LCWR:How Did These Good Sisters GET to Where They Are Now???

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http://learningmycatholicfaith.blogspot.com/2013/10/omgomgomg-i-wanted-to-be-sister-of.html
ny comment fron the beginning of the article above

OMG!OMG!OMG!   I wanted to be a Sister of Mercy for more than a decade( I was taking care of my elderly father first, though.) Thank You, Lord, that I never entered because, 'but for the grace of God, there go I'
  I wish that I could say that I would not have been like them...but , alas, I cannot say that because in all honesty, I probably would have. :'(
  I was so grateful to be included amongst their friends when I was out of high school and through college and they were soooo good to me after my mama died.
I remember when Teresa Kane, one of 'our' sisters, a Sister of Mercy,  gave that speech about women's ordination to the  pope, JPII . 'We' were all so angry at what we saw as his condescending attitude and disrespectful treatment of her. 
  And, led by their example , I learned a disrespect for the pope, though at the time I did not see it as disrespect. I thought that it was 'allowed'. I did not see myself as 'dissenting' from Catholic teaching. I did NOT have a clue about true Catholic teaching on the Pope, and frankly neither did these nuns that I hung around. Basically, the only thing that you had to believe the Pope on were the stated dogmas of theChurch and you were accountable to the precepts of the Church....after that it becomes  more of a function of individual conscience.
 Even if I had known the proper teaching, it would not have mattered, because that was BEFORE Vatican II . Vatican II had changed all of that... and not because the Church was bad or wrong before Vatican II . But because God is sooo good and leads His Church as he promised. That Church was the Church of a different time serving the needs of a different era. But now, through this great gift of God, The Catholic Church had evolved into a much freer, more beautiful, loving and enlightened Church to serve the needs of this age. As for sin...what was sin? it was a nebulous concept... there were rights and wrongs.... I do know that if it was 'love' , it was good, okay, God is love... (and that included sex of any kind if it was because of love.... and it gets confusing here and  also becomes more of a function of individual conscience) . This is my interpretation of how it was....there did not seem to be much  in the way of definitive dogma in my experience excepts basics...I would have been scandalized if someone had sad its ok not to think communion is the Body and Blood of Christ....but I also would have known that I had no right to judge, that was between them and God.... I don't know what I thought the Church was...but I did think that I wanted to be a nun and serve the Church....sigh...

 It never occurred to me that priests and nuns might not realize what Church teaching was... because most of them truly thought that  teachings had changed or  were in the process of changing in this 'new' Church. And this was the pervasive, prevailing attitude throughout the Church...The documents of Vatican II were supposed to be implemented and what they contained, and what this meant, was basically passed down even through the hierarchy by word or mouth, and the same way throughout  the leadership and the faithful ... There was much confusion for so long.   And most have never realized that  the  hermeneutic of rupture is NOT the proper  implementation.
 It never occurred to me that priests and nuns might not be right in what they believed the  Church to be and in what they believed the Church  teaches . It never occurred to me that priest and nuns themselves could be led astray. So it never occurred to me that they  could lead me astray.
 I KNOW that they do not think that what they are doing is wrong and they do believe themselves to be authentically Catholic.
 I lost contact through the years with the Sisters of Mercy as an order.... The keynote speech this year at the LCWR , was such a shock to me....It was Bolt of Lightning out of the Blue... I started looking at Mercy websites, leadership etc  and I was shocked and saddened .
I do not recognize this order which was once so dear to me.. I had all the official books of what the purpose and mission of the order was...I had the life of its foundress Catherin McCauley...I KNEW  this order and its mission well and I LOVED IT SO MUCH!  They have loved me and done so much for me. They educated me and taught me well throughout jr high and high school. They supported me through the most difficult times of my whole life...I could never repay what they have given me and done for me. I visited the motherhouse in St Louis many times and stayed there a number of times throughout college. It was my favorite place on earth. I LOVE these nuns so much!!!! They have been so good to me...when I lost my mama at the beginning of college, the motherhouse and their arms were ALWAYS open to me, their love and support was constant and available at any moment that I might need. Even  when I lost my daddy 18 years later and not seen any of them for many years, they came to support me. I could never repay what they have given me and done for me!
 But  I do not recognize  this order today, in what it seems  to me that they have become...I do not know what they think it is to be Catholic anymore or even find it on their websites. Looking at most of their websites I do not see an authentically Catholic belief system   running throughout them. I  DO see a good , loving community  dedicated to service...but I cannot  seem to find  an authentically Catholic identity...I fear that they DO think they have a Catholic identity but it  a much different version of Catholic  than what  I believe Catholic to be  :(  It is a 'Catholic' identity that is not aligned with the magisterium and it has no allegiance to the Pope and the magisterium. Therefore it can support 'in love and with love' various parts of LGBT agenda and even abortion. Because of 'love', this brand of Catholic identity can dissent from Church teaching on contraception and sexual 'sins' and even on the concept of sin itself....and it can do it 'in good conscience'.
   I  have loved and love them still so much. I cannot believe what has happened...it is so painful to me..but it does help me understand a few things that have happened with a  very good  and very special friend- a 'significant other' in my life . At the time I could not understand what had happened in the first incident. An incident  that signaled a complete change in a lifelong relationship. I found it to be completely mind boggling. Nor could I understand her reaction  when she told me that I had changed so much...I had no idea what she was talking about.  But now, I am beginning see why she said that and I can  understand the whole situation  much  better. And now I know that she is right. I HAVE changed. 
Part of the story after the first incident was  about abortion. I have always been against that...but for a time, I succumbed to the thinking that it was not my 'right' to force that 'opinion' on other people--the same sort of thinking that many 'Catholic' politicians espouse today.  :(     I finally woke up, thank God! It was at that time that I think the paths  began to diverge on our ways of thinking and our perceptions of the world. And it WAS ME who left the path... And since that time, I have learned more and more about my Catholic faith and I love it sooo much. But if my thinking had not diverged I believe that I would have a very different  view of what it means to be  Catholic.... and I would be reading Fishwrap and all the blogs and media  for the  'alternative'  Catholic views...and I would admire and Love the  dissenting Jesuits . I would support  women's ordination,. I would not be reading Church documents and I would probably truly see the hierarchy of the Church as an outdated patriarchal dinosaur.And if I was fighting to change these things I would truly believe that I was fighting to help save Christ's Church .... sigh...

