned — you and Tony and the LCWR have it right, and the authentic hierarchy has it wrong. Just amazing how blind you are.
and at the same time the hiearchy gingerly goes back and forth with the schismatic PPSX group. How do you feel about them? Are they heretics?
let’s see the church also condemned Galileo and how many others?????
The church put Joan of Arc to death as a heritic.
Tony — this is irrelevant to the argument. I never have said the hierarchy never has made mistakes; what I have said is that the Church’s Magisterial teachings are inerrant. So, it was never “taught” that Joan of Arc was a heretic; it never was “dogma” that the Earth is the center of the universe. Therefore, it remains the case that many in the leadership of the LCWR are heretics, as they espouse false doctrine.
Tony — I am part of the “rest of the world”, and I am neither laughing at the Bishops nor not caring anymore. I do care, and I completely support the bishops. Surprise, surprise, Tony — there still are some obedient, faithful Catholics left.
Blind obedience with no thinking and no comparrison to the authentic teaching of Jesus got Msgr. Lynn of Phila 3-6 years in jail.