[UPDATE: A number of readers have written to ask me about contacting Quinn's superior or Cardinal George. The LifeSiteNews story includes the contact info for both. However, if you read the whole article linked below, you will see that sister's prioress is well-aware of her activities and defends her. Quinn has been involved in supporting abortion for years. There's nothing new here. At most a letter or email will get you "thank you for your concern" note in response. Please don't expect anything more than that. In my experience dealing with dissenters, notes of outrage only fuel their view of themselves as martrys. Also, please note that Quinn is a sister not a nun. Dominican nuns are not in the business of helping mothers kill their children. . .nor are a vast majority of sisters.]
Next time some "Spirit of Vatican Two" Catholic sputters and whines about the injustice of the Vatican investigating U.S. religious women, point them to this article from LifeSiteNews.com:
Next time some "Spirit of Vatican Two" Catholic sputters and whines about the injustice of the Vatican investigating U.S. religious women, point them to this article from LifeSiteNews.com:
HINSDALE, Illinois, October 23, 2009: A Dominican nun [sic] has been seen frequenting an abortion facility in Illinois recently - but not, as one might expect, to pray for an end to abortion or to counsel women seeking abortions, but to volunteer as a clinic escort.
Local pro-life activists say that they recognized the escort at the ACU Health Center as Sr. Donna Quinn, a nun [sic] outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, after seeing her photo in a Chicago Tribune article. . .
This is beyond scandalous. Donna do doubt believes that she is truly doing God's work by helping these mothers kill their children.
But what drove her to this dark place. . .radical feminism, of course:
In a 2002 address to the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School, Sr. Quinn described how she came to view the teachings of her Church as "immoral": "I used to say: 'This is my Church, and I will work to change it, because I love it,'" she said. "Then later I said, 'This church is immoral, and if I am to identify with it I'd better work to change it.' More recently, I am saying, 'All organized religions are immoral in their gender discriminations.'"
Quinn called gender discrimination "the root cause of evil in the Church, and thus in the world," and said she remained in the Dominican community simply for "the sisterhood."
"Gets 'em every time," snickers Wormwood!
How is it her Superiors tolerate this?
ReplyDeleteSo she thinks "'All organized religions are immoral in their gender discriminations.'"
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean that a man should be able to force the mother of his unborn child to abort it, against her wishes? I mean, we wouldn't want to discriminate against the man simply because he's male... it's his lump of developing tissue too!
This is ludicrous. Who is her superior?!
This is sad on so many levels. I will have to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for her this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteI decided to start spending Tuesdays as a special day of prayer, fasting, and penance. I will offer it for the conversion of Sr. Quinn and the healing that the Catholic Church is in so desperate need of these days.
ReplyDeleteI am planning on asking other Catholics to join me & to notify the prioress of this nun and/or the diocese.
The prioress of this nun has contact information at the bottom of the article referenced.
PLEASE JOIN ME & ASK OTHERS TO JOIN.
She could always get a job with CCHD, or Catholic Charities in Boston or Virginia.
ReplyDeleteJeff, DC--
ReplyDeleteOP sisters don't have "superiors." They have leadership teams. Towards the end of the article, the reporter notes that Donna's prioress knows about her activity and supports it.
Sad.
Please, everyone, report this woman to her congregational leaders; her local bishop (Cardinal George, I'd imagine); the Sisters' Visitation team headquarters. Do you remember Gerard Manley Hopkins' "The Wreck of the Deutschland?" If I remember correctly, it took an ocean vessel more than day to sink just off the British coast while people on the shore watched wiuth horror, the whole time. Everyone thought that everyone else was reporting the tragedy, and in the end, nobody did! Fr.P.N.P., can you supply appropriate contact information?
ReplyDeleteFr.P.N.P., can you supply appropriate contact information?
ReplyDeleteWhat would really be helpful is the Cardinal's EMAIL address. I've been up and down the whole Chicago diocese website and can't find one. I was tempted to comment in his blog, but I didn't want to derail. I don't do snail-mail and phones. I'll sign a petition however. :)
The cardinal's contact info is on the LifeSiteNews story...so's Quinn's prioress...but there's not much point in contacting either...her prioress is already making excuses for her in the news story and the cardinal can't really do anything either.
ReplyDeleteDear Father Powell,
ReplyDeleteI had just read the article about Sister (?) Donna Quinn, and was going to send it to you.
