Denver, Colo., Feb 2, 2018 / 05:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In Lincoln, Nebraska, you can tell the seasons by the habits of the School Sisters of Christ the King.
It’s not really summer until you spot a “CK Sister”, as they are affectionately known, walking around in her lighter blue summer habit.
But when a CK sister is donning her dark blue habit, that means the months are turning colder. And when the dark blue habits come out, you can find almost every CK sister in a classroom, teaching in one of the 27 Catholic elementary schools in the diocese.
Religious school sisters are a fairly common sight in the Diocese of Lincoln, which has two diocesan orders of women religious – the Christ the King Sisters as well as the grey-habited Marian sisters, many of whom can also be found teaching in the local Catholic schools.
In much of the rest of the country, however, religious sisters are something of a rare novelty – though they used to be a much more common sight in the United States.
In 1965, there were nearly 180,000 women religious in the United States, many of them school teachers, according to data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate out of Georgetown University.
By 2014, there were less than 50,000 religious sisters, the numbers having steadily declined over the past half-century in the post-Vatican II upheaval that was felt in many parts of the Church around the world.
It was in the midst of this upheaval and decline that Bishop Glennon Patrick Flavin, then of Lincoln, decided to found the Christ the King Sisters as a religious order dedicated specifically to teaching children.
“He noticed that there were a good number of sisters in our schools in the 50’s and 60’s, but by the 70’s the sisters were starting to pull out of our classrooms,” Sr. Mary Cecilia, a Christ the King Sister, told CNA.
Bishop Flavin had difficulty finding already-established religious orders that were able to come to the Diocese of Lincoln, and eventually felt called to found a diocesan order dedicated specifically to teaching, Sr. Mary Cecilia said.
“He knew that our seminaries were growing and increasing in number, and he thought if the Lord was calling this many young men to serve as priests then he was probably calling young women to serve as sisters also,” she said.
Sr. Mary Cecilia, who now serves as principal of St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Lincoln, said that Bishop Flavin founded the order with the idea that a good religious education would strengthen the faith of much of the laity in the diocese.
“He wanted to extend Christ’s reign in whatever place possible…and he realized what was so important to make that happen was Catholic education. Because if we can reach the young people in the diocese, we not only reach the young people but we also reach their parents and families,” she said.
“He realized that one of the best ways to really nurture their faith in the lives of these children is through the consecrated life, through having sisters present in the schools, the value of the witness of a religious – their life totally dedicated to God, their gift of self-sacrifice, being a spiritual mother to every single student in the school,” she added.
For herself, Sr. Mary Cecilia said she knew from a young age she wanted to teach.
“I have a brother who’s a priest – he often talks about how I used to play school so everything he knows about teaching came from me when he was little,” she joked.
In college in the early 1990s, she studied high school math education and dreamed of teaching calculus and algebra to older students. But that’s also when she met the Christ the King Sisters, who only teach at the elementary level.
“I realized oh they’re joyful, they’re young, vibrant, I like that,” Sr. Mary Cecilia said.
Even though she was drawn to religious life as a CK Sister, she was still hesitant about teaching at the younger level – “that was something that I had to take to the Lord,” she said.
Ultimately, though, the spirit of the CK Sisters, their depth of prayer, their warmth, and their dedication to education were what drew Sr. Mary Cecilia to them.
“We are extending the kingdom of God in Catholic schools, and Catholic schools are so important to me primarily because of my own education in Catholic schools,” she said.
Sr. Mary Agnes belongs to another religious order, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Wichita, Kansas, that is also primarily dedicated to the education and formation of young people.
A veteran teacher of 10 years, Sr. Mary Agnes said she believes that religious sisters bring something unique to the classroom that other teachers cannot, even though at a basic level, they perform the same functions.
“Our vocation is to be a more radical, vivid sign of the presence of Christ in the world, and then hopefully through that witness draw people to an encounter with Christ,” she told CNA.
“We do really similar things that other people do who are not sisters,” she said. “So (the value of) religious life is not about doing, it’s about witness and the being of the person. Our vocation is to be a more radical, vivid sign of the presence of Christ in the world, and then hopefully through that witness draw people to an encounter with Christ.”
Perhaps some of the most well-recognized teaching sisters in the Catholic Church in the U.S. today are the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia based in Nashville, Tennessee and the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Both orders, primarily dedicated to education, have sisters teaching on Catholic campuses throughout the country.
“We belong to the Dominican Order and our charism is preaching and teaching.
Women religious have been an integral part of the history of Catholic education in the United States,” Sr. John Dominic with the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist told CNA.
“As Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, we seek to continue the tradition of educating generations of young people in their faith and most of all, to bring youth into a deeper relationship with Christ,” she said.
