U.S. Nuns Facing Sweeping Vatican Investigation

The New York Times:

The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition.

Read the whole story: The New York Times

Comments

[jalowe1957]

Why is it that, given how patriarchical and male-dominated the church universal is, why do you think they are targeting nuns, who have the moral equivalent of second-class citizenship within the church?

This is all about the subjugation of women, plain and simple.

[MizLiz]

Aren't ALL religions? They were all thought up by men, with the sole purpose of taking away power from women. It's enough to make a gal want to investigate Wicca more thoroughly. We are a lot more than breeders or housekeepers.

[offred]

Absolutely. And all the accepted religious books, like the Bible and the Qu'ran, were written and edited with a patriarchal slant, especially since teaching women to read is a relatively new thing.

[kindGSL]

Not ALL religions. I am so tired of hearing that.

Yes investigate Wicca, there is all kinds of interesting stuff out there. Just don't forget, all religion is make believe, and real. Be careful what you wish for.

There are other woman friendly religions, go look.

[helonias]

What about suggestion #4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

[1dogs2]

If this Pope lives long enough, he will have the same effect on the US Catholic Church as the Protestant fundamentalists are having on the GOP.

[who38]

From your lips to God's ear. Can't happen soon enough.

[dynwitch]

Does anyone doubt that the Vatican will investigate these activist nuns much more thoroughly than they investigated their priests during the pedophilia scandal?

If you're a woman and you're standing up in the world against injustice and poverty, then you are suspect.

If you're a male priest, "standing up for what you believe" takes on a whole new context.

[BeenieMon]

the N.A.Z.I. pope loves him some misogyny

oh...b.t.w......that's EXACTLY what Jeebus would do!

Halleluuuuuuuuuuuuujah.....PRAIZE DE LAAAWD

[scjk67]

ah heres a joke for y'all.....

One day a new munk went to Vatican, he was a very special person who knew of all Latin languages. the Pope had him assigned to the basement to study the books that were written many thousand years since Christ had risen. this munk was in the basement for weeks and nobody had heard from him, the Pope himself was worried and finally decided to visit the munk in the basement, when the Pope finally got down there and open the secured door finding the munk bawling his eyes out. the Pope felt compassion and asked the crying munk what was the matter, the munk looked up and wailed " we had it all wrong!!!..... the word celibate is all wrong....it means we should celebrate!!!! "

[MizLiz]

Monk. Not Munk.

[offred]

You may have misspelled monk, but to the punchline, I say, "HALLELUJAH!!"

[scjk67]

i realized that, ooops, my bad for not proof reading.

[Paulied]

Is the punchline that the pope felt compassion? That's the part that made me laugh.

[MED1025]

Since most nuns in the United States are north of 60 years old, the problem of nuns straying from orthodoxy will solve itself in a few years.

[inorbit]

This is what happens when you make someone Pope who was once head of the Vatican department that ran The Inquisition back in the old days.

I'm not joking.

A lot of religious were concerned about this when Benedict was made Pope.

[MizLiz]

Not just religious.......

[offred]

Now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. New name, soon to be the same old story. : P

[tandrmcdonald]

I'm still waiting for an explanation of the discrepancy between the billions in the Vatican coffers, and the abject poverty of its own third world missions. If the Vatican honchos spent even a fraction of its wealth, they could take a huge chunk out of world poverty and their missionaries, ( who are probably the only Catholic clergy actually doing what they call Christ's work) would not have to go begging for money for food. The real sin here is that the boys club in the Vatican eat like kings and sleep on silk sheets while people are dying of starvation and sleeping in the streets of the world.
Sure the allegations against some nuns are horrendous and are unfortunately paralleled only by the uninvestigated allegations against the priesthood. (I went to a Catholic grammar school, some of the nuns shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near children.) We all know the old saying; A fish rots from the head down. If the Catholic Church really wants to clean up its act it must start at the top.
Anything else is just public relations.
Gramma Rose

[offred]

Ratzie wears red silk slippers by Prada. Leather sandals were good enough for Jesus.

[donchep]

Why is this under politics? Is the RCC an official arm of one of the parties now?

[zizizzi]

Organized religion has ALWAYS been about politics...
It was the priests that crowned the kings.

Look at the USA... Anyone who wants to run for president HAS to say they are a christian and that they hold "christian values".

[MizLiz]

...and we see just how faithfully they adhere to those values....

[who38]

You didn't know? Happens in all religions.

[Human-Being]

Wow where was the sweeping investigations of priests years ago. As a non practicing Catholic, the nuns are the least of my fears.

[kps888]

A-freakin-men to that. This pope has reinstated holocaust deniers to the church, overlooked abusive priests and supported governments that torture and kill gay people. I am astonished the Vatican believes they hold any moral authority whatsoever anymore.

[offred]

Frankly, I'm surprised the Irish government hasn't kicked the religious orders involved in child abuse and child labor out of the country.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8059826.stm

[offred]

The church has also been slow to investigate sexual abuse of nuns by priests in Africa.

http://www.cta-usa.org/watch04-01/abuseofnuns.html

[lvdragonlady]

Two things. First off the RCC should be investigating priests not the nuns. If the article is correct and the RCC wants them back in habits and all that goes with it, sound very much like some religions in the middle east, don't you think?

[Pema]

"some religions"..what relgions would those be? the middle east is the birth place of christianity, judism...is that what you meant? of course it wouldnt be islam as they havent nuns, niether does judism. and you arent familiar with islam so i am confused as to what you meant...you wouldnt have been making a bigoted jab..so pelase explain what you meant.

[doublels]

I'm sure dragonlady meant the burka, even though the poor ladies who have to wear them/choose to wear them, are not nuns. Either way, it's subjugation of women.

[LongInTheTooth]

None of this surprises me; the church has always been suspicious of its women. (And I say this as born and bred Roman Catholic.)

[HopeisEternal]

Me too. The institutional church is misogynous and has successfully disenfranchised 50% of its members from full participation. But Jesus has promised that what you sow, you will reap.

The priesthood is withering away. It is an old world impulse that is no longer relevent in these times. Furthermore, Jesus did not found a priesthood. He railed against the priesthood of his day. Why would he have wanted to create something that he was against, the "fundamentalists" who punished those who they deemed were outside of the law? His religion was founded in the hearts of his followers and the temple within, not bricks and mortar.

[Perry Clease]

I thought they had stopped making them. They look young in that photo, all of the nuns I have seen over the last few years had been quite experienced. I remember some of the Nuns I had as teachers back in the '50s as being some of the most intelligent and caring people I have ever met. However,there were a few at the opposite end of the spectrum.

[HelloooCanada]

Cardinal Rode, bring in... THE COMFY CHAIR!

[BeenieMon]

i guess they didn't expect a kind of spanish inquisition.