Free Speech, Justice, Religion, Things That Tick Me Off

American Nuns Reprimanded For “Radical Feminism” By Vatican

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Well, Sally Field must be aghast. How could even her bird’s-eye view have predicted the over the top report from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith? Once the province of current Pope Benedict, the watchdog of orthodoxy that took such a hands-off approach to the child sexual molestation within the priesthood, has issued a stinging reprimand to all American nuns for “certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.”

Headed by American Cardinal William Levada, the crowd that  gave us the Inquisition and who tried Galileo,  has ordered a crackdown on all U.S. nuns.  Overseen by three middle-aged white men American bishops, the Vatican wants the good sisters to toe the Vatican’s increasingly fundamentalist line. And what was the doctrinal crime that got the nuns in trouble? Why, their apparent heretical support for such outlandish positions  as supporting universal health care under Obama’s plan, sensitivity to marriage rights for gays, and –God forbid it — advocating females for admission to the priesthood. They are even under scrutiny for praying for Girl Scouts.

As with other tone-deaf proclamations by the RCC, this one has produced an outpouring of support for a group of dedicated women whose average age is 69. There are about 75,000 nuns in the US — down from their heyday in 1965 when the ranks numbered about 180,000. Still this feisty few aren’t taking the recrimination sitting down.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which serves as the umbrella group for most orders of nuns, has responded with a duly obsequious statement but armed with enough teeth in it to get attention from the beanie wearing gang in Rome. “Board members concluded that the assessment was based on unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency,” the group said after a three-day meeting. “Moreover, the sanctions imposed were disproportionate to the concerns raised and could compromise their ability to fulfill their mission.”

The nuns, themselves, armed with considerable support from the laity have taken to the streets. Nationwide vigils and rallies have occurred. Protestors showed up at the Vatican’s embassy in Washington D.C. (Query: Why does the Vatican need an embassy?) to register their dismay at the slightly misogynistic message implicit in the church’s smack-down. More than 50,000 people have signed an online petition asking the Vatican to withdraw its order.
Besides that external support, many nuns are furious at their depiction as a group of radicals.  “Our sisters have fed the hungry, healed the sick and stood with the marginalized, so they’re wondering, how can these men in the Vatican criticize us?” said Donna Quinn, a nun from Chicago who helps run the liberal National Coalition of American Nuns. Submitting to the Vatican’s demands would be akin to “allowing an oppressive regime to come in with a hostile takeover,” Quinn said.
Let me state my disclaimer that I am an unabashed supporter of these fine, dedicated women. Growing up in the 60s, these dedicated women (yep, I meant it twice) were my school teachers and nurses. More than once I saw them marginalized and dismissed by parish priests who occupied an almost God-like stature in those institutions. They accepted their fate with humility and grace earning my respect. I find this church-borne slur against their character unacceptable and fraught with ingratitude. Imagine dedicating your life to improving the lives of others only to be reprimanded by your superiors for advocating a place at the all-male table?
The Vatican has been officially hush-hush in response to the burgeoning crisis in the States. Through  their  presumed intermediaries they are getting their licks in however. Older Americans, especially, may think of nuns as pious schoolteachers, but “times have changed and so have the sisters,” intoned Russell Shaw, a former spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who supports the Vatican’s move. Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, who was appointed by the Vatican to supervise reform of the nuns’ group took pains to praise American nuns as a “great gift.”  He added that he hoped to work with them “in a way that shows our continued love and support for their extraordinary contribution.”
Sounds like the wolf praising the chickens before entering the hen-house to me.
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

80 thoughts on “American Nuns Reprimanded For “Radical Feminism” By Vatican”

  3. Oro Lee,

    Nice. Did you stop them and ask to join in? Would if you could, I betcha.

    Let me tell of a mosque in Cordoba. Revised by the Chistian re-conquerors, and has a cathedral neatly built in one corner, the rest is intact.
    Let us for the moment forgot how they solved important arechitectural problems and talk of god’s presence instead.

    If you remember that Mohammed fled Mecca, and his first sermons were made to his converts in Medina and his own followers in a date plantation.
    The multiple pillars of palm trees are mirrored in the colunbs of this mosques. The arches symbolize the fronded branchs expanding at the top of each tree.

    It engenders a nice mindfullness of being at the first preachings. I wonder if Christians feel the same when having communion.

  4. Ealaine Pagels, that’s the lady professor. Very readable and amusing the one I read. Cerainly not meant for acadaemics.

    Lotta, You got it. That’s what I wwanted you to feel. Although you define the content with your, not mine.

    Blouise, What did it lead to? Am alwasys wondering about the answer from folks to that one.

  5. “But when I saw a minivan of nuns and laity driving around D.C. at 2:00 am on a frigid January morning giving out blankets and warm drink to street people, that minivan was a church.”

    I really do dig your take on Christianity, Oro.

  6. I’ve hear that the ABCs of churches (cathedrals, synagogues, mosques, . . . ) are attendance, buildings, and cash. Those in charge keep the focus on the need for attendance so they can emphasize the need for cash for a bunch of really worthylike stuff, but it mostly goes to buildings and the folks who work in them.

