• HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
    • History
    • Dominican Spirituality
    • Life and Mission
    • Associates
      • Ireland
      • South Africa
      • Associates Stories
        • Mary Mc Crae
        • Niamh Smith
        • Janice Mc Garry
    • Dominican Saints
      • Saint Dominic
      • Thomas Aquinas
      • Saint Catherine
      • Fra Angelico
      • St. Agnes of Montepulciano
      • St. John Macias
      • A poem for Jubilee Year
    • Books
    • Child Safeguarding Policy
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Ecology
      • An Tairseach- Dominican Farm and Ecology Centre
      • 2022 – Programme of events
    • Justice
    • Education
      • Dominican Ethos in Schools
      • Secondary Schools ROI
      • Secondary Schools NI
      • Primary Schools
      • Special Schools
      • Third Level
      • Lumen Dominican Centre Sion Hill
        • Lumen Dominican Centre
    • Sacred Preaching Space
    • Ecumenism
    • Pastoral Care
    • Other Ministries
  • WHERE WE ARE
    • Ireland
    • North America – Louisiana
    • Latin America
    • South Africa
    • Portugal
      • Archives
  • VOCATIONS
    • Becoming a Dominican Sister
    • Vocation Stories
      • Sr Margaret MacCurtain OP
      • Sr Bridget O’Driscoll OP
      • Sr Francis Cosgrove OP
      • Sr. Aedris Coates OP
      • Sr. Margaret Kelly OP
      • Sr. Joan O’Donovan OP
      • Sr Sabine Schratz OP
      • Sr. Liz Smyth OP
      • Sr. Eileen O’Connell
      • Sr. Edel Murphy OP
      • Sr. Kathleen Fitzsimons OP
      • Sr. Rose McLarnon OP
      • Sr. Eileen McCarthy OP
    • Vocations
  • SAFEGUARDING
    • Child Safeguarding Policy
    • Child Safeguarding Statement
    • Contact Details
  • TV
    • NEWS
      • ChurchTV
      • Photo Gallery
  • CONTACT
    • GDPR
    • Data Retention and Erasure Policy
    • Privacy Notice
    • Web Privacy Statement
    • User Agreement
    • Cookie Policy
facebook
twitter

Recent

01
JUN
2013

Are we on fire with or have we tamed the Holy Spirit?

Posted By : Edel
Comments : Off

Brazil and area assembly

“Fifty years after Vatican II, are we on fire with or have we tamed the Holy Spirit?”

Sr. Florence Deacon, a Franciscan Sister of St. Francis of Assisi and President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, USA, was enthusiastically welcomed to Ireland and Milltown Park by Phil Dunne of We Are Church, and a packed hall of mostly grey-haired men and women; ‘Vatican 2ers,’ who demonstrated their support of LCWR and Sr. Florence, by intermittent, loud and prolonged applause.

Tracing her own metamorphosis from a nineteen year old novice with an understanding of “the church” as a building and then as the hierarchy, Sr. Florence shared how she struggled initially with Vatican II’s exposition of the church as “the people of God,” but over time, she, with thousands of Sisters, studied the documents and made changes accordingly. Many of the clergy did not, as demonstrated by one priest who responded when she offered enthusiastically to help in the parish, by asking, “Sister, could you get the candle grease off the sacristy floor?”

Stating at the beginning of her presentation that the church needs to create spaces for authentic dialogue, Sr. Florence returned to this theme before the end of her talk, saying that a lot of pain and a public fiasco might have been spared had the Vatican entered earlier into honest dialogue with the leaders of 80% of the women religious in the United States.

But while she was direct in acknowledging that the Sisters in the United States had been on the receiving end of two Vatican investigations: Apostolic and LCWR, she managed to steer through contentious issues in a gentle way. On the fact that Pope Francis had told the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Muller, that the process of Vatican supervision of LCWR, which had been initiated by his predecessor, Pope Benedict, should continue, she surmised that the Pope was “probably poorly briefed by Archbishop Muller.” It was obvious that Sr. Florence wanted to continue having faith in what she perceived to be Pope Francis’ simple, open, “favourably disposed to women” and Christ-like leadership.

We were left in no doubt that the leaders of LCWR experienced shock, pain and confusion when the report was released which criticized, among other things, their radical feminism and non orthodox theories concerning sexuality and gender. They sought solace in biblical readings, prayer and reflection on the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus and in Jesus’ words, “Fear not, I bring you peace.” As for their present position, Sr. Florence said that ongoing dialogue and relationship- building with Archbishop Sartain and the two bishops appointed to oversee the LCWR, takes place behind closed doors with no media present and in a spirit of prayer and discernment.  Giving an example of how, as an NGO, by using gentle negotiation, she played a key role in securing annual multi-million dollar funding for world poverty projects which otherwise would not have been allocated in full, Sr. Florence showed herself to be a bridge builder, living Pope Francis’ challenge to, “not tame the Holy Spirit.”