Despite the general decline in religious life that has been happening over the past few decades, both Dominican orders have seen a boom in young vocations in recent years. The Dominican Sisters of Mary recently opened a new priory in Texas in order to accommodate all of the young women discerning religious life in their order.
When asked what is drawing so many young women to their order, Sr. John Dominic responded: “The young people are responding to God’s invitation to ‘come and follow Him’.”
Sr. John Dominic said the depth of the prayer life of the sisters and the close relationship with the Lord that their way of life allows lets them bring the fruits of their spiritual life to their students.
“Pope Saint John Paul II once described women religious as being a ‘sign of tenderness’ in the world. From my experience in working with Sisters in schools, this is precisely what many of them bring – tenderness and an intuitive heart,” she said.
Sr. Mary Agnes said she is always humbled when parents and students recognize the unique gifts and witness that religious sisters bring to the classroom.
“…that to me is the most striking, when the students come back after they graduate and they’re so excited to express: ‘Thank you what you’ve done for me.’ Many times they don’t recognize it at the time but then they do say thank you I’m glad that you taught me, I’m glad you were there for me, and it’s so humbling,” she said.
Sr. Mary Cecilia said that she would encourage young women considering religious life not to be afraid, and to encounter sisters up-close before believing some of the misconceptions about religious sisters that exist.
“When I was younger I thought that all sisters instantly became like 70 once they put that habit on, and that’s not true!” she said. “None of our sisters are 70 yet.”
On a more serious note, she added, “I think one of the misconceptions out there is that you have to give up everything that you hold dear, that you have dreams of, in order to do this. And in reality you do but it’s not the giving up that you focus on,” she said.
“It’s what takes its place – your relationship with the Lord, and being able to be filled with an intense and immense love for him, and therefore an immense love for the people you’re asked to serve.”
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Why, if McCarrick has been laicized, is he living in Missouri and at a facility operated by the Servants of the Paraclete? Who’s footing the bill? Is this another instance of the faithful of the Church being hoodwinked by our cynical hierarchy?
Who says he’s in Missouri? Nobody seems to know exactly where he is. I hope the cops can find him and take him away. He will have multiple opportunities for penance between now and death. Hope he doesn’t blow them by denying he did anything wrong. Hell is too horrible to contemplate for more than a few minutes.
The lawsuit filed in MA against him said so.
Who says he’s in Missouri? Nobody seems to know exactly where he is. I hope the cops can find him and take him away.
Wellesley Police charge McCarrick with assault in case dating to 1970s
BOSTON (CNS) — The Boston Globe reported July 29 that police in the Boston suburb of Wellesley have charged former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 in a criminal complaint filed by Wellesley Police in a district court in nearby Dedham, Massachusetts.
A summons has been issued ordering McCarrick, now 91, to appear at the court for arraignment Aug. 26.
The Globe reported that McCarrick is now living in Missouri. The address listed for McCarrick in the court filings is the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer, Missouri, located in Jefferson County, a suburban county of St. Louis on the eastern side of the state.(emphasis added)
The Vianney Renewal Center is a treatment center for Catholic clergy with sexual or other disorders.
According to its website, it’s a ministry coordinated by the Servants of the Paraclete, which collaborates with sponsoring diocesan and religious communities “to provide a safe and supportive environment for the rehabilitation and reconciliation of priests and religious brothers.”
Last year, the Jefferson County Leader, a weekly newspaper, reported the Dallas police arrested an ex-priest at the center on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child in North Texas that took place in 1989. The ex-priest had been laicized in 2002.
Why Is This Catholic Institution Sheltering a Laicized Serial Sexual Abuser?
Media reports describing criminal charges recently brought against Theodore McCarrick have revealed that he has been living at Vianney Renewal Center in Ditmer, Missouri which is owned and operated by the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete (CSP).
Although some have reported that McCarrick is paying his own way at the center, the question remains why McCarrick is being allowed to reside at a facility owned by the Catholic Church? McCarrick is now officially a lay person, not a cleric. CSP’s mission is to serve troubled priests, not lay persons.
Some have speculated that the powerful U.S. prelates are trying to effectively keep McCarrick under house arrest because he knows too much about sexual depravity in the hierarchy. Faithful Catholics deserve answers, especially given the fact they have financed most of the payouts due to clerical abuse over the past 40 years.
Background on the Servants of the Paraclete
CSP is a religious congregation dedicated to ministering to Catholic clergy with personal difficulties. The organization was founded in 1947 by Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.
Fr. Fitzgerald started CSP to assist priests who were struggling with alcohol and substance abuse problems, but soon began receiving priests who had sexually abused minors. Initially, Fr. Fitzgerald attempted to treat such priests using the same spiritual methods that he used with others. But by 1948, Fr. Fitzgerald established a policy whereby he refused to take priests who were sexually attracted to children. The policy was changed after Fitzgerald’s death in 1969.
