Another great reporting job from NCR, this time on a worldwide meeting of women religious, a nice antidote to all the Iceland-volcano-like gloom in the church today.
Some saw it as a spark in a dark night, kindled to flame, and eventually into a torch bright enough to guide spirits forward. Those are among the metaphors some women religious used to explain the process and results of a five-day conference which drew together some 800 congregation heads from around the world. The women spent five days together, May 7-11, examining the themes of mysticism and prophecy. They gathered under the aegis of the International Union of General Superiors (UISG), the canonically sponsored organization bonding the world’s 600,000 women religious. The organization holds its plenary assembly every three years here.
Scottish born UISG President Sister of Notre Dame de Sion Maureen Cusick expressed her delight with the results of the gathering, saying it was an amazing experience, “a gift of the Spirit.”
“Everyone who has spoken to me said it was fantastic. I feel we have given them more courage. Many of them came despondent, despondent because of the mess the church is in, holding in the balance the denial of the official church, the abuse of their power, the abuse of leadership.” She went on: “They’ve gone away with their heads high. They all said it feels different. We [women religious] need to be proud of who we are. I feel we have given them more courage."
