An Open Letter to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Dear Srs. Deacon, Farrell, and Zinn:

I am writing to express my solidarity with the LCWR during this time while it is in dialogue with the Church in this aftermath of the doctrinal Assessment.  I was praying for you during your meeting these last few days, and was pleased to read of your intent to engage the Church in dialogue over its objections to some of the theological views of your Sisters the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith found in its doctrinal assessment released this past April.

I was very active these past four years in my campus ministry as a student at Duke University, and I plan on continuing when I begin law school at the end of the month.  Unsurprisingly on a University campus, I encountered many Catholics who had many questions and struggles with the Catholic faith, which the current official explanations were insufficient to allay.  I myself struggle with numerous Church doctrines, and have taken all means I have seen possible to inform my conscience.  (Indeed, after I complete my J.D., I am seriously considering applying for a theology degree.).  Yet, the ecclesiastical hierarchy seems increasingly hard of hearing with respect to any sensus fidelium (Lumen Gentium 12), and the ability of our primary “teachers of the faith…and pastors”—our  Bishops—and their ability to “seek out men and both request and promote dialogue with them“ nearly impossible with so many other demands on their time (Christus Dominus 2, 11).

You and your Sisters are an inspiration for us Catholics in whom God has planted an invitation to engage with our faith at a deeper level.  As Sister Pellegrino of the Sisters of St. Joseph said at your conference, your use of dialogue can “model something different for our culture, for our politic, and for the Mystical Body of Christ.”  We are indeed one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.  However, our call to oneness must always be understood in the context of our catholic universality, and the authority of apostolic succession must be understood that holiness is granted to the whole Church—all “the holy people of God”—not merely those who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Mary, who was no priest, had perhaps the most direct revelation of God’s Word of any man or woman who has ever lived.  Yet she needed no permission by either the religious authorities of her time or by Joseph for her to say yes to God’s call, or for her obedience to God’s authority in heaven to result in a worldwide renewal of faith.   I pray for Mary’s intercession on your case—that the Star of Wisdom and Comfort of the Afflicted may stand by you and strengthen you for what must be a trying time.

Thank you for all you do, and please know that I am continually praying for the success of your effort.

In Christ,

Shane