BishopAccountability.org
	Investigation Won't Impact Local Congregation By Sharon Roznik Fond du Lac Reporter November 8, 2009 http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20091108/FON0101/911080428/1985/FONlife/ Investigation-won-t-impact-local-congregation A Vatican investigation into compliance of U.S. Sisters to Catholic doctrine should not impact members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes. "And hopefully, it will not impact our university," said Sister Mary Mollison, acting president at Marian University. She addressed Catholic religious women gathered Thursday at the Stayer Center about tension and rising polarization in the church. Issues reportedly being investigated include the acceptance of gays and lesbians, the Catholic path as an exclusive path to redemption, and the return of habits. Vatican concerns have also focused on the declining numbers of religious vocations in Western cultures. "Our freedom is part of the tension going on," Mollison confirmed. Cardinal Franc Rode' said he requested the three-year study in response to concerns expressed by American Catholics — religious, laity, clergy and hierarchy — about the welfare of religious women and consecrated life in general, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Rhode heads the Vatican office overseeing religious orders. Assessment of "women religious," as they are referred to in the Catholic Church, could include whether or not those speaking for an order support the idea of women priests, or gay marriage, or whether they believe there can be salvation outside the Catholic church, Mollison said. "As Americans, with freedom of speech, we come out of a different culture than the Vatican. The evolution of women does have an impact on this, how religious life is evolving," Mollison said. Many women religious are serving people who happen to be homosexual, and others are involved with ecumenical and interfaith groups, she pointed out. "If you are serving in the church, how do you keep dialogue going? Part of our role is to do that. We have to be influenced and influence. We both discover and reveal Christ in what we do," she said. Good Catholics can disagree over traditional and moral teachings, she said. "Social teaching has changed over time. At one time. the church taught that no one could have surgery," she said. Campus Minister Sister Marie Scott said there are a number of new religious communities that are attracting young women to the order. The groups live a more structured, monastic life, with members wearing habits. She addressed the decline in women religious numbers in the United States. "From my perspective, women 35 or 40 years ago who were attracted to it (becoming nuns) might not have had the opportunities to do something different that women have now," she said. The CSA has gained supporters through an associate membership program, in which men and women who are drawn to the mission statement sign-up to serve. Joanna Schohl is one of the associate members. "Some of the rumblings I've heard is that all this is happening to turn attention away from the investigation of clergy (sexual) abuse," Schohl said at the meeting. Marian student Louis Cortez asked whether women ministering in the Catholic church would choose the priesthood if they could. "It's about what role you want in the church. A lot of women don't want to be priests — they just wonder why they can't be priests," Scott said. Mollison said the essence of Vatican II was that women religious should be interacting with the world. "The church does not exist for itself. Catholics are different today than they were five years ago," she said.
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