Sister Elizabeth Johnson: ‘The waste of time on this investigation is unconscionable’

[hrmjustin]

Heidi Hall

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) A nun who drew U.S. Catholic bishops’ ire with what they consider radical feminist writings fired back Friday (Aug. 15), saying their investigation of women’s orders is wasteful when financial mismanagement and sexual abuses are being covered up.

Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a theology professor at Fordham University, accepted the Leadership Conference of Women Religious’ top award and then lambasted bishops for criticism of her book “Quest for the Living God,” saying it appears they’ve never read it.

“To this day, no one, not myself or the theological community, the media or the general public knows what doctrinal issue is at stake,” she told the Nashville assembly of about about 900 sisters representing 80 percent of the nation’s nuns.

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/08/16/sister-elizabeth-johnson-waste-time-investigation-unconscionable/

[hrmjustin]

1. “Let a female speculate”: Full text of Sister Elizabeth Johnson’s LCWR talk

David Gibson

Sister Elizabeth Johnson accepted an award on Friday night (Aug. 15) from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the umbrella organization for most of the 50,000 Catholic nuns in the U.S. The LCWR has for two years been the target of an investigation by the Vatican over a range of perceived problems with their doctrinal views and their social justice mission. The sisters reject the accusations.

The investigation is a source of much controversy, and despite signs that it might ease under Pope Francis, the polemics reignited a few months ago when a top Vatican cardinal blasted the nuns for announcing that they would honor Sister Johnson — whose work theologians from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have sharply criticized — at their annual meeting last week in Nashville.

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/08/17/let-female-speculate-full-text-sister-elizabeth-johnsons-talk-lcwr/