Law shouldn’t be the law

By Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

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Anyone who attended Roman Catholic schools knows nuns have been the bedrock of Catholic education for generations.

Nuns and women religious, from Catholic Worker movement founder Dorothy Day to Mother Teresa, have also been a mainstay of the church's mission of service to the poor and the downtrodden, performing “corporal works of mercy” as defined in Matthew 25:34: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. ... Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me.”

That's why many may be confused by apparent friction between the Vatican and the Leadership of Catholic Women Religious, a 1,500-member association of leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in America. Prayer-vigil protests in support of nuns and other women religious were held in Waterloo and elsewhere last week.

The organization represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 nuns in the United States, according to LCWR.

In April, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced the need for the renewal of the LCWR after conducting a doctrinal assessment. The Holy See acknowledged the positive contributions of women religious but also cited what it described as serious concerns related to doctrinal positions and on issues such as the ordination of women, human sexuality and themes of “radical feminism.”

Local organizers identified a need for an honest dialogue between the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the LCWR.

According to a May 5 Boston Globe article, three respected Catholic publications reported that Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the controversial former Boston archbishop, played a key role in the Vatican's decision to tighten its grip on the LCWR.

Law resigned as Boston's archbishop in 2002 after articles in the Globe reported that he had allowed priests accused of sexually molesting children to continue serving in parish ministries.

Vatican watchers in the United States say Law's influence in Rome has diminished since he turned 80.

We pass no judgment on the disagreement between the church hierarchy and the LCWR. However, if the Globe and other reports are true, we do think it is fair to ask why Law still holds any position of authority within the Roman Catholic Church.

Anyone who allowed the most abominable kind of crime, and sin, to recur with impunity within their church lacks any kind of moral authority to pass judgment on anyone.