Archbishop Sartain praises 'wonderful contribution' of women religious
Rome, Italy, Apr 23, 2012 / 07:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Peter J.
Sartain of Seattle praised American religious women as a "great gift" days
after being asked by Pope Benedict to help reform the U.S.'s Leadership
Conference of Women Religious.
"What I hope and pray for every day is that I, first of all, do as the Lord
asks and do as the Holy Father asks," said the archbishop, describing the
task of renewal ahead to CNA on April 23.
He said he hopes "to work in a positive way," recognizing "the wonderful
contribution of religious women in the United States, and to work in a way
that shows our continued love and support for their extraordinary
contribution."
Archbishop Sartain made his remarks in Rome only days after Pope Benedict
XVI also publicly praised the contribution religious women make to the U.S.
Church and society.
"In coming months I will have the honor of canonizing two new saints from
North America," the Pope said in a Saturday April 21 address to the Papal
Foundation, a U.S.-based charitable institute.
The pontiff described Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Mother Marianne
Cope - both who are set to be canonized on Oct 21. - as "striking examples
of sanctity and heroic charity" who also "remind us of the historic role
played by women in the building up of the Church in America."
"Those are exactly my views," Archbishop Sartain echoed, "which makes me
very happy because obviously in the United States the role of women has been
important from the very beginning."
The archbishop explained that it was the women religious of Archdiocese of
Seattle who were the "pioneers" in the "evangelization of the Gospel, care
for the poor and the sick and education," as happened elsewhere across
America.
Controversy ignited, however, when the Vatican's Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith ended a four-year audit of the Leadership Conference
of Women Religious on April 18, concluding that the organization was in the
midst of a "crisis" of belief.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/archbishop-sartain-praises-wonderful-contribution-of-women-religious/