The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is an umbrella organization of religious orders not known for, shall we say, orthodoxy. Put simply, you want find any women wearing habits at their gatherings. They recently held their annual assembly (Sr. Joan Chittister giving the keynote) in Atlanta and, of course, it meant that Archbishop Wilton Gregory presided at Mass. Is he using a punch bowl for a ciborium? And what about those glass goblets holding the Precious Blood? I suppose the liturgist for the Mass must have overlooked Redemptionis Sacramentum, #117: “Reprobated, therefore, is any practice of using for the celebration of Mass common vessels, or others lacking in quality, or devoid of all artistic merit or which are mere containers, as also other vessels made from glass, earthenware, clay, or other materials that break easily.”
Sure, the archbishop could claim that he only showed up and had to deal with what was laid before him, but if so the question would become: Are you a bishop or a sacrament machine? In other words, as priest, first, and bishop, second, the final responsibility for how the Mass is celebrated and for any liturgical abuses that occur rest with him. He could have refused to start the Mass until the proper reverence was shown for the Eucharist by having the proper vessels available.
Of course, the liturgical abuse was just the beginning of the silliness, if not the high point. How about this photo captioned, “All of the assembly presenters were anointed with oil that had been blessed with the hopes and dreams of the assembly participants.” Thanks, but I’d rather have my holy oil blessed by the Holy Spirit.
Then again, what can you expect from an organization for whom a key point of social justice is a printer cartridge recycling program. You want to see religious engaging in social justice? This is what it looks like.
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“Breakout sessions?” This bunch looks like they broke out of Happy Valley Nursing Home. They don’t look eligible for “Dreams for the next 50 years” and there didn’t seem to be any “New Members looking Toward the Future.”
So, not even the priest can where their clericals? I’m not surprised there isn’t a single “habit” in the pictures. No wonder there are no vocations to the religious life for women, there are very few women religious left to inspire them. The one’s who would inspire vocations are all now 80 years old, plus, and have been shoved into corners by groups like this.
I remember speaking with a nun in Midway Airport (she, of course, was in habit). Sister was 81, and when she decided to once again wear the habit, she caught all sorts of grief from her sisters.
As the Blessed Mother would say: Oy Vay!
The AmChurch headlong plunge into nuttiness has been lead in large part by women. The decimation of women’s religious orders in this country is a sad story and it appears to be continuing unabated. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and the pics of the conference on the linked website tell quite a story.
Predominantly aging and totally self-absorbed (“write down your dreams on a piece of paper”), the participants look to have lost all religious identity. From their totally secular dress to their activist projects, they appear to have no interest in the salvation of souls and are nothing more than social workers who have embraced the “Gospel of Oprah”. They can’t even bring themselves to say the word “Mass” and persistently refer to it as “the Eucharistic liturgy.”
Like a man standing on a high precipice and threatening to jump, one can’t help but gawk at the pictures, conveying as they do, a snapshot in time of a formerly great cohort of religious orders drowning in a sea of half-baked modern psychological theories and in the process of self-destruction.
Oh, Margaret, you are so right.
Sometimes, we all get caught up in the negativity.
Yeah,what Margaret said.
My sister sponsored a friend in RCIA a couple of years ago. Now that friend is discerning a vocation to the religious life. One of her major criteria is that they have to wear habits.
It’s happening. Young women are being drawn… to the orthodox orders.
John: So much looniness, so little time.
In contrast check out the CMSWR
Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious http://www.cmswr.org/Slide Show Member Communities/Member Community Pictures.htm.
You won’t find a single nun out of habit. An quite a listing of members:
Little Sisters of the Poor
Carmelite Sisters
Daughters of St. Pauo
“The church has a right to expect a significant contribution from consecrated persons, called as they are in every situation to bear clear witness that they belong to Christ.”
– Vita Consecrata Pope John Paul II
I’d say the wearing of a habit is a way to bear clear witness of beloning.
The contrast between the photos on LCWR and those on the CMSWR is amazing. Not only the habits but the numbers of young women. The orders that were infected by the boomer’s humanistic salvationism are dead already. Only the remnants continue to try and find a justification for their existance through politicla action and how sad they look. Thank you for both links. They restore hope that the Church is finding its way out of the morass of the last 40 years.
I said what I said. I use certain terms for particular reasons.
I’m sure you don’t intend to come across as pedantic.
Oh dear. I have a stupid question. Are girls still not allowed to be crucifers?
Thank you, Franklin.
For those of you who like me, need to look it up:
crucifer
n. person bearing cross;
Interestingly enough, altar service is the only ministry in my parish when males outnumber females.
Carrie: You are so right!
We had an all male, all teen group on the altar for Easter Vigil. They youngin’s and the girls lit candles and did other things.
All the young men were very active in the Mass. It was during the blessing of the water with priest and three servers surrounding the font, one with the incense, one with the Pascal candle, and one with the book, that it really struck me why it is important for young men to serve at the altar. For I could easily see each of them in a roman collar some day.