Not exactly great news has burst forth this weekend. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8211612/Get-thee-out-of-a-nunnery-bishop-tells-sisters.html and/or http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2010/12/15/nuns-leave-walsingham-priory-to-join-ordinariate/ I feel sad because I have met all three of the sisters who have decided to leave - indeed, I went around the High Kirk of St Giles with Jane Louise in full habit and we discovered that their douce Presbyterian gift shoppe was flogging rosaries to the faithful at a higher price than the Anglicans in Walsingham!
I can't say that this comes as much of a surprise and I think it is a pity that it all came to grief in this way but you can hardly have 3 sisters out of 7 in the house wanting away to Rome and still in residence. I can understand the older sisters anger at being "left in the lurch" but they are supposed to understand what it is to "follow a vocation". The thing is, a vocation is never static. Stable and rooted in Christ yes, but never static. I can understand the call leading to a move of communion, particularly if part of that vocation has involved in living and working in an ecumenical atmosphere (one where admittedly there is hee-haw contact with Reformed Churches). It's all very sad and I can only pray for those on the move and those who remain.
