Before there was a Vatican

Before there were curial congregations, there were various authorities. There were monastic communities. There were Benedictines. Two recent events remind us of the importance of both the traditional understandings of authority and the spiritual wisdom required to exercise them in today’s church.

* The first event is the decision of Sister Christine Vladimiroff, O.S.B., prioress of the Erie Benedictines, to refuse an order from...

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