Check this out. Apparently America’s Catholic nuns aren’t hateful enough for the Vatican.
The Vatican has launched a crackdown on the umbrella group that represents most of America’s 55,000 Catholic nuns, saying that the group was not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion and women’s ordination.
(From The Washington Post)
“I’m stunned,” said Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby founded by sisters. Her group was also cited in the Vatican document, along with the Leadership Conference, for focusing its work too much on poverty and economic injustice, while keeping “silent” on abortion and same-sex marriage.
(From The New York Times)
This to me exemplifies what is wrong with the Catholic Church. The leadership spends more time worrying about the hereafter than the here and now. It’s more important to stick to the Church’s antiquated doctrine–or those parts of it they still choose to consider relevant at any rate–than it is to try to make the world we live in right now a better place. Instead of concentrating on helping real, living people have better lives and in some cases just stay alive, the Church would have them focus their efforts more on protecting some bundles of cells, attacking the gays and keeping women in their place. How preposterous! It seems like these nuns are sticking much closer to the teachings of Christ than the bishops and the Pope.
It’s not like these sisters were marching in gay pride parades or counseling women to have an abortion. No, they’re getting in trouble for staying too silent in their opposition to the gays and abortion! They are not espousing the hate the Vatican wants them to, and must be punished!
This seems to also be about keeping the “women religious” (as nuns are officially known) in their place, as they were also chastised because a few dozen nuns signed a statement in support of President Obama’s healthcare reform despite the official opposition of American Bishops.
To the Pope and his cronies, doctrine and obedience are key. Hate trumps love. I’m willing to bet most of these nuns didn’t join up to be enforcers of Catholic religious dogma. They probably joined to share their love of Christ and help people in need, which is something on which the male clergy, particularly the bishops, might need a refresher.
And if the Vatican is really so concerned about marriage, maybe they should urge the nuns to speak out more against divorce. Even if gay marriage was legal everywhere there would still be more heterosexual divorces each year than same-sex weddings.
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