Omigosh! I feel so bad. All these years I have been picking on Fr. Richard “Little Dicky” McBrien for the absolute nonsense that regularly follows his pen. What I did not know, which I now feel terrible about, is that Little Dicky is blind. How could he possibly know what he is writing given that he is blind?
In his latest column Fr. McBrien rails against the coming visitation of religious communities of women in the United States. Its a witch hunt (pun intended) based upon a false premise. The premise: That since Vatican II some female religious communities have operated within a hermeneutic of rupture resulting in the devastation of their communities. Ridiculous says Fr. McBrien.
I know of no religious community, of women or of men, that interpreted the changes brought about by Vatican II as a “rupture” from the Tradition of the Church. Nor did the cardinal name any. We are dealing here with a classic case of setting up a “straw man” (or, in this instance, a “straw woman”) and then easily knocking it over.
The poor man! I had no idea he was so blind. Of course, he is not blind in the “non-functioning retina sort of way” but blind he obviously is. He has not seen one religious community who view Vatican II as a departure or “rupture” of much that came before it? There are none so blind as those who will not see. Your average Presbyterian would look at some of the dizzy dames the visitation is interested in and come to the conclusion “Those ladies aren’t very Catholic!” He must be blind.
But this is not my only evidence. Fr. McBrien attributes the dearth of vocations in some of these communities of rupture to the fact that there are simply no women left in the United States!
She also described as a red herring the Vatican’s concern for a decline in religious vocations as a major reason for the visitation. She insisted that the decline in the number of women religious follows the demographic trends for the greater female population.
Tragedy! Fr. McBrien admits that women are invisible to him. That’s right – he says simply cannot see as much as 52% of the population.
Wait a second! I think I may have solved this problem. Little Dicky may not be blind after all. He thinks there are no more women left in the U.S. because they have all joined the Dominicans in Nashville and Ann Arbor! You know, one of those communities not under investigation for operating under a “hermeneutic of rupture” and not experiencing the crisis in vocations.
Let’s all chip in and buy Fr. McBrien a bus ticket from South Bend to Ann Arbor. It is not very far. This way he can see what everybody else has already seen and perhaps the scales will fall from his eyes. Or not.
July 13, 2009 at 4:21 am
Shoot. I'd be happy to introduce him to a number of the orthodox sisters here at Notre Dame.
July 13, 2009 at 4:45 am
If these communities are doing nothing wrong, why are they so up in arms about an investigation?
Wouldn't they be happy for the opportunity to boast of their accomplishments if they were living according to their vows and the charism of their order?
July 13, 2009 at 5:27 am
"Your average Presbyterian…"
Well, who know what average is; but we Presbyterians got dames, dolls and broads that'd give Rosemary Ruether and Mary Daly and the like a real run for their money. Count your blessings you have a pope and a Vatican and not an assortment of various committees. It seems to me Rome grinds slow, but Rome grinds…
July 13, 2009 at 6:40 am
What a kook, I am glad there is a biological solution to the madness.
July 13, 2009 at 6:40 am
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July 13, 2009 at 7:28 am
Note to McBrien, of course they don't see it as a rupture. to admit that it is is to admit that what they did was wrong. & they won't do that.
July 13, 2009 at 8:10 am
Anon @ 11:21 one cannot use "orthodox" and "Notre Dame" in the same sentence without either breaking down laughing or rending the garments. Since sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in the US are a basket-case of an order, I didn't know if your post was meant to be sarcastic or ironic. Not only do they offer in Buddhist and New Age retreats, I would honestly say that close to half of them are nuns in name only since they are simply too old to change their lifestyle at this point. The only ones who actually live in a community are those who need supervised care. The order sold off the majority of its land holdings the last decade in order to fund such retirement possibilities.
They are so WAY off their vocation it is a wonder St Julie Billiart has not come back from the grave to grab them by their polyester pantsuits and flannel shirts to knock some holy sense into them.
July 13, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Keeping him in our prayers. We lit a candle at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher thanks to http://holylandprayer.net. God bless.
July 13, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Anon 3:10— There are also religious sisters who attend classes at Notre Dame.
And a very good Schoenstatt sister on the faculty…..
July 13, 2009 at 3:11 pm
A few things to think about:
1. A visitation is *NOT* an "investigation." Certain vistators as the are called come in, interview everyone, then send a report back to the superior of the community and the master of the community. That's it. Nothing is binding. It's supposed to be an opportunity for everyone to be heard and for recommendations to be made. The American seminary system went through this a few years ago ("investigating" the men!) and it was very helpful in a lot of places to get institutions to look at themselves. If a corporation had sales drop by 75% with a downward trend, you can bet your booty that someone would be visiting to find out what was wrong.
2. Most communities of women religious are very spiritually unhealthy. Evidence of that is their refusal to welcome to visitation. A sick person should want to be evaluated by a doctor, and a healthy person wouldn't mind showing their health. yet some of these women resist. There is an Ann Arbor Dominican sister I know who was happy at the prospect of the visitation–she WANTS to show off here community and she WANTS other communities to get their original vocation back.
July 13, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Deirdre,
I was "Anon. @ 11:21." And, yes, the Schoenstatt sister on the faculty is very good indeed: she's the one who inspired the remark.
July 13, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Vulpin/Dierdre, I have known a LOT of very wonderful ND sisters. I am not saying they can't be good people, teachers or even nuns. I have yet to find a traditional ND nun here in the US (they are mostly in Europe at this point). My point was the ORDER itself in the US is just a shambles. No right minded woman drawn to a religious vocation in the Catholic church would want to join them.
July 13, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Anonymous,
And here we reach the core of the misunderstanding (I should have read your original comment more carefully):
I am talking about sisters at the University of Notre Dame, where Fr. McBrien is employed.
You are talking about the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, whom I know nothing about.
Sorry for the confusion.
July 13, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Dear Patrick,
Perhaps he needs to visit a good optometrist? opthamologist?
July 14, 2009 at 3:46 am
Blind? McBrien isn't blind, he's a mental patient. His symptoms are classical; complete disconnect with reality, has ideation on non-existent matters, AND paranoia. No, Andy. Blindness is not McBrien's condition at all.
Matt
July 14, 2009 at 3:51 am
Rupture? This order of nuns has exploded!
http://cheekypinkgirl.blogspot.com/2009/06/racine-dominicans-mock-catholic-church.html
July 14, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Hahaha!
Great article!!!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!