Chicago Catholic News: Religious order rebukes Chicago-area nun who volunteers at abortion clinic

Religious order rebukes Chicago-area nun who volunteers at abortion clinic

(UPDATED: 11/4/09) With pressure mounting from inside and outside the Church hierarchy, an order of nuns has rebuked a Chicago-area member for volunteering at an abortion clinic, telling her that such actions are "in violation of her profession."

"Several months ago, the leadership of the Sinsinawa Dominicans was informed that Sister Donna Quinn, OP, acted as a volunteer escort at a Chicago area clinic that among other procedures, performs abortions," according to a statement released Tuesday by the Wisconsin-based religious community.

"After investigating the allegation, Congregation leaders have informed Sr. Donna that her actions are in violation of her profession as a Dominican religious. They regret that her actions have created controversy and resulted in public scandal."

Quinn could not immediately be reached by ChicagoCatholicNews for comment. But she indicated to the Chicago Tribune that she would stop volunteering as a clinic escort.

"I want to be clear that this is my decision," she said. "Respect for women's moral agency is of critical importance to me, and I look forward to continuing to dialogue with our congregation on these matters as a way of informing my actions as well as educating the community."

What all this ultimately means for the controversial nun -- who for years has been involved in feminist and social justice causes -- is uncertain. The prioress of the Sinsinawa Dominicans, Sister Patricia Mulcahey, declined further comment.

The statement from the order -- released by Mulcahey -- indicated that the congregation is "working with Sr. Donna to resolve the matter appropriately."

Several bishops have been monitoring the situation since news broke in recent weeks about Quinn's volunteer work at a Hinsdale clinic, which was identified in published reports as ACU Health Center. (An administrator there declined to confirm for ChicagoCatholicNews whether Quinn was a volunteer, saying such matters are typically private.)

Cardinal Francis George, Joliet Bishop J. Peter Sartain and Madison, Wisc., Bishop Robert Morlino are expected to talk soon -- if they have not already -- about Quinn, an aide to Morlino told ChicagoCatholicNews.

The reason all three clerics are involved: Quinn's Mother House (shown below) is based in the Diocese of Madison; she reportedly lives within the confines of the Archdiocese of Chicago, which is George's domain; and the abortion clinic she has been affiliated with falls in the Joliet Diocese.

The plan is for all three bishops to talk over the phone, make sure they're on the "same page," and decide what, if any, discipline would be appropriate, Diocese of Madison spokesman Brent King said last week.

But the cardinal's press secretary, Colleen Dolan, indicated George (shown below) really had no control over the situation.

"The Cardinal and the other bishops have no power to exert disciplinary action . . . over this sister or her order," Dolan said via email. "Sisters and nuns are not priests so the authority of the Cardinal and the bishops does not apply to their discipline. That is up to their religious order."

But, according to Dolan, George has said "it is always gravely sinful to cooperate freely with the killing of an unborn child. Escorting people into an abortion clinic is an example of such cooperation in evil."

Morlino released a statement that said: "The teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the grave evil of abortion and formal cooperation with abortion is clear. At this point, private conversations about a personnel matter must take place before anything further can be said to the press or to the mass media by my office."

Joe Scheidler (shown below) of the Pro-Life Action League, an anti-abortion group, said he has known about Quinn and her activism for years. (Click here for an article with background information.)

In fact, Scheidler said he reached out to the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin years ago asking Bernardin to do something about her, but nothing happened.

His group and numerous others inside and outside the Church have spoken out in recent weeks about Quinn, helping fuel a buzz in the blogosphere.

Mulcahey was quoted in a previous news article as saying that Quinn volunteered as an escort to help "women who are verbally abused by protestors. Her stance is that if the protestors were not abusive, she would not be there."

Meanwhile, the rest of the Sinsinawa statement released Tuesday reads: "We as Sinsinawa Dominican women are called to proclaim the Gospel through the ministry of preaching and teaching to participate in the building of a holy and just society. As Dominican religious, we fully support the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the dignity and value of every human life from conception to natural death. We believe that abortion is an act of violence that destroys the life of the unborn. We do not engage in activity that witnesses to support of abortion."

By ChicagoCatholicNews
Contact: info@chicagocatholicnews.com

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