Fatherly Correction

Recently, I had occasion to offer a fatherly correction to my adult daughter. She listened quietly and then responded: “That’s good. I’ll take that.” She said it with her characteristic clarity, confidence, and energy. I was delighted, as always, with her positivity. The recent Vatican directive to the leadership of our religious sisters is just such fatherly advice. Sadly, it is not always received as such. A priest-theologian-missionary friend of mine, a man of some stature in the Church, a good man whom I admire and love dearly, wrote about this action with these words: “an all-out assault…outrageous for its arrogance and its patriarchy…pernicious…abhorrent disregard for the Biblical prophets…idolatry of doctrine, power, and hierarchy…inauthenticity of the call to retrenchment masquerading as renewal.” I respect his chivalrous intent: to acknowledge the goodness and good works of our sisters and shield them from what he perceives as an assault. But it is hardly an assault; rather, it is fatherly discipline. How unfortunate that the perception here is one of suspicion, distrust, melodramatic victimization, and righteous resentment. As my beautiful daughter (with her sisters) is my pride and joy, so our consecrated women are the pride and joy of our Church, of our Holy Father, of our cardinals, and of all of us. But they are not above fatherly correction, on occasion. May they receive this correction with filial trust, docility, humility, confidence and energy! May God continue to bless them in all the good works they do for the very least! May God bless our Holy Father and his co-workers and all of us in our different works!