And Just How Did These Good Sisters
GET to Where They Are  Now???

(These are GOOD and LOVING women some of whom  I knew or know, who taught me, who were good friends and significant others, who were a HUGE part of my life growing up and in early adulthood and who were so good to me when both my mama and the later my daddy died. They are a part of the tapestry of my life. They are a part of who I am and I LOVE Them!
I lost touch with most of them over the years but that changes nothing about who they are to me and what I wrote above...
but thankfully,  it does mean that I was not with them on THIS journey!  It DOES mean that I have a very hard time comprehending how they got to this point. Some of the things that I have learned have shocked and even, horrified me because I take it personally, and  because I simply do not understand and cannot comprehend the transformation)

What happened in between Vatican II and now
in their orders and especially in the LCWR that they could end up in THIS place?


I am doing some research to try to answer this question of what happened and this post is where I will  put stuff that I find that I think may help me answer this question. 
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Well, I have begun and...  there IS this:
Excerpts from:
The Transformation of American Catholic Sisters

http://books.google.com/books?id=88kOXNgVdQ0C&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=Sister+Barbara+Thomas,+S.C.N.,&source=bl&ots=-A4QuVo_Wo&sig=irsdslh7E2jhlUea-sVKgkgYymA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bXR0Uo7pKYbJsQS2rILgBQ&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Sister%20Barbara%20Thomas%2C%20S.C.N.%2C&f=false

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and this:
A report on the social, political, and spiritual changes for Catholic nuns in the U.S. since Vatican II
The Transformation of American Catholic Sisters
http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/814_reg_right.html#sthash.1zqwK74u.dpuf

These sisters do not see or understand that there is anything wrong with what they are doing or how they see themselves. This is the result of what they thought , and many of us thought that Vatican II was saying in the 70's. This is what they STILL think that Vatican II says and what it is all about...and it was the Church that started them down this path!
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These remembrances of Sr. Barbara Thomas, SCN, one of the early leaders of  the Post Vatican II sisters and of what is now the LCWR(I am not sure what the name was before that or when it changed), are 1 example of how the Sisters see themselves in relation to Vatican II and how they still see Vatican II in this same way. And wherethey have 'evolved' through to today IS the proper implementation of Vatican II. It is the Institutional Church who  is resistant to this evolution. And they MUST remain in the Church and help it evolve into  what they see as God's visionThis is from an SCN
publication in 2010.

