Assertive Love?

If there is one thing that I have been noticing a disconnect with in my own life it deals with my differing assertions regarding Christian unity. Online I am more than likely to state the Catholic Church as the Church. However, in conversations with my Baptist, nondenominational, or Protestant friends I lean toward Christian unity.

Wounds to unity

817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame."269 The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism270 - do not occur without human sin:

Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes.
Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which
arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.271

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."272

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth"273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."274 Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him,275 and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."276

But how assertive in the Truth of the Catholic Church is to be exercised by Her members?

Religious Order Adjusts to Changing Times

Chesterfield, MO
A group of aging nuns say they must close a 40-year-old Catholic school in suburban St. Louis in June.

The Sisters of the Most Precious Blood plan to sell the Linda Vista school and the land it sits on to the highest bidder. They say they need to raise money for the retirement and health care of the order's 200 members.

On average, the sisters are 75 years old.

The Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, like many other religious orders around the nation, have fewer members than they used to.

In 1965, about 180-thousand sisters worked in elementary schools, hospitals and with other missions. There are now fewer than 67-thousand nuns in the U.S.

Parents want to keep the school open in Chesterfield. They say they have offered to buy it.

Source Copyright 2007

Nuns take campaign against female circumcision to World Social Forum

NAIROBI-Nuns take campaign against female circumcision to World Social Forum

A congregation of Catholic nuns campaigning against Female Genital Mutilation in Kenya called for more concerted effort to end the practice.

Speaking at the ongoing World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi, Kenya, the sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), or Loreto Sisters, said the practice is widespread in Kenya, and its eradication is necessary to the restoration of women's sexuality.

The nuns are carrying out a nationwide campaign against FGM, which though illegal in Kenya still goes on, mostly clandestinely.

"We are training young boys to vow that they are going to marry uncircumcised girls," said Sr Dr Ephigenia Gachiri.

The sisters are promoting alternative rites of passage for girls that do not involve excision. Sr Gachiri last year published a book on the subject, titled Christian Initiation for Girls.

She told participants at the WSF that the church is a powerful institution that can help curb FGM. Already a number of parishes across the country are involved in awareness creation and provision of alternative rites.

The Loreto Sisters are also training community leaders on FGM and offering counselling and skills training to the victims of the practice.

Source © Independent Catholic News 2007