Spokane Diocese welcomes formerly schismatic nuns back into church

Published: 2007-07-06

SPOKANE, Wash. (CNS) -- There are several paths within the journey that has brought 15 women religious into communion with the Catholic Church: care, compassion, interaction and, most certainly, prayer. Even technology played a part. But one of the key turning points in the journey was watching the moving funeral liturgy for Pope John Paul II. Two former members of the schismatic community at Mount St. Michael in north Spokane discussed their return to the Catholic Church in an interview with Inland Register, Spokane diocesan newspaper, at their new home at Immaculate Heart Retreat Center in Spokane. The Mount St. Michael community believes in a theological position of "sedevacantism," which, expressed simply, means that because of heresy, the chair of Peter has been vacant since Pope Pius XII, who died in 1958. Individually, some members of the Religious Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen at Mount St. Michael found themselves beginning to question that position. "It wasn't like we planned anything, or the sisters came together to this conclusion," said Mother Marie de Lourdes, moderator of the community. Rather, individuals began to reconsider the position, "and discovered others on a similar journey," she said.

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