(Vatican Radio) A communique from the Holy See’s Press office on Thursday announced that Pope Francis will make an apostolic visit to three Latin American countries in early July. It said following invitations from the respective heads of state and the Catholic Bishops, the Pope will be in Ecuador from the 6-8th, Bolivia from the…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Friday with members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as the group released a report on the implementation of its doctrinal assessment by the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.
The LCWR is an association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States and represents more than 80 percent of religious sisters in the US. The joint report was issued by the LCWR and Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle who led the four year assessment process requested by the Vatican. The report marks the conclusion of the sensitive process, which the sisters say was carried out with a “spirit of cooperation among participants”.
Please find below the press release and joint report on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Press Release April 16
Officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Archbishop Peter Sartain and officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) met April 16. Archbishop Sartain and LCWR officers presented a joint report (attached) on the implementation of the CDF Doctrinal Assessment and Mandate of April 2012. The joint report outlines the manner in which the implementation of the Mandate has been accomplished. The Congregation accepted the joint report, marking the conclusion of the Doctrinal Assessment of LCWR. Present for the April 16 meeting were His Eminence Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Archbishop Peter Sartain, Sr. Carol Zinn, SSJ, Sr. Marcia Allen, CSJ, Sr. Joan Marie Steadman, CSC, and Sr. Janet Mock, CSJ, and other officials of CDF.
During the meeting, Archbishop Sartain and LCWR officers outlined the process undertaken by the Bishop Delegates and LCWR over the past three years, noting the spirit of cooperation among participants throughout the sensitive process. Cardinal Müller offered his thoughts on the Doctrinal Assessment as well as the Mandate and its completion. He expressed gratitude to those present for their willing participation in this important and delicate work and extended thanks to others who had participated, especially Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, and the past officers and Executive Directors of LCWR.
Following the meeting, Cardinal Müller said: “At the conclusion of this process, the Congregation is confident that LCWR has made clear its mission to support its member Institutes by fostering a vision of religious life that is centered on the Person of Jesus Christ and is rooted in the Tradition of the Church. It is this vision that makes religious women and men radical witnesses to the Gospel, and, therefore, is essential for the flourishing of religious life in the Church.”
Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM, President of LCWR, was unable to be present for the meeting but commented, “We are pleased at the completion of the Mandate, which involved long and challenging exchanges of our understandings of and perspectives on critical matters of Religious Life and its practice. Through these exchanges, conducted always in a spirit of prayer and mutual respect, we were brought to deeper understandings of one another’s experiences, roles, responsibilities, and hopes for the Church and the people it serves. We learned that what we hold in common is much greater than any of our differences.”
Archbishop Sartain added, “Over the past several years, I have had the honor of working with LCWR officers and meeting a large number of LCWR members through the implementation of the Mandate. Our work included the revision of LCWR Statutes; review of LCWR publications, programs and speakers; and discussion of a wide range of issues raised by the Doctrinal Assessment, LCWR, and the Bishop Delegates. The assistance of CDF officials was essential to the great progress we made. Our work together was undertaken in an atmosphere of love for the Church and profound respect for the critical place of religious life in the United States, and the very fact of such substantive dialogue between bishops and religious women has been mutually beneficial and a blessing from the Lord. As we state in our joint final report, ‘The commitment of LCWR leadership to its crucial role in service to the mission and membership of the Conference will continue to guide and strengthen LCWR’s witness to the great vocation of Religious Life, to its sure foundation in Christ, and to ecclesial communion.’ The other two Bishop Delegates and I are grateful for the opportunity to be involved in such a fruitful dialogue.”
Joint Final Report
Following the publication of the Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (April 18, 2012), the officers of LCWR and the Bishop Delegates began working in close collaboration toward the implementation of the Mandate which accompanied that document. From the beginning, our extensive conversations were marked by a spirit of prayer, love for the Church, mutual respect, and cooperation. We found our conversations to be mutually beneficial. In this Joint Final Report, we set forth the manner in which the implementation of the Mandate has been accomplished.
