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Pope Francis Cracks Down On US Nuns
Following
Pope Francis’ election, many American nuns had hoped that the Jesuit pope, who
was devoted to the poor, would relieve the tough crackdown targeted at American
nuns and would stress the message of mercy rather than condemnation. Their
hopes were in vain, however, as the Vatican said on Monday thatPope Francis was in support of the Holy See’s
crackdown on U.S. nuns for focusing on social justice too much, and letting
other church issues such as abortion fall to the wayside.
Last
year, Francis’ predecessor, Benedict had led an overhaul of the Leadership
Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a large umbrella
group that represents over 80% of the Catholic nuns in the U.S., decreeing that they must change their
ways to truly teach Catholic values. They
were accused of undermining Catholic teachings on issues such as abortion and
homosexuality by taking soft stances on the issues while also promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible
with the Catholic faith.”
The
sister’s group was put under a “doctrinal assessment,” and the congregation was
placed the under the control of Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who was
given a 5-year mandate to oversee reforms as
he saw fit.
The
nuns held that the accusations were unsubstantiated and came from a flawed
process that has caused “scandal and pain throughout the church.” They also received
widespread support among American Catholics, especially from liberals.
They
have been criticized for many things by the Vatican, including being “silent on the right to life” and not making the
Biblical view of family and human sexuality a central plank of their agenda.
They have also been criticized for supporting President Obama’s health care
reform which makes insurance coverage of birth control mandatory while U.S.
bishops still vehemently oppose it.
On
Monday, the group’s leaders met with Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, who is
in charge of the crackdown, for the first time since he was appointed in July.
According
to the Vatican, Mueller had
“expressed his gratitude for the great contribution of women Religious to the
Church in the United States as seen particularly in the many schools,
hospitals, and institutions of support for the poor which have been founded and
staffed by Religious over the years,” however, he also had discussed the issue
with Pope Francis and had “reaffirmed the findings of the Assessment and the
program of reform for this Conference of Major Superiors.”
The LCWR also released a
statement, reaffirming most of the Vatican’s statement but also concluding that
“The conversation was open and frank. We pray that these conversations may bear
fruit for the good of the Church.”
As
the Vatican further sees the LCWR’s crackdown, what they fail to recognize is
that the group had managed to uplift the image of the Church within the U.S.,
through their social justice work, especially at a time when it was embroiled
in scandals over sexual abuse of minors.
And while the Vatican has expressed gratitude for the nuns’ contributions,
their actions and criticism have undermined the work they’ve done for social
justice.
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