Connecting Dots

What follows is information from published sources for consideration vis-a-vis the Sr. Louise Lears matter.

In the wake of the Priestly abuse scandals, a group formed in St. Louis called "Faithful St. Louis". Helen Hitchcock's Women for Faith & Family site stated as follows: 'A local effort to spread dissent in the Church, "Faithful St. Louis", is a spin-off of a "reform" coalition of dissident Catholic groups organized in Boston in the heat of the clerical sex-abuse crisis, "Voice of the Faithful"'.

[...]

Then Ms. Hitchcock discussed some persons in connection with this group. One of them was Sr. Louise Lears:

In St. Louis, a meeting of "Faithful St. Louis" ("Claim the Promises ... Explore the Possibilities") is explicitly aimed at forming a chapter of the dissident VOTF coalition. Some presenters at the St. Louis gathering, "Ways to Create a Healthier Church", to be held September 21, at Harris-Stowe State College in midtown St. Louis, are high-profile dissenters. None of the sixteen-member steering committee is known for faithfulness to Church teachings.

Sister Louise Lears, coordinator of the steering committee of "Faithful St. Louis" and of the conference, is a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati who teaches health-care ethics at St. Louis University. She is also coordinator of the recently combined St. Louis leftist groups, Center for Theology and Social Analysis and Catholic Action Network for Social Justice, whose address is the same as "Faithful St. Louis".

Sister Louise was among the "women's ordination" protesters during the papal visit to St. Louis in 1999. The radical Call to Action group publicizes this protest on its web site:

"CTAers were among 550 Catholic in a candlelight prayer vigil outside the St. Louis cathedral January 25, the eve of the pope's arrival. Their banner read: 'Catholic women for Justice', a coalition begun by area women after their return November 1 from the CTA conference in Milwaukee. Prayer rather than a protest was chosen in order to be 'lovingly confrontational', said Sister Louise Lears, one of the leaders. But the prayers called for full participation of women in all ecclesial roles, and an end to sexism in the Church.... The event was widely covered on television news in St. Louis and Chicago, and picked up by ABC and NBC national news programs. Press accounts appeared in major dailies coast to coast, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Kansas City Star and the Dallas Morning Herald.

"While women's issues were central, the prayer vigil also reminded the news media of other church reform goals: just treatment of church employees, participation in selecting church leaders, and remedying the priest shortage. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch headline read, 'Group seeks democracy within the Catholic Church.' Local groups in the coalition included Fellowship of Southern Illinois Laity [FOSIL]; the Sisters of Loretto, and the Center for Theology and Social Analysis. National groups with representatives at the vigil included CTA, the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, the Women's Ordination Conference, and CORPUS."

Catholics for a Free Choice web site also quotes Sister Louise from the Los Angeles Times, "It was ... not a protest rally but a candle-lit prayer meeting intended to quietly underscore the hope that their church will one day admit women to the Roman Catholic priesthood.... 'You might call it lovingly confrontational'".

OK, that was back in 1999 to 2002. What about now? There is a group called "Catholic Action Network for Social Justice" (CANSJ) that has been sponsoring-- in the St. Louis area --events called Women-Led Prayer. CANSJ is a member organization of a group called St. Louis Justice and Peace Shares, whose website lists CANSJ as a member with the following description:

What Groups Belong to JPS?... Catholic Action Network for Social Justice: Promotes gay rights, fair trade and worker’s rights, international peace and justice, and women’s ordination, as an independent Catholic organization.

CANSJ has conducted several of their Women-Led Prayer services at St. Cronan Church, the place where Sr. Louise Lears is on the "Pastoral Team". From the CANSJ site:

Women Led-Prayer...an opportunity for Catholic women to lead prayer

Our next liturgy will be December 22nd at 10:00 am at St. Cronan's Parish. All women and men are invited to join us.

Download a flyer here.
Check out our November 24th here.
This liturgy was focused on the Women Martyrs of Central America with Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America(IFCLA), a fellow Justice and Peace Shares organization.
Check out our October 27th Liturgy here.
Check out our September 22nd Fall Equinox Liturgy here.
Check out our August 25th A Celebration of our Common Journey on our Precious Earth Liturgy here.

We meet on the 4th Saturday of the month at 10:00 am at St. Cronan's Parish (1202 S. Boyle)- December 22nd, January 26th and February 23rd.

The following prayer/song comes from the program of the October 27th service:

Opening Prayer:* All Sing: Burning Force, Fire and Flame: holy, holy is Your name.

Reader: In the beginning was Fire, and the Fire was one with Creativity: the Fire was Creator; and the Fire was one with Divinity: the Fire was Divine; and the fire was one with the Holy One: the Fire was God.

All Sing:
Reader: Fire was the Source of Life. Through Fire all things were made: all things are one with the burning, searing power and energy. of that originating Fire. The Fire was the Source of Life, the Fire is Life, and that Life is the Light of all life, A light shining in the darkness, never to be extinguished, never to be overcome.

All Sing
Reader: The fire became Flame and lived among us, accessible, visible, filling the earth that Fire had formed, fulfilling prophecies, fulfilling promises, a pervading, protecting Pillar of Security, Dawn of a New Day, Rising Sun of Justice, Lamp of enlightenment, Ray of Hope dwelling among us, Shekinah, the Presence, the Passion, Shaddai.

And this is from the program for August 25, ironically, the Feast of Saint Louis:

Opening Song: O Beautiful Gaia by Carolyn McDade
O East you are freshness, Virgin light of each new day
O Gaia calling us home, Calling us on.
Refrain: O beautiful Gaia, O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia, Calling us on.
O South we bring praises, Strong source of our sun’s-heat
O Gaia calling us home, Calling us on.
Refrain

O West vast horizon, Holding our dreams and our dying
O Gaia calling us home, Calling us on.
Refrain

O North, great preserver, Cool breezes and crisp frost
O Gaia calling us home, Calling us on.
Refrain

O Sacred Center, We live in you always
O Center calling us home, Calling us on.

As to the Catholicity of such groups, readers can draw their own conclusions. Whatever the reasons for the Archbishop's actions, I cannot say whether any of this will be the subject of the January 15 summons and admonition. This is just what pops up on Google.