Taking to Twitter Salesian Sister "B" said it would be a lot of fun to go to the movie and during a creepy part just slowly stand up from a front row seat and turn around and kinda hissed at everyone." Read more

The movie only has a 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The document, entitled Identity and Mission of the Religious Brother in the Church, focuses on the role non-ordained men play in various religious orders around the world, Vatican Insider reports. Commonly referred to as brothers, such men do not receive priestly ordination but are normally consecrated or anointed into a life of service with their order.

It notes that the first title Jesus assumed for himself and for his disciples was that of brother.

"Jesus Christ first of all became brother, shared our flesh and blood and was in solidarity with the sufferings of his brothers and sisters," the document says. "This is the title Jesus gives his disciples after his Resurrection."

"The Religious Brother, living his lay state through a special consecration, is witness to the value of the common priesthood received in Baptism and Confirmation," the 54-page document says. "His religious consecration is in itself an exercise in the fullness of the priesthood of all the baptized."

"Rooting his life deeply in God, the Brother consecrates all creation, recognizing the presence of God and the Spirit's action in creation, in cultures and in daily events," the document continues.

"The Brother develops his baptismal priesthood through brotherhood," the document continues. "Through it he becomes a bridge between God and his brothers, anointed and sent by the Spirit to bring the Good News of the love and mercy of God to all, especially to the least of his brothers, the weakest members of humanity."

The document describes brothers' communities "a prime manifestation of the baptismal priesthood."

According to CruxNow, there are about 55,000 brothers in the Catholic Church worldwide today.

Sources

• Global Pulse, an article by Stefan Gigacz, who is working on his Ph.D. at MCD University of Divinity, Melbourne.
• Image: Catholic Diocese of Umzimkulu

"I was a go-between between the underwriters and the customers," said Sister Virginia Joy, a former high school soccer star from South Carolina now wearing a habit of white and navy blue.

She was fighting Midtown Manhattan traffic, late for a lunch with some other nuns. "I was overwhelmed by the Lord's generosity in my life, and I wasn't fulfilled in this job," she said.

In 2009, at age 28 and then known as Virginia Cotter, she joined the Sisters of Life.

Young women joining religious orders have become increasingly rare over the years. The number of "women religious" in the United States is about 50,000, less than a third of that in 1966.

According to a Georgetown University study, "there are more Catholic sisters in the United States over age 90 than under age 60."

The younger nuns can be a surprising bunch. While many in the older generation moved to the left after the 1960s, in theology and politics — a trend that led in part to Pope Benedict XVI's investigation of American nuns in 2012 — younger nuns tend to be more conservative.

They want to wear the habit. While they work outside their communities, they have a strong focus on contemplative life, making time for hours of daily communal prayer. And they tend to have a strong sense of a particular mission.

Take, for example, the Sisters of Life, the religious order of Sister Virginia Joy.

Many of the nuns are in their 20s or 30s and have a commitment that can be divisive even in the Roman Catholic Church: "promoting life," which in practice includes an emphasis on discouraging abortions.

The members may hold to traditional teachings, but as they see it, there is nothing more countercultural in 2015 than a young woman's becoming a nun — eschewing careerism, material possessions, sex.

Two other traditionalist orders — a Dominican order in Nashville, and one in Ann Arbor, Mich., which has expanded to Austin, Tex. — have attracted national attention; in 2010, the Ann Arbor nuns even made it on "Oprah." Continue reading

Sources

• The New York Times
• Image: Tom Perna

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has accepted a final report of a doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The LCWR represents 80 per cent of US religious sisters.

Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain was appointed three years ago to oversee a programme of reform for the LCWR.

But on April 16, the Vatican "mandate" ended at a meeting between LCWR and CDF representatives and Archbishop Sartain.

The archbishop and the LCWR officers presented a joint report on the implementation of the mandate, which the doctrinal congregation approved.

The report addresses two main issues: updating the organisational statutes of LCWR and the process by which the group chooses speakers and writers for its annual conferences and publications.

