Schismatic nuns returning to Rome. In Spokane.

From a reader in Spokane, Washington:

15 sisters, including the former superior, from the oldest "traditionalist" (schismatic) group in this area have come home to Rome and, I believe I have this correct, have established a new order.  We first heard about this in a true goose bump moment about a month ago.  The priest who told us the story attributed the sisters' return to the prayers of the four Missionaries of Charity sisters working near St. Patrick's Parish here in Spokane (geographically fairly close to Mt. St. Michaels).  The priest related that the Missionaries of Charity had agreed to come here in response to Bishop Skylstad's request due to the spiritual poverty in our area, as shown by the MtStM group, a separate splinter group from them and a St. Pius X group in nearby Post Falls, Idaho.

On a side note, Mount Saint Michaels used to belong to the Oregon Province of the Jesuits (the Jesuit cemetery is still there).

He also sent a cached link to a June 21st Spokesman Review article, which presents the story with an emphasis on the tensions involved:

Countless tears have been shed this month up at Mount St. Michael's. As they watch their fellow nuns pack their belongings and leave the convent, the remaining sisters of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen are grieving.

"It's been painful for all the sisters – for those who felt the need to leave and those who remain here," said Sister Mary Dominica, the acting superior of the religious order, a group that most people recognize as "The Singing Nuns."

"We've been a family for so many years," she said, her voice quivering with emotion. "We feel like they are still our sisters."

About a dozen of the roughly 50 nuns in the order moved out of the convent earlier this month. Three more sisters are preparing to leave by the end of the week.

Their departure was caused by theological differences, according to those familiar with the situation. A Traditionalist Catholic community also known as CMRI for "Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae," the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen believes in the papacy but does not recognize Benedict XVI as the true pope. It also doesn't adhere to the changes established more than 40 years ago by the Second Vatican Council. That means that at Mount St. Michael's, only the traditional Latin Mass is offered.

About two years ago – prompted perhaps by the election of a conservative pope in Rome – some of the nuns began to rethink the way they dealt with the changes of Vatican II, said Sister Dominica. The convent was never at war, she explained; the sisters simply agreed to disagree about the papacy and other issues.

"Everybody was doing their best to respect each other," she said.

Their theological differences, however, could have been problematic in the classroom, some said. As teachers at St. Michael's Academy, a private Catholic school of about 180 students located on the mount, there was a fear that the sisters would teach contradictory lessons.

Sisters who "will continue to speak or act against the theological position of CMRI, whether in public or private," will be required to leave by June 27, according to a May 17 letter from Bishop Mark A. Pivarunas, the Nebraska-based superior general of Mary Immaculate Queen.

Those who "do not hold to the CMRI position" but refrain from speaking out against it will be allowed to stay but will not be permitted to teach or hold positions of authority, according to the letter.

"There is no greater contradiction today than for any member of CMRI to attempt 'to serve two masters' – to recognize Benedict XVI and to remain in a Congregation separated from him," Pivarunas wrote. "The issue of the papacy is the crux of the matter and the CMRI Sisters need to decide whether they will belong to CMRI or not."

The 15 or so nuns who are leaving the convent are scheduled to move to Immaculate Heart Retreat Center, which is owned and operated by the Catholic Diocese of Spokane.

The Rev. Steve Dublinski, the diocese's vicar general, declined to comment on the diocese's efforts to support the sisters. "The diocese wishes to respect the sisters' privacy and their need to discern God's call," Dublinski wrote in an e-mail.

And, later, this quote: "'My conviction is that in order to live as a Catholic, it would need to be the way the Catholic Church had been for 2,000 years until Vatican II,' said Sister Dominica, explaining her reasons for staying. 'God wants me to be here.'"

Say a prayer for all involved.

Comments

[M. Jordan Lichens]

"'My conviction is that in order to live as a Catholic, it would need to be the way the Catholic Church had been for 2,000 years until Vatican II."

Yes, the way it was until Vatican II. Which I believe was under the teaching authority of the Church as headed by the Pope of Rome.

[Allan O'Canada]

Jordan, the sarcasm has got to go. Stop picking on people who actually live the Catholic faith and try and stop the heresies and Protestantization of the Mass that has caused the schism. Having close relations with many schismastics myself, the key to breaking the schism is restoring the human aspect of the Church closer to the divine aspect.

Tradition must be respected, compassionate reasoning must be used with sedevacantists, the phobia of Tridentine Mass has got to go, as well as all the sacrileges and tolerance for heresy.

I know a CMRI nun, and she has such a pure heart, willing to serve God... I have seen very few as Godly and righteous as her of the people who claim to follow Vatican II. All Catholics could take some lessons from the traditionalist nuns.

[M. Jordan Lichens]

My sarcasm is used as a shield and a light-hearted attempt to point out what I falsely assumed to be an obvious point for traditionalist Catholics, but instead it appears I was more hurtful than helpful. I do not mean it to be personal though I argue from a deeply personal point. I myself, contrary to assumptions, am a traditionalist who feels the Latin mass is the extraordinary mode of worship and that the radical changed enacted by the liberal interpretations of Vatican II are a severe detriment to the Church and her mission.

It must be stated, however, that I must passionate appeal to RadTrad's and Liberals in this way: the teaching authority of the Church is the very pillar that has separated ourselves from all other religions and to cut it off is to cut out our ability to find and spread the Truth as revealed through God's Incarnate Son. I have lived in Oregon, studied in Rome, and am a former Protestant myself and I therefore can attest to the sincerity of most religious people. I will even go out on a limb and say that most liberal and schismatic Catholics, as well as most Evangelical Protestants, are good and wonderful people who have a huge heart and would not dare to use my unkind choice of words. However, it is well within the realm of possibilities to be dead sincere while also being dead wrong. There are few in the history of mankind who have acted on the assumption that they are doing evil, quite the contrary most who fight are acting on the assumption that their cause is the higher cause.

Why argue against schismatic's? Simple, as non-denominational Protestant I saw what sincerity without authority can turn into. If we are to "reform the reform" we must not go the route of Martin Luther, but rather St. Dominic. We must enact reform by a loving example that is faithful to Rome, even when it hurts. As an embittered son will not heal the wounds if he separates from his father, we cannot bring reconciliation to the Catholic Church by separating from the Church. To be Catholic, in other words, is to be bound in brotherhood and that means being brothers even if the family is a bit dysfunctional.

I appreciate your calm reproach and see that you didn't return my sarcasm in kind. It shows a remarkable grasp of emotions and I am the better for it.

[Larry F.]

I'm sure that those who have broken away from the Church are sincere in their beliefs. If I understand the position correctly, somehow Vatican II was not a valid Church Council. Therefore everything that came from it is invalid and somewhere along the line we lost a valid papacy? As a life long Protestant who by God's grace found The Church a few years ago, those who seem to believe they are more Catholic than the Pope, are kidding themselves. I believe you are sincere, but you're sincerely mistaken. Martin Luther and those who followed after him were also sincere, but were also mistaken. Christ has not lost control of His Church and the gates of hell have not overcome it. The Saints have always been fiercly loyal to the Catholic Church and to the Pope. In the end, those who stand with the Pope, will stand in the end. Those who chose to follow a "Traditionalist" view of the Church may find themselves unable to stand at all. I hope and pray that the many well intentioned and God loving people who have abandoned the True Church, the one with Benedict XVI as our Pope, will all come home to Rome. May God bless those who seek the truth.

[Paul]

It's wise to at least consider the possibility that Fr. Joseph Ratzinger is not really the Pope of Rome. Be patient. Pray for wisdom. Why not personally visit Mount Saint Michael in Spokane, Washington? God bless you!