    I don’t dare to speak for God or what he thinks, but anytime I walk into a cathedral, church, synagogue, or mosque I really, really doubt that any of them is what God intended or desires. But when I saw a minivan of nuns and laity driving around D.C. at 2:00 am on a frigid January morning giving out blankets and warm drink to street people, that minivan was a church.

  7. Great post, Mark. I was taught by Franciscan sisters in grade school and my experience parallels yours. My view is that the hierarchy is in a near state of paranoia and striking blindly in every direction in a misguided effort to restore its moral authority in the wake of the abuse scandals.

    For those interest in the gnostic gospels, I suggest you check out Elaine Pagels, perhaps the leading contemporary scholar on gnosticism.

  8. pete does it again

    id707 … thanks, I’ll check it out.

    As to the books … most of them the university made me buy … preparing a thesis is damnably expensive.

  9. Gene,
    You are right. “pope slap” is classic. Great term pete!
    Elaine,
    The Clan of the Red Beanies is another amazing phrase! So descriptive!

  10. I enjoy reading Charlie Pierce’s politics blog at Esquire. Here’s one of his posts that I thought some of you might enjoy reading:

    A Call to Awaken the Bishops’ Conscience
    By Charles P. Pierce
    http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/catholic-bishops-civil-rights-movement-9285037

    Excerpt:
    This time, The Clan Of The Red Beanie means business. Apparently, in addition to filing nuisance suits around the country, the various clerical errors, who have spent the past decade comfortably free of real punishment for the various felonies against children that they aided and abetted, are now styling themselves as victims, as prisoners of conscience, because the Affordable Care Act mandates that birth control for their Presbyterian charwomen be covered by their health-insurance plans. I link to the Clan’s propaganda site just to give you a taste of the hilarious posturing and ahistorical yahooism attending this latest crusade.

    (You may also notice that Thomas More is back in our politics again. He last made his appearance back during the extended Clinton impeachment kabuki, when several Republican congresscritters cited his words — or, more accurately, cited the words that playwright Robert Bolt put in More’s mouth in A Man For All Seasons regarding the rule of law — in defense of their relentless pursuit of the presidential penis. Apparently, the bishops believe that an insurance company’s being required to cover the Pill is roughly the same offense against conscience as More suffered, and being made party to it is roughly the same punishment as being beheaded. And, anyway, More was a bit of an offender against freedom of conscience his own self, a very enthusiastic fan of heretic flambe. Here are some Catholics arguing about him. Don’t blame me. I don’t know these people.)

    Perhaps the most obviously risible comparison being drawn by the Clan is the one in which they line themselves up as the heirs to Dr. King, quoting the Letter From The Birmingham Jail and all. (‘T’were up to me, several of them currently would be enjoying a closer parallel to that letter, if you get my drift, and I think you do.) “During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Americans shone the light of the Gospel on a dark history of slavery, segregation, and racial bigotry,” the Catholic bishops say in their bulletin insert. “The civil rights movement was an essentially religious movement, a call to awaken consciences.”

  11. Popeslap! “Baby baby, I’m sorry baby, you know I love you, hey, hey — baby, no! Listen, you can go upside my head, you can give me a little knee, but baby, don’t cut my suit ’cause I gotta keep playin’ my game!”

    Ever see the fashion show in Fellini’s ROMA? OMG OMG OMG!

  12. pete,

    I’m with LK. I want you to know I just added “popeslap” to my permanent vocabulary. Well played, sir.

  13. idealit: “Who’s the lady professor who wrote about the Gnostics?
    If I remember right, she said it was quite common in those times to gather disciples around you based on your own preachings as to this and that. Quite simply a way to make a living.”
    ***
    an excerpt from the Gloria Patri is called for: so named for its first two words in Latin, “As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be….” 🙂

    ———————

    Pete “popeslap? really? LOL, You are such an asset to the blawg!

    ——————–

    idealist: Is there something about the arch I should know about? I have stood under it and around it at just about every time of day and night in a variety of straight and totally bent frames of mind- I love the arch- saw it’s “capstone” put in place, hugged all of its 6 sharp angles at ground level both straight and in profoundly transformed (by chemicals) states of mind. I’m not understanding your comment but I do loooooooove the arch. 🙂

  15. Who’s the lady professor who wrote about the Gnostics?
    If I remember right, she said it was quite common in those times to gather disciples around you based on your own preachings as to this and that. Quite simply a way to make a living.

    Well, with that and the realization that I too could have been a Gospel writer if I had found a good publisher then, caused my enthusiam to wane. One man’s gospel is another man’s source to plagiarize. Or whatever.

    Truth? Go fish.

  18. the pimp,excuse me, the pope is just trying to keep his bitches in line. if they keep it up he might have to popeslap them.

  19. Malisha,

    Do you have your lifevest on? I think we got lured into deep water by the sharks. Let’s hope they are friendly. Would you consider saying a few Hebrew prayers.
    Meanwhile I’ll pray to Didymos Judas, who was not the one who gave himself as a slave in return for passage to India, accdg to the legends. Or what say Blouise?

  20. Blouise,

    Thanks.

    India: A history by John Keay, not that you asked.

    What else do you collect? Has the university proposed listing yours as a part of their collection YET

    And if I’m permitted to miswrite, then you can misread. Tit for tat

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