The report stresses the need for LCWR speakers and writers "to have due regard for the Church's faith".

The report also stated that LCWR publications "need a sound doctrinal foundation".

"Measures are being taken to promote a scholarly rigour that will ensure theological accuracy and help avoid statements that are ambiguous with regard to Church doctrine or could be read as contrary to it," the report continued.

The report also stated that LCWR manuscripts "will be reviewed by competent theologians, as a means of safeguarding the theological integrity of the conference".

The report says that "a revised process" for choosing the winner of the group's annual Outstanding Leadership Award "has been articulated".

LCWR president Sr Sharon Holland said in a statement that the oversight process brought the sisters and the Vatican to "deeper understandings of one another's experiences, roles, responsibilities, and hopes for the Church and the people it serves".

"We learned that what we hold in common is much greater than any of our differences," she said.

Former LCWR president Sr Joan Chittister said the most important thing was that the LCWR has not lost its ability to operate freely.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Vatican Radio
• Image: New Ways Ministry

Not for one moment as she grew up did Helena Margaret Fouhy think she'd ever be wearing a habit. She dreamed of working to save to be able to travel the world. However God had a different plan for her.

She entered the Brigidine Sisters in 1942, taking her final vows 70 years ago, two months before she turned 21.Continue reading

And after trying Superman, Batman and Spider-Man, we may have found the best superheroes yet: Nuns.

‘‘I may not believe in God, but I do believe in nuns,'' writes Jo Piazza, in her forthcoming book, If Nuns Ruled the World.

Piazza is an agnostic living in New York City who began interviewing nuns and found herself utterly charmed and inspired.

‘‘They eschew the spotlight by their very nature, and yet they're out there in the world every day, living the Gospel and caring for the poor,'' Piazza writes.

‘‘They don't hide behind fancy and expensive vestments, a pulpit, or a sermon.

I have never met a nun who rides a Mercedes-Benz or a Cadillac.

They walk a lot; they ride bikes.''

One of the most erroneous caricatures of nuns is that they are prim, Victorian figures cloistered in convents.

On the contrary, I've become a huge fan of nuns because I see them so often risking their lives around the world, confronting warlords, pimps and thugs, while speaking the local languages fluently.

In a selfish world, they epitomise selflessness and compassion.

There are also plenty of formidable nuns whom even warlords don't want to mess with, who combine reverence with ferocity, who defy the Roman Catholic Church by handing out condoms to prostitutes to protect them from HIV.

One of the nuns whom Piazza profiles is Sister Megan Rice.

She earned a graduate degree and then moved to Nigeria in 1962 to run a school for girls she had helped establish in a remote area with no electricity or running water.

After returning to the US, she began campaigning against nuclear weapons.

In 2012, at the age of 82, she masterminded the break-in of a nuclear complex in Tennessee, to call attention to the nuclear threat.

As she was handcuffed by armed security guards, she sang This Little Light of Mine.

She is now serving a prison sentence of almost three years. Continue reading

Source

• Nicholas Kristof in The Sydney Morning Herald

Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times journalist.

Rapped knuckles belonged to LCWR, to Fordham theologian Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, and to any other American woman walking around with letters after her name.

Even Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, charged with keeping LCWR in order, took a hit for not controlling those uppity females.

To be sure, the main target of CDF's latest document is Barbara Marx Hubbard and her "conscious evolution," which admittedly has spread its bubbles across the websites and newsletters of many institutes of women religious.

Hubbard, a Jewish agnostic, is the 84-year-old "futurist" who was the featured speaker at LCWR's 2012 assembly. She was, to put it kindly, rather different. (She told me at the assembly she did not like all that sin and redemption business in Christianity.)

However, to lump the serious theological work of Elizabeth Johnson in with obviously gnostic claptrap is not only intellectually dishonest — it is a huge public relations mistake.

That is what CDF did. Has CDF ever heard of the Internet? How about television? Statements like this always backfire.