As for the place of women in the Church, she believes that now is the time for the vocation of women to be achieved in its fullness- even if we have waited 50 years for it to be realized! She acknowledged that a huge expansion of women’s roles in the church has taken place since Vatican II, in the United States.  There are women administrators in a number of parishes and women chancellors in a number of dioceses – but more can be done, she believes.  Cardinals advise the pope and women can be Cardinals!  They could also be appointed as leaders of key councils in the Vatican!

I left MilltownPark thinking that Sr. Florence would probably continue to play a key role on that “journey of fraternity, of love and trust, bishop and people together,” of which Pope Francis spoke. Along the way, she might be able to hasten the day for the participation of women at levels of governance and decision-making in the church. It was heartening to see that a major Vatican investigation has not dimmed her vision nor quenched the flames of the Holy Spirit.

Maeve Mc Mahon O.P.

 

 

 

 

About the Author

Social Share

Sr Columbia OP - Reflection for a Nun's Life Ministry

April 01, 2021

Advent Calendar' - a poem by Dr Rowan Williams narrated by Sr Eileen O Connell OP

December 14, 2020

In Memory Of Our Deceased Sisters November 19-November 2020

November 29, 2020
  • Posts
  • Categories
  • Tags
  • Video highlighting the work done by Dominican Sisters in Slovakia
  • Summer Retreats by the Sea and Yoga at Anam Ashram
  • Hope House Spring Journal
  • Congratulations on the Official Opening of Our Lady of Hope School
  • Anam Ashram Newsletter 2022
  • Dominican Month for Peace – December 2021
  • Graduation ceremony in Moreno National University on 28th October 2021
  • On bends in the road (From Blog of Sr. Eileen O’Connell OP)
  • Prayer of the Faithful for Mission Sunday
  • Celebrating the Month of Creation in Galway
  • An Tairseach (29)
  • Dominican Associates (3)
  • Dominican News (263)
  • Education (75)
  • Events (88)
  • Good News (78)
  • Highlights (26)
  • Home Page Slider (18)
  • Ireland (80)
  • Justice (68)
  • Latin America (29)
  • Louisiana (17)
  • News (393)
  • Our Regions (8)
  • Poems (5)
  • Portugal (14)
  • Prayers (17)
  • Proclaiming (7)
  • Professions (4)
  • Reflections (12)
  • Rest Of The World (5)
  • Sacred Space (4)
  • South Africa (23)
  • Stories (21)
  • Uncategorized (284)
  • Vatican II- Remembering (7)
  • Vocations (14)
  • Women Preachers (12)
Dominican Women South Africa Reflection Vatican II Mission and Ministry God An Tairseach Baptism Art Chaplain Hello Logo Pauline Hospital Portugal Louisiana Ireland Mindfulness in Education Froebel College of Education The Woman at the Well Lay participation in Parish Life Compassion illness RIP Rest In Peace Mary Magdalen Spring

Twitter

  • RT @BA_McShane: Join me in conversation with Alan Hayes of @ArlenHouse on Saturday to pay tribute to the late, great Dr Margaret MacCurtain… over a year ago
  • RT @rogerchilds2u: @sinead_mccoole @UCC @DominicanSrsCab @UCDHistory @burnslibrary @ArlenHouse Thank you for such an elegant, touching and… over a year ago
  • RT @sinead_mccoole: Dr Margaret MacCurtain's life spanned 9 decades, 1000s of lives were enriched @UCC @DominicanSrsCab @UCDHistory @burnsl… over a year ago

Seventh Sunday Easter (29th May 2022)

May 24, 2022

Sixth Sunday of Easter (22 May 2022)

May 16, 2022

Fifth Sunday of Easter (15th May 2022)

May 09, 2022

Fourth Sunday of Easter 8 May 2022

May 03, 2022

Third Sunday of Easter (1 May 2022)

April 27, 2022

Second Sunday of Easter (24 April 2022)

April 19, 2022

Search Our Site

Recent Posts

  • Video highlighting the work done by Dominican Sisters in Slovakia
  • Summer Retreats by the Sea and Yoga at Anam Ashram
  • Hope House Spring Journal
  • Congratulations on the Official Opening of Our Lady of Hope School
  • Anam Ashram Newsletter 2022

Seventh Sunday Easter (29th May 2022)

May 24, 2022

Sixth Sunday of Easter (22 May 2022)

May 16, 2022

Fifth Sunday of Easter (15th May 2022)

May 09, 2022

Fourth Sunday of Easter 8 May 2022

May 03, 2022

Third Sunday of Easter (1 May 2022)

April 27, 2022

Second Sunday of Easter (24 April 2022)

April 19, 2022

Dominican Links

  • Dominican Ecology Centre
  • Dominican Contemplative Nuns at the Monastery of St Catherine of Siena
  • Order of Preachers
  • Dominican Friars
  • AMRI
  • Lay Dominicans Ireland

Our Ministries

  • Dominican Ecology Centre
  • Contemplative Outreach
  • Dominican Sisters International
  • Irish Archives Resource

Contact Us

  1. Name *
    * Please enter your name
  2. Email *
    * Please enter a valid email address
  3. Message *
    * Please enter message
Copyright © 2020 Dominican Sisters Cabra. All Rights Reserved. Please click GDPR Information.
Web DesignbyOrbit Technologies
 

Loading Comments...