Follow-Up to WATERtalk with Christine Schenk “Shaping a Full Life”
Bending Toward Justice: Sr Kate Kuenstler and the Struggle for Parish Rights
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 

     WATER thanks Christine Schenk for her scholarship and commitment to the rights of all, especially of lay Catholics. Her book on Sr. Kate Kuenstler is a thoroughly researched and well-written contribution to church history. This book makes clear the power available to lay people in canon law if only we know the truth.

     The video of the WATER program can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zf21E3xeRo&t=73s Chris’ Power Point, as seen in the video, is a very useful summary of her study. Kate’s life’s work, making canon law work for all, is seen in the many parishes and dioceses where she labored. She helped parishes make their own decisions about their future, rather than being arbitrarily, and sometimes with great duplicity, closed against the will of the community.        

Mary E. Hunt’s Introduction to Chris Schenk

     Chris Schenk is a longtime friend of WATER, no stranger here.  She is a Sister of St. Joseph who lives in Cleveland. She is a nurse/midwife. She has dedicated her life to women’s well-being.

     Chris is the founding director of the Cleveland-based group FutureChurch which has as its goal “to seek changes that will provide all Roman Catholics the opportunity to participate fully in Church life and leadership.” She has been active in the Catholic Organizations for Renewal coalition and is a tireless supporter of those who are marginalized in church and society.

     This book, Bending Toward Justice: Sr. Kate Kuenstler and the Struggle for Parish Rights (Sheed and Ward, 2025), focuses on the bold work of lay people to push back against the institutional Roman Catholic Church that has closed many parishes to pay off the nearly $4 billion costs incurred because of clergy sexual abuse and episcopal coverups.       

     Chris is a scholar and activist who has introduced many people to the real story about Mary of Magdala and other women in the early church. She is the author of the highly acclaimed biography of the late, great Mercy Sister Theresa Kane, To Speak the Truth in Love: A Biography of Theresa Kane RSM. On Nov. 4, 2020, the two of them did a WATERtalk which can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1nFgq39kY4. I went back to it and it really is a wonder. Chris’ brilliant capturing of Theresa’s life between hard covers is a labor of love. Theresa spoke of her views then a scant five years ago. She indicated that the institutional church was pretty much in her rear-view mirror, but that women like Chris and colleagues were doing the work of justice. I recommend the biography highly and commend the video to your viewing.

     Today, we are discussing another of Chris’ labors of love, the story of “Sr. Kate Kuenstler and the Struggle for Parish Rights” as the subtitle reads. Kate’s story is about the struggle of ordinary Catholic parishes being threatened with closure by the institutional church to pay for the bill for clergy sexual abuse that many bishops covered up. She changed the course of canon law by pushing the Vatican to come clean on procedures allowing many more people and groups to access their rights.

    Kate was a member of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, a German-founded Catholic women’s order. The founder, St. Katharina Kasper, started the group in 1851, eventually sending members to England and the Netherlands, and later to Fort Wayne, Indiana. St. Katharina Kasper was canonized by Pope Francis on October 14, 2017, 8 years ago yesterday. Their motherhouse is in Donaldson, Indiana, where they continue their work in education and health care, among other things. I visited there earlier this year and was taken by their hospitality and progressive vision.

     Kate Kuenstler was a good example of the Poor Handmaids’ commitment to “follow our attentive listening with courageous action of the mind, hands and heart.” (https://poorhandmaids.org/ministries/ ). I will let Chris tell her story. It is the story of a gutsy if subtle woman who succeeded in a previously male-only field, Catholic canon law. She literally rewrote some of the rules of engagement so that lay Catholics could exercise their ecclesiastical rights.

      I only wish that I had known her personally. Thanks to this wonderful book, I feel as if I did. I am indebted to her.

Program Notes        

    (See the video for Chris’s Power Point and detailed treatment of the issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zf21E3xeRo&t=73s)

    Chris Schenk offered an encyclopedic overview of how Sr. Kate Kuenstler and others challenged the ways that Catholic Canon Law was used to the detriment of many parishes. Procedural issues trumped the real needs and desires of communities. The result was that many rulings were decided on the basis of technical matters of timeline compliance, for example, rather than on the substance of a living, breathing community. By making the rules and processes clear to people, Kate and colleagues opened up new expectations of fair play and pastoral considerations as part of the decision-making on parish closures. As a result of that work, many more parishes have a ‘fighting’ chance to stay open despite some bishops’ efforts to balance their deficit budgets resultant of abuse.

Q+A/Discussion and Remarks from the Chat

     Discussion ensued after Chris’ tour de force presentation on the many and varied parish closing cases. There was lots of praise for Chris and Kate as so many are in their debt both for the cases and for the reporting on them. Note that Chris was involved in some of the work with local groups, especially in Cleaveland. FutureChurch, a group she led, is a font of information on how to handle such problems https://futurechurch.org/save-our-parish .

