US nuns leadership holds talk with Vatican

(June 13, 2012) After meeting with top officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the head of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, LCWR, said she was thankful for the chance to have an open dialogue about a recent Vatican-ordered reform of the organization. Franciscan Sister Pat Farrell, LCWR president, and St. Joseph Sister Janet Mock, executive director, met with U.S. Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the doctrinal congregation, and with Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle on Tuesday to talk about the mandate. "We are grateful for the opportunity for open dialogue, and now we will return to our members to see about the next step and decide how to proceed in light of discussions with the doctrinal office2, Sister Pat told journalists immediately after the meeting. The LCWR will have an assembly in August, she said, and "we have no plan other than to take what came from the meeting today to our members" and decide as a group what the next step should be. "We were able to directly express our concerns to Cardinal Levada and Archbishop Sartain," said Sister Pat said in a statement released by the LCWR headquarters. The Vatican statement about the meeting said the encounter "provided the opportunity for the congregation and the LCWR officers to discuss the issues and concerns raised by the doctrinal assessment." The Vatican said the gathering took place "in an atmosphere of openness and cordiality." According to canon law, the Vatican said, the LCWR "is constituted by and remains under the supreme direction of the Holy See, in order to promote common efforts and cooperation.The purpose of the doctrinal assessment is to assist the LCWR in this important mission by promoting a vision of ecclesial communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the church, as faithfully taught through the ages under the guidance of the magisterium," the Vatican said. The June 12 meeting came after the doctrinal congregation announced in April that a major reform was needed to ensure the LCWR's fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women's ordination and homosexuality.