Tere Maya, CCVI to Address USCCB at Spiritual Discernment Day
We would like you to know that the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) invited LCWR past president Teresa Maya, CCVI to address the entire body of bishops at their spiritual discernment day on Monday, November 12.
As you may know, the USCCB changed the agenda of their annual assembly in light of the clergy sexual abuse situation. Knowing that true discernment begins by listening, the bishops have planned a day of discernment and prayer that will provide opportunities for them to listen to the tradition of the Church, as well as to the people. To that end, they will conduct their day of prayer as an experience of lectio divina. Readings from the tradition of the Church will be followed by reflections from two abuse survivors who will address the bishops from their personal experiences, a young mother who will speak about the responsibility of the Church to future generations, and Tere, who will have 15 minutes to address the bishops. Tere will speak in the afternoon, following the last reading of the day which is from Charles Borromeo.
According to Tere, the USCCB invited her to speak because of what LCWR was able to accomplish at its LCWR assembly this past August - provide hope to its members while also discussing delicate and challenging issues with honesty and transparency.
Portions of the day will be live-streamed via the USCCB website at http://www.usccb.org/live.
We assume that there will be media coverage of this day and we wanted you to be aware that this was happening. We apologize that we were not able to let you know of this sooner, but we were honoring USCCB's decision to not release the names of those addressing the assembly until now.
We are very grateful to Tere for accepting this important challenge, and for the courage it requires. Please join us in prayer with and for Tere, the other speakers, and for the body of bishops during this important assembly.
Sharlet Wagner, CSC, LCWR president
Jayne Helmlinger, CSJ, LCWR president-elect
Carol Zinn, SSJ, LCWR executive director