Among the many issues raised were the following:

  1. A question arose as to whether Kate Kuenstler’s work has led other canon lawyers to take up this work. Chris mentioned the St. Joseph Foundation, among other groups and individuals who are following in Kate’s footsteps with the hope that cases can be won despite ecclesial opposition. While some parishes have needed to close, the closing of vital parishes, especially in poor neighborhoods, is an assault on the Body of Christ in Chris’ view. Look on the FutureChurch website for names of helpful canonists https://futurechurch.org/ .
  2. The Chicago Archdiocese is undergoing church closings with significant impact on poor communities. A 2023 CARA study on the Cleveland Diocese is relevant in this regard. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/629c7d00b33f845b6435b6ab/t/660edcdf5ab41c6d320b99b7/1712250080847/FCCleveland.pdf

Bottom line: People need to push back https://futurechurch.org/save-our-parish/ .

  1. The Syracuse Diocese recently announced an odd arrangement. The local bishop is taking over as the pastor of three parishes. It is not clear whether these churches will be closed or even merged. But questions of the quality of pastoral care are huge in any case.
  2. A report from the Boston areas shared where parishioners staged a sit-in in a church in Scituate, MA for ten years to keep it from closing. They were ejected by Sean Cardinal O’Malley. Prime oceanfront property was involved, to no one’s huge surprise.
  3. St. Vincent DePaul Parish in Baltimore, MD is threatened with closure. How long does it take for the Vatican Congregation for Clergy to respond? Chris reported that it can take a long time, but the longer it takes the more favorable the case may be to those who are petitioning to keep a parish open. FYI–70% of Baltimore’s Black parishes were closed.
  4. Violation of procedures rather than on substance is why many cases are lost. It is important to work in a timely way. Chris recommends that as soon as the initial letter is sent to the local bishop, parish groups are advised to line up the arguments to send to Rome. That way, as soon as a response comes back there is no time lost in pursuing the case. Many canonists, especially those with a simple licentiate, make mistakes. Many cases that are settled in favor of the parish are because of errors by incompetent canonists.
  5. Kate Kuenstler was quiet about her work, especially since she was doing a lot of it at the time of the Apostolic Visitation of women’s religious communities. Chris’ book is a way now to bring that important work to light to help others.
  6. Because Canon Law is global, people from all over the world have downloaded resources from FutureChurch. Irish efforts were mentioned.
  7. The personal toll on Kate Kuenstler was real. Her struggle with depression was hard. Many people who do this kind of work experience physical and psychological impacts. We all have to be very attentive to our own well-being. Her achievements in changing jurisprudence is a large contribution to the global church. Nonetheless, mistreatment by institutional church officials can be damaging to individuals. Kate had good support from her colleagues and religious community, and she did it her way.
  8. Some California cases were described, including instances where pastors inflated the cost of projects like new altar linens, carpeting etc. Lack of financial oversight can be a significant problem. Canon law requires a finance council, but in some parishes there is no public information about whether there is a council, and if so, who is on it.
  9. Also discussed were cases where named gifts, in one case a gift to be used to make a church complex accessible, were not respected. Again, fiscal oversight is often honored in the breach.
  10. Background information on Pope Leo when he was a bishop in Peru was shared. He was strong on the role and rights of laity. A suggestion was to send this volume to bishops in training and to him. Such international sharing through networks helps to empower more people.
  11. A question arose: How much money does it cost a small parish to bring a case to Rome? While the processes are free, Chris recommends hiring a canon lawyer which is an expense. If a case goes on appeal to the Apostolic Signatura, it is necessary to hire special canon lawyers in Rome who handle such cases at a cost of about $1500. Kate, as well as the St. Joseph Foundation, worked pro bono.
  12. The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, Kate’s community, was very supportive of her work.
  13. Many more such parish closing cases will emerge, so having Chris’ book and Kate’s work is all the more important. There are many tales of morally treacherous actions by institutional officials. For example, merging thriving, rich parishes with poor parishes can be a way for a diocese to get the new entity to pay the debt from the previously poor church.

     A fundamental distinction that Chris points out is the difference between a parish community and a church building. Often that confusion unto conflation of the two is the source of tremendous hurt and injustice.

    Chris recommends some resources for use by people/parishes seeking to keep their communities alive and growing. The Save Our Parish Community project resources can be found at: https://futurechurch.org/save-our-parish/.

    WATER thanks Chris Schenk, and in absentia Kate Kuenstler, for the important work of making canonical rights public.

Reviews of Chris’ book can be found at:

  1. Chávez, Yolanda. “’Bending Toward Justice’ Raises a Prophetic Call for Synodality and Community.” National Catholic Reporter, 12 Apr. 2025. ncronline.org/culture/book-reviews/bending-toward-justice-raises-prophetic-call-synodality-and-community.
  2. Hanna, Erin Saiz, “Christine Schenk, CSJ, Bending Toward Justice: Sr. Kate Kuenstler and the Struggle for Parish Rights.” NewWomen, NewChurch, Summer 2025.

Thanks and all good wishes,

WATER Staff