The canonical discipline imposed on Sr. Louise Lears, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, has generated much controversy and misinformation. What follows is a compilation of key documents and analysis.
Documentation on St. Louis Archdiocesan website
Statement by Sr. Louise Lears, SC
Statement of Sister Barbra Hagedorn, President of the Sisters of Charity Cincinnati,
John Allen’s contextualization of Archbishop Burke’s Roman Appointment
Community support as reported in the National Catholic Reporter
Sister’s of Charity of Cincinnati website
very important info…thanks so much for including all the sites to check on. Sister Louise deserves our love and support in her very difficult situation- Note that it is said the Bishop met with her individually. He did not.
Another pastoral associate in St. Cronan’s resigns in protest.
“Days before the liturgy Burke, in the archdiocesan newspaper, the St. Louis Review, also wrote a column reiterating the Catholic church’s official position that women cannot be ordained to the priesthood and that participation in any such liturgy would be a gravely sinful act. ‘Any Catholic,†he wrote, ‘who knowingly and deliberately assists… risks the eternal salvation of their souls.’â€
If I didn’t read this myself, I’d say this was a joke! However, I know too well the divergence between our Institutional and Pastoral Church today, and the wide gaps between! The (Institutional) Church just doesn’t get it sometimes! Do these ordained guys who dwell solely on their “kingship and authoritative†attitude even see how arrogant, shallow, and ignorant they look and sound? By whose authority is this man speaking when he calls this “committing a ‘gravely sinful act’ or to speak of ‘even risking eternal salvation of their souls?’†just because one participates in a liturgy that ordains women to the priesthood? Are salvific directives solely based on manmade rules and man’s love of power? What about the double standards of ordaining married men? Or bringing married priests from other faiths into the Catholic Church? How does this differ from participation in the ordination of women? When is it permissible to bend these manmade rules?
Seriously speaking, though, “What would Jesus do?†First of all, I think Jesus himself would have long been excommunicated from the Catholic Church – if he even chose to join it. He would have been excommunicated for speaking to a woman – a Samaritan woman, nonetheless; or for dining with tax-collectors. He would have been ridiculed and excluded from society for touching the skin of lepers, and I honestly believe he would have been chastised for including, loving and welcoming gays and lesbians among his friends. He would have been too challenging and outspoken for reminding us that pro-life is not just anti-abortion; that pro-life does not stop at the womb, but that indeed, calls to the respect and dignity of all human life – womb to tomb – for calling us to act immediately and just as readily for all the innocent – for those dying at war, for the hungry, for the homeless, for the immigrant! He would challenge us to protest just as loudly against death roll and capital punishment as we do in front of abortion clinics.
Roman Catholicism has become so (too?) centered on being faithful (and obedient) to the Magisterium and has long drifted from faithfulness and obedience to the Gospel. Those who claim to hold ‘the Truth’ and only means of salvation for our souls forget that Jesus was not Roman Catholic! If Jesus were humanly living among us today, I seriously doubt we would even let him join the Catholic faith. He’d be too challenging and outspoken. He would remind us that the Gospel and Gospel values are much more embracing and welcoming of all people unlike manmade rules and regulations that intimidate, threaten and exclude (and excommunicate) many! I doubt Jesus would have chosen a self-righteous religion when his life and mission promoted a life of compassion.
I’ve been Roman Catholic all my life, and I love my faith, but I have to say that certain clergy leaders in our Church make us look ignorant to the Gospel, arrogant in our faith and overshadow everyone’s equal call to holiness and relationship to God! Ultimately, my faithfulness and relationship with God will be the decisive outcome of my salvation, not the call of a man wearing a collar imposing his powers and manmade laws or excommunication on me for my faith! I am a woman who has no desire to be ordained, but I believe the Sacrament should not be forbidden from anyone who is called by God to serve as an ordained person. In the long run, Jesus probably would have chosen to remain Jewish, for even they already have women Rabbis. What arrogance our Roman Catholic Church must reflect to all our non-Catholic friends!
The issue is not one of choosing whether to be faithfully Catholic or genuinely Catholic, but rather on faithfully and genuinely following Jesus, and on continuing his mission. Excommunication is of this world and of manmade rules. Sr Louise can NOT be excommunicated of her faithfulness to the Gospel and the relationship with her God! Blessings upon Sr Louise!