The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has overhauled the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, many news sources are reporting.
From AP:
An American archbishop was appointed to oversee reform of the [LCWR], which will include rewriting the group’s statutes, reviewing all its plans and programs — including approving speakers — and ensuring the organization properly follows Catholic prayer and ritual.
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The report from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the organization faced a “grave” doctrinal crisis, in which issues of “crucial importance” to the church, such as abortion and euthanasia, have been ignored. Vatican officials also castigated the group for making some public statements that “disagree with or challenge positions taken by the bishops,” who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.”
The archbishop in question is Peter Sartain of Seattle, freerepublic.com reports.
Safe to say this fresh scrutiny will be applied in particular to LCWR’s relationship to Catholic social justice lobby NETWORK, an organization that has been vocal in its support of the Obama administration’s healthcare initiative. The LCWR itself has taken a set of positions all on its own, however, that clearly alienate it from more traditionally held teaching.