LCWR: Promote women to decision-making roles
THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS -- nearly 1,000 leaders -- called the 80,000 U.S. sisters in their congregations to a day of prayer and fasting Dec. 15. Thousands responded, joined by other faith communities and many CTA groups. The LCWR statement also challenged the hierarchy on decision-making roles for women in these terms:
...OUR CONCERN IS PRIMARILY pastoral. We are troubled about the credibility of the church and the alienation of women, given the gap between Pope John Paul II's teachings on respect for women and the lack of women actually involved in decision making in the church. Sadly, we know the deep pain this announcement will cause faithful women and men who understand the Spirit of God and Catholic tradition from a different perspective.
While Ordinatio Sacerdotalis seemed to close debate on women in the priesthood, we were encouraged by the Pope's Letter to Women (July 1995), a strong and stirring appeal for social, political, and economic progress for women. LCWR welcomed the Pope's apology for sexism in the church, and his call to the church to use the "genius" and giftedness of women. Other documents, such as the U.S. bishops' Toward Strengthening the Bonds of Peace, offer greater signs of hope for honest and open dialogue about significant roles for women in the church.
Since the church now states that the question of ordination of women has been "definitively" answered, perhaps we need to ask: How can the church more fully share its decision-making power with non-ordained members? It is the experience of women religious, who have labored long and faithfully in this church, that ultimate authority is tied to ordination. Paradoxically, numerous Vatican documents and statements affirm equality of human persons. In order to live up to this value, we call the church at every level -- universal, national and local -- to explore and open avenues of significant participation for women.
Sound theologicaI dialogue should address these pastoral concerns. Many faithful know a different movement of the Spirit, experience a different understanding of the intent and action of Christ, and desire mature dialogue about the ministry of the ordained. Additionally, we are troubled that Catholics who are deeply Eucharistic are being deprived of this central expression of their faith while they await a solution to the ordination crisis of our time.
In light of the pressing pastoral concerns we believe will result from the "Responsum ad dubium," we urge the church to move quickly and decisively to include women in all levels of decision making and responsibility available without priestly ordination.
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