The quotation above is from an unnamed woman religious recounted in a retreat address by Sister Laurie Brink, O.P., available here. Brink goes on to say that those communities of women religious “who embraced the spirit of renewal of the 1970s” differ from their predecessors in that “the Jesus narrative is not the only or the most important narrative for these women. They still hold up and reverence the values of the Gospel, but they also recognize that these same values are not solely the property of Christianity. Buddhism, Native American spirituality, Judaism, Islam and others hold similar tenets for right behavior within the community, right relationship with the earth and right relationship with the divine.” Thus, she says that while communities like the Benedictine Women of Madison “are certainly religious women . . . they are no longer women religious as it is defined by the Roman Catholic Church. They choose as a congregation to step outside the Church in order to step into a greater sense of holiness.”
Certainly, the Church acknowledges that there are things which are "true and holy" in non-Christian religions (c.f. Notra Aetate ¶ 2). At the same time, whether one can “move beyond Jesus” and still be Christian, indeed, whether statements such as this are at all consistent with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (see, e.g., Dei Verbum ¶ 5: “The Christian dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away and we now await no further public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ”) I leave to the judgment of readers, though I would encourage you to read Amy Welborn’s thoughtful commentary on the matter, available here.
Moreover, given statements such as these, it would, I think, be reasonable to suggest that the investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is not without cause. It is also, I dare say, not a witch-hunt . . . but, given these sorts of statements, it may very well uncover some Wiccans, and Buddhists, and admirers of Mohammad, and various other sorts of post-Christian women “sojourners” offering “resistance” to the investigation, together with many faithful Christian women (in habit and out) who welcome the visit by the Holy See.
Re Richard's post: I may just be slower than others, but there was nothing in my quick perusal of the websites of the two communities to which he linked that gives me a clear indication of why the Vatican thinks this examination is necessary.
It may very well be that the examination is motivated by only positive goals, such as determining why fewer women are entering religious orders (although if that is the case, it is curious that the examination apparently excludes contemplative orders). However, it is not suprising, especially given the separate doctrinal investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, that some are suspicious that the examination is more about making sure women religious are toeing the line than anything else. I will be delighted if that suspicion is unfounded.
