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Wrestling with God: Religious Life in Search of Its Soul

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Sister Barbara tackles the current challenges of Religious Life. I disagree with some of her proposals, and I feel that she sometimes fails to follow her own advice as to waiting to see where the Holy Spirit is leading Religious Orders. Her chapters on celibacy are excellent and help one to make sense of a difficult vow.

Speaking rather excessively on both heterosexual and homosexual "genital relations" in her 1996 book, Wrestling With God, Sister Barbara Fiand assures her readers that she is an "understanding" proponent of homosexuality and lesbianism. She writes: "As most of us know, the official Church position on homosexuality accepts the `inclination' but condemns the act. Much comment in the area of morality, Scripture study, and scientific investigation is available in response to this position... Suffice it here to take note of the almost universal plea among Catholic scholars for openness [in regard to homosexual acts] and for a willingness on the part of the magisterium to attend to scientific research in the areas of both scriptural interpretation and biology." It is important to note that Sister's statements are all grounded in a "New Age" conception of the world which denies both the authority and competence of the Magisterium (the teaching arm of the Church).