So, in case you missed it, the end of last week was pretty busy at Global Sisters Report. On Friday (at 4:30 in the morning Kansas City time, no less) the Leadership Conference of Women Religious released its first statement about the end of the Vatican’s oversight of the conference last month.
I spent my first few waking hours that day sitting on my living room floor in my pajamas (surrounded by boxes, because I was moving later that day), hovering over my laptop, reading as fast as I possibly could and trying to type even faster than that. I even did a 6 a.m. interview from the floor before finally getting dressed and driving to the office to start a second article all about reactions to LCWR’s statement.
At the same time, our lovely web editor, Tracy Abeln, was busy making sure all of these elements (we also published an interview with LCWR president Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Sharon Holland) got on the website and didn’t look wonky, and Franciscan Sr. Jan Cebula, normally our U.S. sister liaison, was using her lawyer’s eagle eye as our pinch-hit copy editor – basically making sure no one made any grievous typos, the occurrence of which is at least a bajillion times more likely when one writes before sunrise. Triple that when one writes at lightning speed before sunrise.
Meanwhile, editors Dennis Coday and Mary Lou Nolan were keeping a broad view of the whole situation, issuing editorial direction via text message, phone calls and – once we all got to the office – quick little tête-à-têtes.
In a word, Friday was intense. But we survived. I even got moved in to my new place smoothly later that afternoon without any injuries, despite my lack of sleep.
So what now?
In their statement, the LCWR leadership made it very clear that they were speaking only for themselves and only about their personal experiences. It won’t be until August that the entire membership is able to meet in order to reflect and discuss the last six years. And it’s only after that point that LCWR is expected not only to make another statement, taking all of those thoughts and feelings into account, but also to outline how they were able to bring about the peaceful resolution of a conflict that could have been pretty nasty if they had let it be.
From our end, we’ll be telling you that story as best we can. Global Sisters Report will be in Houston for the LCWR’s annual assembly, letting you know what we know as soon as we know it. And if it’s anything like last year, I’ll be live-tweeting all the opening meetings, so you can follow along at home. We’re not under any impression that this reflection process will be quick, but we’ll do our best to keep you informed at every step.
Stay tuned!
[Dawn Cherie Araujo is staff reporter for Global Sisters Report based in Kansas City, Missouri. Follow her on Twitter @Dawn_Cherie.]