Sister Barbara was not only elected with the first group of Provincials; she was also the first SCN to assume the title of “president” in 1972. She held that position for two terms, 1972–1980. She also earned her Doctorate in Ministry from Aquinas Institute. “That’s the thing I marvel at,” says Celeste Reedy, SCN, a longtime friend of Sister Barbara. Sister Barbara’s time in leadership was during a period of great change — Vatican II. Sister Barbara travelled extensively throughout the Congregation, visiting with the Sisters — Vatican II booklet in hand — to explain what it all meant and to answer the many questions it brought about. She was so successful educating the Sisters on Vatican II that she was soon asked to help educate other communities as well. She conducted numerous workshops for Religious around the country. “She was fearless in her leadership during that time and in trying to get the Sisters to embrace what Vatican II was calling religious congregations to at that time,” recalls friend and caregiver Donna Kenney. Judy Raley, SCN, Provincial of the Western Province, admires Sister Barbara as a leader. “Barbara led the Congregation in the implementation of Vatican II and the renewal of religious life. She facilitated the change in the government structure from ‘Mother and the Council’ to the Executive Committee which included the Provincials, giving
a closer connection between Provincial and Congregational leadership. Barbara served as a member of the Constitutions Committee giving new expression to SCN life rooted in our history and tradition while guided by the call of Vatican II. The writing of the Constitutions was a participative process involving the Community as a whole. Barbara was influential in setting up the Renewal Team which travelled throughout the Congregation engaging the members in corporate reflection on the meaning of our lives as SCNs. Barbara was a risk-taker in the spirit of Catherine Spalding.” While serving as president of the Congregation, Sister Barbara was also elected president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in 1975. Sister Judy points out that, “Barbara called us to greater participation in Community and to ongoing conversion in living our lives as SCNs. The phrase she often repeated was that we are called to ongoing conversion in a community of mission. This phrase found its way into our Constitutions (Article 1). Her leadership abilities were recognized nationally and internationally in her election as president of LCWR.” At the 1975 National Assembly of LCWR, Sister Barbara shared: “During these years of renewal our response to these tensions and to the issues they reflect has been, in a sense, in piecemeal fashion. This is not peculiar to our history. As women, as women religious, our charism is to approach our
mission —to respond to the needs of the Church of the world — in an integrated way. Even though our experience of the Church during this era of change may not always be that of ‘the road not taken,’ we know it is consistent with the nature of the Church to approach issues in an integrated way. It seems then that fidelity on our part to the promises we have made, the integration of our gifts as women and the use of these gifts for the good of the Church, will not only provide opportunities for us to be a source of new life for the Church, but also to assist the Church in her effort to be faithful to her history... An integrated movement will place new demands on us. It will call for understanding, patience, and largeness of heart as we stand with the Church and share responsibility for the healing of the social injustices within and outside the Church. Our ability to move together in this way will speak to the Church and to society of our courage to choose ‘the road not taken.’ The very law of the Church will be free of the patterns of social injustice to the measure that we make a personal, communal and corporate response in this regard. Our sensitivity to the need for healing where the Church, its structures, its law, its very life are concerned, could be for us a vibrant source of healing and of increased life within the Conference and within our Congregations. This sensitivity could be for us the root of fidelity the light that will lead us to ‘the road not taken,’ ‘the one less travelled by’ — to the choice that will make ‘all the difference.’” Maggie Fisher, SCN, is thankful for the freedom and responsibility that Sister Barbara gave to the SCNs following Vatican II. “She really brought us into the contemporary world,” says Sister Maggie. While President of SCNs, she and the Executive Committee of the Congregation invited Sisters to participate in the “Justice ’75 Program” in which some SCNs travelled to India, Haiti, Appalachia, and other sites to experience firsthand the lifestyle of their inhabitants and the needs of these people. One of the more obvious changes after Vatican II was the option for women religious to wear habits. Sister Celeste recalls that there was a lot of division on the issue, but people were encouraged to move with the times. “She
emphasized that SCNs be not critical of one another for their clothing choice,” says Sister Celeste. Sister Maggie remembers her as being so caring about the poor and oppressed in the world, she would give away everything she had to those in need. In 1979, Sister Barbara was invited to the White House to attend a reception for Pope John Paul II. From the most underprivileged to the White House, “she was comfortable with people from all walks of life,” says Sister Celeste. “Barbara made friends easily with her warm, outgoing personality, she wanted the best for each person and had a way of encouraging us to use our gifts and to risk new ways of being in ministry. She had a keen, inquiring mind. She made others feel comfortable in her presence,” adds Sister Judy. At the end of her term as President of LCWR, Sister Barbara received the following message from Cardinal Pironio: “I have appreciated your ideals and your untiring effort in all capabilities.” Reflecting on her memories of Sister Barbara, Sister Judy shares, “I remember travelling to Rome with Sister Barbara and Emily Nabholz, SCN, to meet with members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life concerning our Constitutions. We stopped in Paris to visit the Church where St. Vincent’s body is. As we placed the Constitutions on the casket and prayed, I had a keen sense of Barbara’s rootedness in the charism of charity exemplified by St. Vincent and Catherine Spalding. I experienced her deep faith that by the intercession of Vincent and Catherine all would be well as we went to the meeting in Rome.” Sister Judy also recalls that Sister Barbara invited others to collaborate with SCNs and played a pivotal role in expanding the Associate program. Sister Maggie is grateful to Sister Barbara who accepted her into the SCN Community following an appointment with her early one morning to discuss her transferring from another Congregation into the Community. “I saw the booklet Living with Christ and I knew that she’d been praying before I came in. She was praying to do the right thing, I’m perfectly sure about that.”

The above excerpt is from page 15 of the pdf found at:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scnfamily.org%2Fjourney%2Fassets%2Fjourney10vol02.pdf&ei=t4B0UpftM8XgsAT6_YGABA&usg=AFQjCNEobxqDiEINS0e3DijL8CDe7s_tsA&sig2=hH-Z2iBZ2n7S87sC8Oz_LQ&bvm=bv.55819444,d.cWc

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