Catholic Nuns

At the end of this month, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will meet to formulate a response to a Vatican trap whose cunning is best appreciated within the long tradition of religious authorities who craft impossible dilemmas for those they perceive as threats.

While Pope John Paul II's relationship with American nuns appeared to rein in the more exuberant experiments and freedoms they embraced after Vatican II, Pope Benedict XVI's recent decree is drop-dead shocking.

Does the Pope really want to force American Catholics to choose between standing with our nuns or with a male hierarchy interrogating them for nebulous infractions, with a stated agenda of keeping their findings secret?

Why doesn't my Catholic Church get its own house in order first? Get the plank/log/boulder/semi truck/elephant out of its own eye before it tries to remove a speck from another's eye?

Whatever the sisters might have done to cross invisible lines of vowed obedience according to Church rules, they have done so with courage and conviction. They deserve reverence, not retribution.

Do most of us believe that the bishops are the only "authentic teachers of faith and morals?" The sisters may be the most positive face of the Catholic Church today, and they are keeping people in the Church who would have given up on the all-male hierarchy long ago.

All institutional power in the official Church is held by ordained men. These men seem to believe that protecting the institution requires that they demand absolute unity of doctrine and unquestioning obedience to their own decisions.

The Vatican is losing the war of public opinion in the pews. It needs to flex its muscles. It needs to create fresh fear.

With each new outrageous act of control, the bishops are looking more like desperate old men, attempting to hold on to the last vestiges of their fading authority by defending their power over the institution while ignoring the gospel.

Secret #1: Don't let religion get in the way of your relationship with God.

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This week, Catholic nuns sent a letter to Washington leaders urging them to vote for the health care reform bill. When it comes to being pro-life, you best listen to the ladies.

Finally, a logical, practical interpretation from some in the religious community of what it truly means to be "pro-life." Kudos to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Bishops and Fed officials may think they are beyond examination. But for the good of the organizations themselves, the rest of us need to bring them to earth and demand accountability.