I believe the religious woman needs to keep two important realities in mind in relating to the hierarchy. First, as the member of a religious community canonically approved by the Church, the woman, by her pubic vows, assumes a prophetic role in the midst of the Church. The religious woman, by word and ministry, calls the Church to be its best self-in-the-world. The prophet is a truth-teller. The prophet speaks truth to power, when the exercise of power is not building up the Body. This is why religious communities are somewhat of a threat to a bishop or priest if they lead by unilateral rather than relational power. Religious communities are meant to be, by their charisms, prophetic communities within the Church, calling it to constant authenticity.
Second, the above being said, in practical situations, I believe a religious woman needs to be intentionally “centrist” in her relationships with bishops and priests. This means they should be at a loss in labeling the religious as conservative or progressive. She is a truth-teller, not a partisan believer, and they always know they will get a strait story from her. She will admit the truth of what the conservative thinker is trying to safeguard, and critique the easy dismissal of the tradition by the progressive if it compromises the truth of a situation. She will point out the narrowness of the conservative viewpoint and defend the vision of the progressive. She will search for the truth no matter where it is to be found. She is a bridge-builder between factions. She is about unifying, not about dividing.
This posture is possible only if grounded in deep contemplative prayer. Without this grounding, one is pressured to sway to the left or the right in the wind of a storm, and the prophetic edge is compromised. Living in this awareness, however, is no easy task. The Dominican religious woman is especially called to it because of the Order’s focus on truth. The position cannot be held without study, because study probes the truth. And so, the Dominican religious woman needs to be grounded in contemplative union with the One who is “the Way,” deeply engaged in study, especially of sacred truth as it sheds light on empirical areas of truth (science, economics, medicine, etc.), and from this firm base she relates.