LCWR Statutes: The Statutes of the Conference were definitively approved for the first time by the Sacred Congregation for Religious in 1962; a revised text was subsequently approved by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on June 29, 1989. LCWR had initiated a review of the Statutes prior to receiving the Mandate. In response to the 2012 Mandate, a subcommittee representing LCWR and the Bishop Delegates reviewed that document, attentive to the Mandate’s request for greater clarity in expressing the mission and responsibilities of the LCWR as a Conference of Major Superiors under the ultimate direction of the Apostolic See. Through a collaborative process of mutual learning and of refining several drafts, it was agreed that “the role of the Conference as a public juridic person centered on Jesus Christ and faithful to the teachings of the Church is to undertake through its membership and in collaboration with other sisters those services which develop the life and mission of women religious in responding to the Gospel in the contemporary world” (Statutes, Section 2). At the conclusion of this drafting and refining process, the subcommittee’s work was considered ready to be submitted to the LCWR Assembly. The 2014 Assembly overwhelmingly approved the text, and it was forwarded to the Apostolic See. Following a positive review by the CDF, the revised Statutes were approved on February 6, 2015 by Decree of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Conference Publications and Programs: The Mandate also called for a review of LCWR publications to ensure that the Conference’s mission would be fulfilled in accord with Church teaching. The Conference’s mission is in service of its members and their positive role of collaboration in the Church’s mission. At the same time, LCWR publications serve a larger audience in the Church. Many persons desiring spiritual growth have become readers of various publications. The nature of LCWR publications is intended to address spiritual matters rather than engage in formal theological inquiry. Nevertheless, because of the vital link between spirituality and theology, and in order to inspire, help evaluate experience as Women Religious, and challenge to growth, publications need a sound doctrinal foundation. To this end, measures are being taken to promote a scholarly rigor that will ensure theological accuracy and help avoid statements that are ambiguous with regard to Church doctrine or could be read as contrary to it. This exercise of theological responsibility is for the sake of both Conference Members and other readers. At the same time, it serves to protect the credibility of the Conference itself as a long-standing canonical entity of the Church. In addition, a publications Advisory Committee exists and manuscripts will be reviewed by competent theologians, as a means of safeguarding the theological integrity of the Conference.
The Mandate also addressed care in the selection of programs and speakers at General Assemblies and other LCWR-sponsored events. The choice of topics and speakers appropriate to the Conference’s mission and service will be carried out in a prayerful, thoughtful and discerning manner. As with written publications, LCWR expects speakers and presenters to speak with integrity and to further the aims and purposes of the Conference, which unfold within the wider context of the Church’s faith and mission. When a topic explicitly addresses matters of faith, speakers are expected to employ the ecclesial language of faith. When exploring contemporary issues, particularly those which, while not explicitly theological nevertheless touch upon faith and morals, LCWR expects speakers and presenters to have due regard for the Church’s faith and to pose questions for further reflection in a manner that suggests how faith might shed light on such issues. As with publications, this kind of professional integrity will serve the Members well. Finally, a revised process for the selection of the Outstanding Leadership Award recipient has been articulated.
Other issues addressed by the Mandate: Over the past three years, considerable time and attention were given to dialogue regarding other matters raised by the Mandate, including the importance of the celebration of the Eucharist; the place of the Liturgy of the Hours in religious communities; the centrality of a communal process of contemplative prayer practiced at LCWR Assemblies and other gatherings; the relationship between LCWR and other organizations; and the essential understanding of LCWR as an instrument of ecclesial communion. These discussions had their origin in the Mandate and led to clarifying and fruitful conversation.
Conclusion: Our work together in response to the Mandate has borne much fruit, for which we give thanks to God and the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit. The very fact of such substantive dialogue between bishops and religious has been a blessing to be appreciated and further encouraged. The Commitment of LCWR leadership to its crucial role in service to the mission and membership of the Conference will continue to guide and strengthen LCWR’s witness to the great vocation of Religious Life, to its sure foundation in Christ, and to ecclesial communion.
Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM
Archbishop of Seattle LCWR President
Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair Sr. Marcia Allen, CSJ
Archbishop of Hartford LCWR President-Elect
Most Rev. Thomas J. Paprocki Sr. Carol Zinn, SSJ
Bishop of Springfield in Illinois LCWR Past President
Sr. Joan Marie Steadman, CSC
LCWR Executive Director
(from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) – The Annuarium Pontificium 2015 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2013 have been issued this morning. The former reveals some new aspects of the life of the Church that have emerged between February 2014 and February 2015, and the latter illustrates the changes that took place in 2013.
The statistics referring to the year 2013, show the dynamics of the Catholic Church in the world’s 2,989 ecclesiastical circumscriptions. It may be seen that in this period one diocese and two eparchies have been elevated to the level of metropolitan sees; three new episcopal sees, three eparchies and one archiepiscopal exarchate have been erected; one territorial prelature has been elevated to a diocese, and one apostolic prefecture to an apostolic vicariate.
Since 2005, the number of Catholics worldwide has increased from 1,115 million to 1,254 million, an increase of 139 million faithful. During the last two years, the presence of baptised Catholics in the world has increased from 17.3% to 17.7%.
There has been a 34% increase in Catholics in Africa, which has experienced a population increase of 1.9% between 2005 and 2013. The increase of Catholics in Asia (3.2% in 2013, compared to 2.9% in 2005) has been higher than that of population growth in Asia. In America Catholics continue to represent 63% of a growing population. In Europe, where the population is stagnant, there has been a slight increase in the number of baptised faithful in recent years. The percentage of baptised Catholics in Oceania remains stable although in a declining population.
From 2012 to 2013 the number of bishops has increased by 40 from 5,133 to 5,173. In North America and Oceania there has been a reduction of 6 and 5 bishops respectively, in contrast to an increase of 23 in the rest of the American continent, 5 in Africa, 14 in Asia and 9 in Europe.
The number of priests, diocesan and religious, increased from 414,313 in 2012 to 415,348 in 2013.
Candidates to the priesthood – diocesan and religious – dropped from 120,616 in 2011 to 118,251 in 2013 (-2%). An increase of 1.5% is recorded in Africa, compared to a decrease of 0.5% in Asia, 3.6% in Europe and 5.2% in North America.
The number of permanent deacons continues to grow well, passing from 33,391 in 2005 to 43,000 in 2013. They are present in North America and Europe in particular (96.7%), with the remaining 2.4% distributed between Africa, Asia and Oceania.
The number of professed religious other than priests has grown by 1%, from 54,708 in 2005 to 55,000 in 2013. They have increased in number in Africa by 6% and Asia by 30%, and decreased in America (2,8%), Europe (10.9%) and Oceania (2%). The significant reduction in women religious is affirmed: currently 693,575 compared to 760,529 in 2005: -18.3% in Europe, -17.1 % in Oceania, and -15.5 in America. However, an increase of 18% in Africa and 10% in Asia is recorded….