Score: LCWR 2, CDF 0. When will they ever learn? Continue reading.

Phyllis Zagano is a Catholic scholar and lecturer on contemporary spirituality and women's issues in the church.

Source: National Catholic Reporter

Image: Hofstra University

Naturally, she has a thing or two to say about longevity and living well.

Born in 1907 in Verona, Italy, Candida joined the Camillian nuns more than 80 years ago and has spent her life traveling from city to city and working as a nurse.

The centenarian celebrated her birthday with Mass at Casa Santa Marta, followed by a meeting with Pope Francis and an interview with journalists eager to know the sister's secret to such a long life.

Her tips were simple but powerful:

Listen to God

Candida's recipe for a long and happy life included "listening to the voice of Christ and being meek as regards his will.

"Throughout my life I have always thought: wherever the Lord puts me, that is the right place for me."

Giving thanks to God was also of key importance to the sister, ANSA reported.

"God does it all," Candida said. "I merely give Him thanks." Continue reading.

Source: Huffington Post

Image: Gabbiano News

Calling the Vatican's review process "flawed" and "lacking transparency", the leadership group said "the sanctions were disproportionate to the concerns raised and could compromise their ability to fulfill their mission."

The nuns said the Vatican's report has "caused scandal and pain through the church community and caused greater polarization".

Sr Pat Farrell, president of the Leadership Conference, and executive director Sr Janet Mock will travel to Rome to meet Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, (CDF) Cardinal William Levada, and Seattle Archbishop, Peter Sartin, the US bishop tasked with reforming the nuns over a five year period.

In April the CDF issued the assessment citing what it called grave concerns about the conference. It accused the group of promoting radical feminist ideas and positions contrary to church teachings on such issues as abortion, homosexuality and the ordination of women.

The Vatican's assessment ignited a firestorm of criticism against the Vatican and an outpouring of support for the sisters, with many Americans joining vigils and protests and signing petitions.

Archbishop Peter Sartain, Saturday, issued a response to the sisters saying he and the CDF are "wholeheartedly committed to deling with the important issues raised by the Doctrinal Assessment and the LCWR Board in an atmosphere of openness, honesty, integrity and fidelity to the Church's faith."

Sources

• Leadership Conference of Women Religious
• BBC
• Catholic World Report
• CathNews
• Image: Catholic Herald

The announcement, made on April 18 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, came in an 8 page "doctrinal assessment" based on an investigation by Bishop Leonard P Blair of Toledo, Ohio, and was carried out on behalf of the Vatican, beginning in 2008.

"The current doctrinal and pastoral situation of LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern, also given the influence the LCWR exercises on religious congregations in other parts of the world," the announcement concludes.

The LCWR is the largest umbrella group for Roman Catholic religious women in the United States and it is charged

• with using materials that "do not promote church teaching" on family life and sexuality,
• for sometimes taking positions in opposition to the nation's bishops and
• for being "silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States."

Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain will manage the five-year reform, which will include rewriting the group's statutes, reviewing all its plans and programs - including approving speakers - and ensuring the group properly follows Catholic prayer and ritual.

Noting the great contribution women religious have made to the church in the support of the poor, and in schools and hospitals, the Vatican insisted it was not commenting on the faith and life of women religious.

The Vatican however views that LCWR's deviations from Catholic teaching have provoked a crisis "characterised by a diminution of the fundamental Christological center and focus of religious consecration."

Sources

• CNS
• Associated Press
• Image: Huffington Post

She celebrated her 60th anniversary as a nun earlier this month. The occasion was marked after several church meetings. "It was a very little celebration," she says.

Sister Martha says there were a lot of reasons she decided to become a nun. "The main reason would be that I was such a wayward kind of person

"I'm only disappointed that my favourite old boy rugby star, Lome Fa'atau, won't be in Wellington when I run out on to the field with Mother Fatima. I did so enjoy watching him at the Cake Tin. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself," she wrote.

Source

• Tim Donoghue in The Dominion Post
• Image: scrumoftheearth.com