THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS GATHER AND "SISTER CITY" VIGILS ORGANIZED............

Beginning today through Saturday members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest organization of Catholic Nuns in the United States is meeting are meeting in St. Louis, Missori to discuss and determine their response to the mandate and investigatory review placed upon them by the Vatican in recent months.  While the Sisters are gathered in discernment, other American Catholics in at least thhirty five cities across the country, in a show of support and solidarity for the Women Religious who have ministered in the parishes, schools, hospitals, and social services in their communities; will be holding, "Sister City" Vigils.  Ames, Iowa; Anchorage, Alaska; Austin, Texas; Bardstown, Kentucky, Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio, Charlotte, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Fort Meyers, Florida; Hebron, Conneticut; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; Midland Park, New Jersey; Muskegon, Michigan; New York, New York; Oakland, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Portland, Maine; Rochester Minnesota; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; San Juan, Texas; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri; Summerfield, Florida; Tempe, Arizona; The Villages, Florida; Toledo, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Wildwood, Florida; have all scheduled events in support of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, over the next five days.  These Sister City Vigils this week follow Prayer Vigils during the months of May and June, in fifty cities, including Sacramento, California; Los Angeles, California; and Dublin, Ireland.  The LCWR Discernment Gathering and the Sister City Prayer Vigils, are a response to a Vatican Mandate from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in April, calling on the LCWR to reform and revise their practices and positions in closer conformity with "the teachings and discipline of the Church".  The Vatican Mandate came after a three year Doctrinal Assessment, conducted by American prelate William Cardinal Levada, who until June was the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and is the former Archbishop of both San Francisco, California; and Portland, Oregon.  To oversee the carrying out of the LCWR Mandate the Vatican appointed the Archbishop of Seattle, Washington; the Most Reverend Peter Sartain in April with responsibility for reviewing five specific areas of the Women Religious Leadership Conference's policies and responses -  1.) Revising LCWR Statutes;  2.) Reviwing LCWR Plans and Programs;  3.) Creating New Programs for the Organization;  4.) Reviewing and Offering Guidance on the Application of Liturgical Texts;  5.) Reviewing  the LCWR'S Affiliations with other Organizations, namely NETWORK and the Resource Center for Religious Institutes.  Whatever the rationale the Vatican and American Bishops may be using to mount this investigation into the largest leadership group representing Women Religious in the United States, it is apparent the American Church Laity are overwhelmingly with the Sisters in expressing their gratitude and recognition for the ministries the Sisters perform and side with them in regards to the Mandate.  Addressing this matter requires an increased exercise of sensitivity in human relations and interpersonal communication in arriving at an understanding that promotes unity, not divisiveness and polarization.  Archbishop Sartain and his collaborators need to exert a very pastoral outreach to the LCWR as their role involving the Mandate proceeds.  Unless it is approached with such sensitivity the credibility of the hierarchy stands to be further eroded, with Catholics, who almost intrinsically are very highly supportive of the Women Religious they know and love............Fr.  Troy