At Santa Marta on Thursday morning, Francis offered Mass for Benedict XVI on his 88th birthday, inviting the faithful
present to join him in praying “that the Lord sustain him and grant him much
joy and happiness”. In his homily, the
Pontiff spoke of obedience, a prominent theme in the day’s liturgy. He began by
quoting words from the end of the passage from the Gospel according to John
(3:31-35): “he who does not obey the Son shall not see life”. Then, referring
to the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (5:27-33), the Pontiff also
recalled what “the Apostles said to the high priests: we must obey God rather
than men”. Obedience, Francis
explained, “often leads us down a path which isn’t the one we think it should
be: there is another, the obedience of Jesus who says to the Father in the
Garden of Olives: “Thy will be done”. In so doing Jesus “obeys and saves us
all”. Thus, we must be ready to “obey, to have the courage to change directions
when the Lord asks this of us”. And “for this reason, he who obeys will have
eternal life”, whereas for “he who does not obey, the wrath of God rests upon
him”. “Within this
framework”, the Pontiff said, “we can reflect upon the First Reading” — more
specifically on the “dialogue between the Apostles and the high priests”. The
“story began a bit earlier” in the same chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
Thus, he summarized, “the Apostles preached to the people and would stand at
Solomon’s Portico. The whole populace would go there to hear them: they worked
miracles and the number of believers was growing”. But “a small group wouldn’t
dare join them, out fear, they were distant”. Yet, the Pope said, “even from
nearby places, from nearby villages, they brought the sick to the squares, on
pallets, so that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of
them and would heal them. And they were healed”. However, the narrative
of the Acts continues, “the priests and the people’s leaders became angry”:
indeed, they were “filled with jealousy because the people were following the
Apostles, exalting them, praising them”. And therefore they gave the order to
“throw them in prison”. But, Francis continued, “at night an angel of God freed
them, and this was not the first time”. That’s why, when “the
priests met in the morning to judge them, the prison was closed, securely
locked, and they weren’t there”. Then they learned that the Apostles had gone
back again to Solomon’s Portico, to preach to the people. And so once again the
priests had them brought in. The passage from the
Acts offered in the day’s liturgy, the Pontiff stated, recounts just what
happened at that moment: the captain and the officers “brought the Apostles and
presented them to the Sanhedrin”. And again, the Scripture reads that “the high
priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this
name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to
bring this man’s blood upon us’”. In response to these
accusations, Peter replied: “We must obey God rather than men”. And thus
“salvation history repeats up to Jesus”. But “in hearing Peter’s kerygma,
Peter’s preaching on the people redemption which God performed through Jesus”,
the members of the Sanhedrin “were enraged and wanted to kill them”. They were,
in fact, “incapable of recognizing the salvation of God” despite being
“doctors” who had “studied the history of the people, studied the prophecies,
studied the law, thus they knew all the theology of the people of Israel, the
revelation of God, they knew everything: they were doctors”. The question is “why
was there there this hardness of heart?”. Yes, the Pope said, it wasn’t a
matter of “hardheadedness, it wasn’t simple stubbornness”. The hardness was in
their hearts. And therefore “one could ask: what is the route to this total
stubbornness of head and heart? How does one reach this closure, which even the
Apostles had before the Holy Spirit came”. Indeed, Jesus said to the two
disciples at Emmaus: “O foolish men, and slow to believe the things of God”. At its root, Francis
explained, “the story of this stubbornness, the route, is in closing oneself
off, not engaging in dialogue, it is the lack of dialogue”. Those were people
who “didn’t know how to dialogue, they didn’t know how to dialogue with God
because they didn’t know how to pray and to hear the Lord’s voice; and they
didn’t know how to dialogue with others”. This closure to
dialogue led them to interpret “the law in order to make it more precise, but
they were closed to the signs of God in history, they were closed to the
people: they were closed, closed”. And “the lack of dialogue, this closure of
heart, led them not to obey God”. After all, “this is the
tragedy of these doctors of Israel, these theologians of the People of God:
they didn’t know how to listen, they didn’t know how to dialogue”. This is
because, the Pope explained, “dialogue is done with God and with our brothers”.
And “this rage and desire to silence all those who preach, in this case the
newness of God, that is, Jesus is Risen” is clearly “the sign that one doesn’t
know how to dialogue, that a person isn’t open to the voice of the Lord, to the
signs that the Lord makes among his people”. Therefore, although they had no
reason to, they became infuriated and wanted to put the disciples to death. “It
is a painful route”, Francis remarked, also because “these are the same men who
paid the guards at the tomb to say that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body:
they do everything possible not to open themselves to God’s voice”. Before continuing with
the celebration of the Eucharist —
“which is the life of God, who speaks to us from on high, as Jesus says to
Nicodemus” — Francis prayed “for the masters, for the doctors, for those who
teach the People of God, that they never be closed, that they dialogue, and
thus save themselves from the wrath of God which, should they not change their
attitude, will rest upon them”….
(Vatican Radio) A communique from the Holy See’s Press office on Thursday announced that Pope Francis will make an apostolic visit to three Latin American countries in early July. It said following invitations from the respective heads of state and the Catholic Bishops, the Pope will be in Ecuador from the 6-8th, Bolivia from the…
Read more