The beginning of the end?

Word has come out that the Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious has come to an end.  The results of the assessment are devastating for the LCWR.

As posted by Rocco Palmo:

Citing "serious doctrinal problems" found over the course of a four-year study of the umbrella-group representing the majority of the US' communities of nuns, the Holy See has announced a thoroughgoing shake-up of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), naming Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle as its delegate to conduct an overhaul of the group.

Among other concerns raised in an eight-page summary of the doctrinal inquest released today, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith cited addresses at LCWR conferences that, it said, manifested a "rejection of faith," protests of church teaching on homosexuality and the ordination of women by officers of the group, and a "prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith" in some of the conference's events.

"The current doctrinal and pastoral situation of the LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern," the dicastery said.

The eight-page summary written by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is pretty straightforward.  In part, it gives the LWCR cudos for "a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine".  

Nonetheless,  "it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States."

The LWCR is silent because it doesn't believe, for the most part, in any type of "right to life" as the Church defines it.  Many sisters in the LWCR are vocal proponents of abortion and/or artificial birth control.  Sister Barbara Battista, SP, is one of those sisters of dissent.


Hopefully, real change is in store.  If not, we may see the wholesale collapse of the LCWR.  Maybe their charter will be revoked, and the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) will be the sole representative for women religious in the United States.

The congregations that are part of the CMSWR are traditional, young....and growing.  Compare photos of members of the CWSWR to those of the LCWR. 

This is a photo of LCWR members from the Sisters of Providence:

Shown are the Sisters of Providence 2010 general officers, from left, Sister Dawn Tomaszewski, Sister Jeneen Howard, Sister Mary Beth Klingel, Sister Lisa Stallings and Sister Denise Wilkinson, who was re-elected general superior

Below,  a photo of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist:

The average age:  28.

The many faces of Sister Battista

In our last post, we discussed how the dissenting views of a local religious sister were brought to the public eye in a weekly Indianapolis Star political column by Dan Carpenter.  Mr. Carpenter brings up an email conversation he had with Sister Barbara Battista, SP, regarding the views of artificial contraception by the U.S. bishops.

After doing some digging (which didn't take much work, actually), it was discovered that Sister Barbara is no newcomer to the protest scene. 

Sister Barbara has been protesting at the School Of America's (SOA) at Ft. Benning, for years, and appears to be a proud suporter of SOA Watch, a human rights group founded by former Maryknoll priest, Roy Bourgeois. 

Fr. Bourgeois is a proud (I would say infamous) dissenter in his own right.  He was excommunicated in November, 2008, for participating in a mock ordination of women to the priesthood a moth earlier.  He has refused to recant his support for women's ordination.  According to Wiki, the Vatican is currently considering Fr. Bourgeois removal from the priesthood.

Photos of Sister Battista and  Fr. Bourgeois at this protest rally can be viewed here.  I cannot post them due to copyright issues.

Sister Battista's public Twitter account shows a recent (Jan. 19, 2012) post asking readers to click on a link to a NARAL site.  "Get the shocking facts on the 2011 War on Women from NARAL's infographic.", she shouts with glee.

Once on that site, NARAL asks "If you think that it's wrong for politicians to interfere in women's personal, private, medical decisions, please share this infographic with your friends."  It then urges the reader to "post it on your Facebook wall, Tweet it, and email it far and wide." 

Like the good foot-soldier of death that she is, Sister Barbara heeds their call.

For those of you who don't know, NARAL Pro-Choice America (formerly National Abortion Rights Action League) is is an organization in the U.S. that engages in political action to oppose restrictions on abortion, and expand access to abortion.  NARAL uses numerous tactics to lobby for liberalized access to abortion.

Sister Barbara Battista, SP: The face of dissent.

Recently, The Indianapolis Star published a weekly column by the far-left progressive, Dan Carpenter.  It can be read here in it's entirety.  The article took the USCCB to task for revoking a grant to help ex-cons transition back into society.  When the CCHD found out that this corporation was distributing condoms to the ex-cons, they stopped paying the company.

In this article, Mr. Carpenter described an email he received from Sister Barbara Battista, SP (Sisters of Providence).  In it, Sister Battista takes the U.S. bishops to task for their stance on birth control (i.e. condoms).

"Please, let's ask the Hoosiers, not our bishops, what we want RecycleForce to do," she said by email."I bet that condom bowl will be put back out! I am a health-care provider gratefully working in a public facility.We happily have free condoms in our exam rooms."

Sister Battista is not just your run-of-the-mill liberal nun.  She is president of the Indiana Academy of Physician Assistants!

She's also very active in the peace movement, having protested at the former School of Americas (SOA) in Fort Benning, Georgia.

Just so we don't misrepresent her position on artificial contraception, maybe we should go to her public Twitter account, and see if we can gleen her thoughts on the matter.

Amazingly (or not so amazingly), barb1840 (Sister Barbara) is an ardent follower of the following pro-abortion groups:

ChoiceUSA: Their website claims that "[a]s a national pro-choice organization, Choice USA gives emerging leaders the tools they need to organize, network, and exchange ideas to build a youth centered pro-choice agenda and mobilize communities for reproductive justice."  Co-founded by Gloria Steinem.

Not Under The Bus: A project arm of the Women's Media Center (WMC).   actively advocates to keep abortion legal.  WMC was  founded in 2005 as a non-profit progressive women's media organization by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem.

National Women's Law Center: Founded in 1972.  According to their website, one of it's primary missions is "to ensure that women have access to abortion care by protecting and advancing this fundamental right."

SisterSong -Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective:  Founded in 1997 with a mission "to amplify and strengthen the collective voices of Indigenous women and women of color to ensure reproductive justice through securing human rights."  The national coordinator is Loretta Ross.  Last year's national conference posted it's own weblogs called "blogforchoice" and "ChicagoAbortionFund".

Catholics For Choice: A radical dissenting group of marginal Catholics who support legalized abortion. There website says - in part:  "Catholics for Choice believes in a world where everyone has equal access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services—including access to safe and legal abortion services and affordable and reliable forms of contraception. "

This is not just sad. It's disgusting. How can a catholic nun, who is apparently in good-standing with her order, promote views and beliefs so out-of-touch with definitive teaching of the Church?

But Sister Battista isn't alone in her dissent.  In my next post, I'll travel a little deeper into the murky waters of dissent within the progressive wing of women religous.  We will discuss the deep, pervasive progressivism and dissent within the Sisters of Providence, as well as within the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).