What is interesting of course, is that
a)So many American liberal religious women have carried on about how much good the American Sisters have done (which they have!) and say that the Vatican is persecuting them. This article is perfect to illustrate the unfortunate reality going on in the US with feminist nuns
b)Feminist religious say that the Church is immoral, yet they continue to flaunt that they are consecrated religious.
This shows the hypocrisy of the feminist movement in American religious communities. Her Prioress is enabling her to cause this scandal. I suspect the Prioress would much rather support one dissident than appear to support the "immoral" Catholic church.
I am an American woman religious who cannot fathom how to explain this kind of stuff!
We do need to pray!
Sr C
I believe that Cardinal George may be contacted at:
ReplyDeleteFrancis Cardinal George
Office of the Archbishop
Archdiocese of Chicago
PO Box 1979
Chicago, IL. 60690-1979
(312) 534-8200
archbishop@archchicago.org
Le sigh. Our Sinsinawa Dominicans are in the news again. Yes, they're local. Poor Venerable Father Mazzuchelli would probably be turning cartwheels in his grave if he could see what his sisters--the congregation he himself founded-- were up to nowadays. Perhaps you and your Dominican brothers might pray for his intersession? He's not a saint (yet) but is much beloved in this part of the country.
ReplyDeleteIt's not all of them, of course. There's quite a division, from what little I've heard. Please pray for them and for all of us.
Most of the Sisters that I've personally met from there are very nice and very devoted to the service of Christ. It's the extreme ones that get the headlines though. I suspect that poor prioress has a fine line to walk keeping the peace between different factions.
Fr. Philip,
ReplyDeletewhat's the difference between a sister and a nun?
Thank you,
I think your pessisism about no one being able to do anything about this situation, Father, might be discouraging folks who want to try, at least. I suggest writing four people, letting each know that you are aware there are overlapping jurisdictions amongst them making it difficult to know where to turn for help. These four are: Cardinal George (in whose archdiocese she apparantly lives); Bishop Sartain of Joliet (where the abortion clinic is apparently located); the Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin (where her motherhouse is located). And I'd inform Mother Clare of the Apostolic Visitation that you're concerned about this scandal and that you've written to these bishops.
ReplyDeleteTo tell you the truth, the best way to get any action is probably to write "naively" to Mother Ann
Marie at Nashville and/or Mother Assumpta at Ann Arbor, pretending that you think this Dominican Sister is one of theirs! Their effort to straighten that out will be immediate and effective!!!!!!! and will probably be the Church's best way to get any action on this scandal! I know, I'm full of mischief.
Anon., we can't fight the Devil with the Devil's tactics...
ReplyDeleteI can assure you that everyone with canonical authority over Quinn knows about her pro-abort work. She's been at it for years. Think for a sec: Quinn has appointed herself judge, jury, and executioner of the Church's moral authority. Why would she obey an order from her prioress, the bishops, or the Pope himself. She believes she is a prophet and everyone who opposes her is immoral. Even if she were removed from the Order, she would continue doing what she's doing. It is enough that Catholics expose this nonsense so that scandal can be mitigated.
Without the cachet of being a nun, perhaps Quinn would indeed cease from some of her scandalous activities. I think that dismissal from the religious state is indeed called for here. I resent her carrying "our name."
ReplyDeleteThat name could be Catholic, Christian or Dominican. Could Santa Sabina have any influence (I know they don't have authority, but could they have influence) in straightening out this scandal?
An O.P. reader
I think part of the pressure needs to start from within the "family." Get the OP Peace & Justice committee to recognize abortion as a crime against peace and justice (I did a site search for the word "abortion." Not. One. Hit.
ReplyDeleteI can't recall if it was provincial or order-wide, but I remember the brouhaha when some complained that the P&J folks didn't want to add abortion because they would end up associating their issue with "right-wingers."
It's time to get the whole family to speak as one on this issue -- as much as is possible for an OP motley bunch.
Another O.P.
"Another O.P." gives a very good idea, while implicitly seeming to acknowledge what only an insider could know: leading Dominicans in any effort is like herding cats, and our leadership leans toward the left.
ReplyDeleteHere's a real good one. Just when i thought I had heard everything, it turns out that another community of Sisters from the Madison Diocese, the Benedictine Sisters of Madison, have gone green, and - get ready for this - seem to have left the Church! They are now an ecumenical community, whatever that is, and no longer identifty as a Catholic religious Order. Their newest member is a Presbyterian
ReplyDeleteminister(ess). Now, your Dominican pro-abortion activist nun still trumps this, but when I read this, all I could think was "They did what!?" What next? Help me to remember: an Apostolic Visitation of American Sisters is needed why?