LCWR meets in Anaheim
Blue-haired Benedictines, leisure-suited Loretos, and muumuu clad Mercies were among the 1400 participants at the annual Leadership Conference of Women Religious Assembly held in Anaheim this past weekend.
This pitiable group of aging religious women remains in inexplicable denial about the abysmal failure of its, dare I say it, "vision" for the Church. It is difficult to imagine a group of Catholics more out of touch with reality. The Barque of Peter is surging forward with Pope Benedict XVI at the helm while these poor women are still stuck in the 60s.
How striking the contrast between this largely geriatric "assembly" of "nuns" in Anaheim and the nearly simultaneous gathering of 1.2 million young Catholics in Cologne for WYD.
You can read all about the LCWR's 2005 assembly HERE. But then again, why bother? This is a group without a future. And I predict that within the span of 10 to 15 years (or fewer), there will no longer be a LCWR because most of them will have "gone the way of all the earth."
I truly feel sorry for these women who presumably at one point freely and lovingly answered the call of God to the consecrated life but, sadly, somewhere along the way got lost.
posted by Quintero at 10:26 PM
9 Comments:
"somewhere along the way got lost."
were deliberately misdirected, is probably more the case. I have never come across more determined attachment to ideas that are self-evidently false than among the women whom the Church inexplicably still regards as consecrated Religious.
Hilary-
I guess I was trying to be charitable.
However, some of these women are no longer recognized by the Church as consecrated religious. They have formed themselves into non-canonical "communities" like the infamous IHM's of Los Angeles.
Those photos are depressing!
Looks like 'Bridge Club Night' at some Baptist church.
This too shall pass as there is no grace in these dying orders. Perhaps not fast enough as they still lead souls astray...
BUT new and faithful orders are coming! You can recognize them by their habits and cheerful countenances.
Guess who the President of this "We would have made great priests" group is?
Why it's Christine Vladimiroff.
Yep, pope Joan Chittister's boss at Erie PA!
They know they are facing extinction, and you might think they can be left to their prancing and dancing and diversionary (do they mention God or Jesus or suffering or sin or redemption?) self-affirming ritual play acting.
But when cornered and facing certain death, certain of God's creatures lash out.
So, watch out everybody and pray hard. Be prepared to cop a nasty spray! (after all, it's us in the Pope-loving institutional Church who are the real cause of their demise, aren't we! We failed to recognize and value their unique gifts to humanity!)
"somewhere along the way got lost."
1971 was the year. You can read about their history by following the link to their website and then selecting "History" under "About LCWR". in 1958 they held their first regional program: "Revitalizing Religious Life for the Individual and the Community through Combating the Effects of Naturalism, Lack of Mortification, and Excessive Activity."
In 1971 the liberals took control and changed the name to LCWR causing the conservative CMSW to create a group called Consortium Perfectae Caritatis (CPC). The website says the CPC "the group drew members concerned that the newly-named LCWR was deviating from "authentic" church teaching about the essentials of religious life."
CPC (an organization of both men and women) gave rise to Conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR)which is the conservative equivilent to the LCWR but lacked official standing with the Vatican until 1992.
You can visit CMSWR at http://www.cmswr.org/
What a difference between the two websites!
Thanks Quo Vadis for this link.
And Wow! This has opened up something amazing for me.
Sorry Quintero to post again, and at length, but this is truly astonishing.
Check out http://www.catholic.org/cathcom/national_story.php?id=16255
This is Sr Vladimiroff at the LA conference today banging on about women religious being "oaks of justice" (an appropriate analogy: there's plenty of dead wood at this LA conference).
STORY QUOTE: 'She said that the term "oaks of justice" comes from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah who said they were people "planted by the Lord to show his glory." ...
'Discussions about U.S. religious life need to focus on its essence, she said.
"It has very little to do with numbers or median age or empty novitiates, actuarial studies and retirement funds. Those are questions of survival," she said.
"Religious life flourishes or declines according to its ability to address the crucial issues of meaning within changing cultural patterns," she said. END QUOTE
NOW, compare that to a story in the same source about the Nashville Dominicans:
http://www.catholic.org/cathcom/international_story.php?id=14724
STORY QUOTE: 'Unlike many religious orders in the United States that are only drawing a trickle of new members, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are flourishing.
On average 15 candidates have been received each year for more than a decade.
In August, 17 postulants will be added to their number.' END QUOTE
EXAM QUESTION: Compare and contrast these two stories with particular reference to the meaning of "flourishing" and "declining".
TIME ALLOWED: 10 seconds.
Dear Venerable Aussie,
No Fair! that's too hard of a question!
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