NCR: Nationwide vigils aim to demonstrate solidarity with sisters

WOC and Erin Saiz Hanna were featured in this article about the vigils throughout the US in support of the LCWR after the Vatican’s mandate was released, noting WOC’s participation at the protest vigil outside of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ headquarters.

Nationwide vigils aim to demonstrate solidarity with sisters
By Alice Popovici

From Alaska to South Texas, to Washington, D.C., people gathered outside Catholic churches and cathedrals in about a dozen cities earlier this month to pray, sing and show support for the American nuns criticized in a recent Vatican report.

Organizers of the vigils say they hope these acts of solidarity will inspire the Vatican to rescind the document that places the Leadership Conference of Women Religious under the authority of an archbishop — a move that has left many bewildered and angry.

“It was a very prayerful spirit,” said Jennifer Reyes Lay, who works for Catholic Action Network, describing a May 8 vigil she organized in St. Louis, where about 40 people gathered at the Cathedral Basilica to share stories about the sisters who touched their lives. “At the same time,” Reyes Lay said, “you could tell, when they got up and shared their stories, people were upset.”

Nancy Barrett-Dennehy, a retired teacher, organized a vigil that drew about 70 people, including a couple of priests, to St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, Ore., on May 8. “This is important,” she said. “We have to take a stand.”

In Lansing, Mich., about 10 people came out to St. Mary Cathedral with signs that read “Support the Sisters” and “We Thirst for Justice,” according to Jackie MacKinnon, a retired lawyer who was there.

“I believe that there is a widespread feeling, on the part of Catholics and non-Catholics, that the sisters are not being treated properly by the Vatican,” said MacKinnon, who has written a letter in support of sisters to the pastors of more than a dozen parishes. “I would love to see the Vatican rescind its decree.” 

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