In administering the sacrament of confirmation, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien traced a cross on the foreheads of each candidate as he anointed them with sacred chrism oil and called on them to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. The sisters then renewed their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as some 120 worshipers looked on.
Ten of the 12 members of the All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor joined the Catholic Church during the liturgy. The two nuns who have decided to remain Episcopal will continue to live, pray and work in community with their now-Catholic sisters.
Father Warren Tanghe, former chaplain to the All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor, was also confirmed and has applied to become a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
In his homily, Archbishop O’Brien welcomed the newcomers and extolled the sisters for their dedication to the consecrated life.
This will sound snarky, but I ask in all seriousness: Is there any reason the diocese and/or 815 aren’t suing for their property? It seems entirely inconsistent not to – and this has been one area of great consistency in the past few years.
The answer is quite simple. The property doesn’t belong to the diocese/TEC, it owned by the nuns.
Convents are not admitted to a local convention nor are a part of a diocese so there isn’t that tangible connection
Thanks. I appreciate the reasoning.
Since the All Saints Sisters were founded relatively early after the Oxford Movement, their move to Rome more than 150 years later seems to say something about the Oxford Movement’s trajectory. I reflect on this with deeply mixed feelings.
Rather sad that the sisters were pressured into having mass said versus populum and stripping their chapel in bog-standard Vatican II style. I hope they will not be bullied and lose their distinct charism.
It may be better for them to opt for the Extraordinary Form and a Tridentine office. At least that has some protection from Rome.
#6, Austin,
The clergy at Mt. Calvary, Baltimore, the parish w/ which the sisters were verly closely affiliated, celebrated versus populum during the 1980s. This included the then-chaplain to the sisters who occasionally celebrated at both the convent and Mt. Calvary. It doesn’t seem to have been an issue for anyone.