In a 1964 letter to Bishop Joseph Durick of Nashville, Tennessee, Fr. Fitzgerald expressed “growing concern” about the dramatic change in the nature of problems that were being referred to his order:
May I take this occasion to bring to your attention what is a growing concern to many of us here in the States. When I was ordained, forty three years ago, homosexuality was a practically unknown rarity. Today it is rampant among men. And whereas seventeen years ago eight out of ten problems here [at the Paraclete facility, Via Coeli] would represent the alcoholic, now in the last year or so our admission ratio would be approximately 5-2-3: five being alcoholic, two would be what we call “heart cases” (natural affection towards women) and three representing aberrations involving homosexuality. More alarming still is that among these of the 3 out of 10 class, 2 out of 3 have been young priests.
Fr. Fitzgerald became increasingly convinced that such priests could not be cured, could not be trusted to maintain celibacy and should be laicized. He vehemently opposed returning sexual abusers to duties as parish priests. Some bishops chose to ignore Fr. Fitzgerald’s recommendations, preferring instead to rely on the advice of medical and psychological experts who asserted that treatment was feasible.
CSP was forced to consolidate its operation in Dittmer, Missouri after a series of lawsuits related to sexually abusive priests that had been treated at its facilities. It has been subject of numerous news reports accusing it of essentially becoming a ‘dumping ground’ for sexually abusive priests. Here is a sample of some of the priests who received treatment at CSP facilities:
John Anthony Salazar Jimenez
Edmond Parrakow
Gerald B Fessard
Lawrence Joseph LJ Lovell
John F. Fitzpatrick
Herbert J. McElroy
Peter E Garcia
Michael Stephen Baker
Yusaf Dominic
McCarrick may have been laicized but his acolytes (or “nephews”) are still powerful within the Church, including Cardinal Kevin Farrell (his former Auxiliary who shared a home with him for 6 years) who is Camaralengo, Cardinal Wilton Gregory (who is the current Archbishop of DC), Cardinal Blaise Cupich (of Chicago), Cardinal Joseph Tobin (of Newark, another former McCarrick diocese, Bishp Robert McElroy (of San Diego) all of whom were nobodies until they came under McCarrick’s patronage.
Anyone remotely connected to the McCarrick network needs to be removed from office.
I couldn’t agree with you more….. as lay people have to speak up — Not that I am agree with the way liberals go about speaking up like(BLM) but we need to be more active and clean up our beloved Catholic Church.I pray for good priests.St. Vianney help us.
If the hierarchy of the Church had set out intentionally to destroy the confidence that the faithful have in the Church leadership, they could not have done a better job. How many knew what this creep and others like him were doing and turned a blind eye? Is there a real man among them? Had I been a pastor and received a valid complaint regarding sexual abuse involving one of my priests, I would have borrowed Christ’s whip for the moneychangers before I called the police. They need more real men in the priesthood, but unfortunately, many parents are afraid to encourage their boys to become priests since clowns like McCarrick turned the seminaries into perverted fishing ponds. Pray, clean house, then move forward.
Maybe powerful laity were also protecting McCarrick. Could he have been doing off-the-books diplomacy for our government?
Michael,
It is SATAN who has intentionally set out to destroy our Lord’s vineyard, and it begin with the slaughter of the Innocents at Bethlehem. For 2000 plus years we have century after century of seeing how Satan has preyed upon men and women’s sinful weaknesses to divide Our Lord’s Church. Sadly, the recent great sex scandal of many in the Hierarchy is nothing new to the Holy Mother Church. And I take great consolation and hope in our Lord Jesus’ great Holy Ascension proclamation: “The gates of hell will not overtake my Church and know that I am with you all till the end of the Age”. AMEN TO THAT!
He just earned to sit at the right hand of Francis along with Martin ,night night babe and a host of other well fed privileged” men”in red hats. Yukkk.😡while good men like cardinal Sarah mueller Burke etc going about righting their wrong
I would say: May God in His great mercy forgive this carina all his sins but I am not sure if he ever seriously repented. But using the sacrament of confession to lure young boys into sin it is a grave sin. Lord have mercy upon his soul. It incomprehensible how a bishop or a priest may use their ecclesiastical authority to induce people into sin. My unanswered question is why so many men and women kept a sexual abuse hidden and not disclose it immediately. I understand probably to avoid embarrassment and shame, but in a certain way these victim have some guilt because they cooperated to the invitation to sin. Many women accused men for sexually abusing or harass them but I always question their part in this violation of human dignity. If there is no cohers force, then is a cooperation on the abused person. These sad and unacceptable circumstance are very complex.
I would have to speak my heart, always heart breaking to hear about sins in church and sexual abuse. I wnt to ensure and remind all nomatter what gets coverd up or who hides, Truth be told one day we all face our sins and crimes and stand before Jesus nobody gets away!