Home | Join/Donate | Current Voices | Liturgical Calendar | What's New | Affirmation | James Hitchcock's Column | Church Documents | Search
Concerns about
a problematic small-group program for Catholic women, MOMS
("Ministry of Mothers Sharing) led us to write the letter
below to the director of the Office for Laity & Family Life
of the Archdiocese of St. Louis on August 13, 2003 -- with copies
to the St. Louis bishops -- after plans to initiate this problematic
program in the archdiocese had been announced.
According to a September 5 story in the St. Louis Review,
"a modified version" of the MOMS program will be offered.
The story quotes Bishop Robert Herman, vicar for the Office
for Laity & Family Life, "I think the program can and
should be strengthened by including references to the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, as well as to the Holy Father's document
on the family, 'Familiaris consortio', and his document on womanhood, 'Mulieris Dignitatem'". Nevertheless, the program is
being launched.
The Review story, "National ministry to mothers to be offered in archdiocese", listed dates of training workshops (@ $300 per group), which will "offer a picture of the lay leadership and budget needed to initiate the ministry".
For alternatives to this and other similar programs, Women for Faith & Family has now produced a free booklet "About Local Groups", based on material on the WFF web site: Suggestions for local / parish group meetings.
August 13, 2003 Susan Edwards, Executive Director Dear Mrs. Edwards: The August 2003 Laity &
Family Life Update (Vol. 8, No.4), notes that a program
known as MOMS (Ministry of Mothers Sharing) is to be offered
by the archdiocese of St. Louis this fall. While we believe the stated objective
of the MOMS program "to gather mothers together to
form a network of mutual spiritual support in a chaotic society"
is laudable, a review of the program materials raises serious
questions. Several of the contributors are known best for their
public dissent from Catholic teachings. MOMS is the creation of Benedictine
Sister Paula Hagan, of St. Paul's Monastery, St. Paul, Minnesota.
It is a plan for small groups focused on spirituality and "self-awareness".
The materials are published by Resource Publications of San Jose,
California. The Personal Journal spirituality
workbook is most worrisome, despite its appealing cross-stitch
cover design. The Journal opens with a "psalm"
by Edwina Gateley, of Call-to-Action fame, from her book,
Psalms of a Laywoman. Ms. Gateley's outspoken public rejection
of Church teachings on ordination is well known. It includes quotes from radical
feminists Sister Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ, (Lay Presiding:
The Art of Leading Prayer), and Sister Anne E. Carr, BVM
(Transforming Grace), among others. Sister Hughes, a "progressive"
liturgist, was for many years a member of the influential International
Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL); Sister Anne Carr
is a member of the radical Catholic Women's Network, and was
a signer of the infamous 1984 "pro-choice" ad in the
New York Times sponsored by Catholics for a Free Choice. There are also very serious omissions
from the MOMS materials: MOMS resources do not contain
even one reference to any work of Pope John Paul II, utterly
ignoring his profound insights into the meaning of family (Familiaris Consortio), human
life (Evangelium Vitae)
and womanhood (Mulieris Dignitatem).
Considering the purpose of MOMS, this is astonishing. Furthermore, the Catechism
of the Catholic Church is not cited even once, much less
used as a study resource. We are enclosing separately a
list of recommended materials as it appeared on the MOMS web
site. Again, we agree that the idea
of Catholic women getting together for fellowship, prayer and
study is excellent. In fact, this is one of the goals of Women
for Faith & Family. But MOMS is not the answer and
could, in fact, put an unsuspecting participant's faith in peril. Thus, we hope you will reconsider
the plan to introduce this program into the Archdiocese of St.
Louis. We would be glad to work with
your office in developing useful suggestions for prayer-and-study
groups for Catholic women that would be completely faithful to
Catholic teachings, and truly helpful to the members of the group. Please let us know how we can
be of further assistance. Sincerely yours in Christ, Helen Hull Hitchcock, Director encs. (documentation on MOMS
materials) cc Archbishop Justin Rigali
Office for Laity & Family Life
Archdiocese of St. Louis
20 Archbishop May Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63119
The "Resources for On-Going MOMS Groups" lists works
by radical feminist writers, such as Sister Joan Chittister,
OSB (Wisdom Distilled from the Daily), Sister Miriam
Therese Winter (The Gospel According to Mary, A New Testament
for Women), and Wendy Wright (Sacred Dwelling,
Forest of Peace).
Women for Faith & Family
Bishop Robert J. Hermann, Vicar General
Bishop Joseph Naumann, Vicar General
Carol Tempel, Family Life Ministry Coordinator
