"Nun Sense" - National Review Online

Kathryn Lopez from National Review Online wrote a great article about "Nuns", or more properly Religious Sisters. It is a pretty wide ranging article that covers the health care issue, the visitation, the call to religious life, and more. Sister Prudence is a great ambassador for religious life and hopefully as many people as possible will read this article. I hope more bloggers pick up on it. Here is just one Q &A between the two - please go read the full article:

LOPEZ: You’ve got a Ph.D. Why would you ever take the vows you have, wear a heavy, colorless habit, and spend so much time praying?


SISTER PRUDENCE: The simple answer is that I received a call from Jesus Christ to follow Him, who was poor, chaste, and obedient, and who came to serve. The specific way of following was revealed over time not only to me but also to those in charge of the formation of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma. The vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and service we freely take bind us to Jesus Christ forever, in a spiritual marriage. We live a common life in a spirituality of communion with our sisters, who are formed in the specific charism of our foundress, Venerable Catherine McAuley. Our particular charism is expressed in works of mercy at the professional level. So we become educated, not for ourselves, but to give ourselves in service to the Church and the world. It is a joy to serve this way.


We wear a religious habit as a sign of our consecration. It represents the spousal bond with our Lord, as we belong totally to Him. It is an individual sign and a communal sign, as we wear the same habit. We sew them ourselves as a way of living the vow of poverty. It frees us to be who we are called to be for the Church and the world, witnesses of the Kingdom of Heaven, the final reality to which we are all called. In our case, they are not “colorless,” because they are blue or black. If you check our website or the website of over 100 religious communities, you will see that there are lots of variations in color and style. Our religious habit is also only heavy (wool) in the winter; in the summer — and for our sisters who are living in or working in education or medicine in warm climates, such as in Australia, Africa, India, or Haiti — it is a light-blue pinstripe material.

Faithful Women Religious Release Heath Care Statement - R/P from AmP

***UPDATE***:
The USCCB just put out this press release clarifying this whole situation. It is concise and telling:
Read it here: USCCB Statement on HCRB by Women Religious Councils

I am stealing the entire post from American Papist... but only because it is very important. (Make sure you click the links and give AmP some blogging love). It is a statement by Faithful women religious that is in reaction to, and prompted by the unbelievable statement released yesterday.

Here is the statement:

In a March 15th statement, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, spoke on behalf of the United States Bishops in opposition to the Senate’s version of the health care legislation under consideration because of its expansion of abortion funding and its lack of adequate provision for conscience protection. Recent statements from groups like Network, the Catholic Health Association and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) directly oppose the Catholic Church’s [they mean to say that these groups oppose more than just American Bishops, in other words.] position on critical issues of health care reform.

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, the second conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious in the United States, believes the Bishops’ position is the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church.

Protection of life and freedom of conscience are central to morally responsible judgment. We join the bishops in seeking ethically sound legislation.

Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, R.S.M.

President

This is a very bold and brave statement. Not brave because their would be any sort of lash-back against the CMSWR, but because they are calling out the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). Here is how Thomas Peters from AmP explains it:

This point should also be made: contrary to nearly all the reporting, 59,000 nuns don’t support the bill. There are 59,000 religious women in the United States total (according to CARA), and not all of them are represented by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). It would be helpful to find out how many religious women are in LCWR and CMSWR.

So if any women religious read either of our blogs, please comment in terms of support for the CMSWR and we will post your community I am sure of it. Also, if anyone has numbers for the LCWR & CMSWR please let me know.

Oh and in case you are thinking that CMSWR must be some small group of women religious, with only an order or two here or there... think again. Here is a link to their member communities: CMSWR Member Communities. If you go to the two websites you will see why they chose the sides that they did in this debate. I don't think it is uncharitable for me to say this because a lot can be learned by watching actions; that whole "Actions speak louder than words" saying?

For example, here are some pictures from CMSWR's website - the council that supports the CHURCH and opposes the current Senate Health Care bill:

Now here are some pictures taken from the LCWR site; the council that is in OPPOSITION to the Church and her teachings by their statement in SUPPORT of the anti-life Senate Health Care bill:

I am NOT saying that the LCWR aren't religious and holy women. I know many of them are. It is just unfortunate that their push for progressive ideas has taken on such a life of its own that they are willing to abdicate their duty of loyalty and obedience to the Church by publishing a statement like they did. I know that there are probably quite a few individual members who are against the statement, but sometimes we must use images as I have to prove a point. Sometimes we need to shock the senses a little bit to make a point.

So please don't think me uncharitable for doing this, but I think it needed to be done. We must hold each other are Catholics accountable for our actions and when we trip we must find the rock that tripped us and kick it from the path. So we must find the source of error in the LCWR's thinking and do likewise. But where or where is that rock? Like I said... sometimes actions speak louder than words.

-Posted by: Joe