Nuns are cool. Well, you may feel differently if you had one of the stern ones as a piano teacher as a kid, but I have conversed with a number of Roman Catholic sisters through the years who are smart, spiritual, and don't take a back seat to anyone. Some have addressed the connection between faith and the environment by greening their convents. Others have been fearless in addressing controversial social issues. There are even the uppity sisters who publicly question why women can't move into more significant role of leadership
Thist seems to be a problem for the Vatican. Recently it was revealed that an archbishop has been appointed in North America to ride herd on the heifers who won't stay with the herd, citng "serious doctrinal problems." The nuns union --well, that's not quite what they call themselves is stunned by this assessment.
It would be bull if there is a heavy-handed crackdown by the Vatican. The nuns offer a vibrant Christian voice in a church which is foundering under the weight of its patriarchy.
Have you heard about this? What is your reaction?
Not overly suprising, considering the history of the organization.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite shocking to me that the nuns whose lives daily exemplify Jesus's social gospel are being subjected to what is clearly an attack on feminism. Nuns, although we tend to ignore this, are feminists in action. The attack centers around issues of sexuality – use of contraception, same sex relationships and similar doctrines of the church. The suggestion is, from what I have been reading, that it is thought that the nuns are straying too far from Christianity by not endorsing these doctrines. The Vatican would like a greater emphasis placed on church doctrine, which in many cases limits or renders impossible the effectiveness of the nuns’ work. For example, how helpful is it to tie a nun’s hands over contraception use if she is serving a population where poor mothers are raising children they can’t afford, or if she is working in an area with a high incidence of AIDS.
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Speaking of nuns....a painter was hired to do some work on a local church. To recoup the discount he had given the church, he diluted his paint with turpentine.
ReplyDeleteOne day, while up on the scaffolding and almost finished with the job, he heard a clap of thunder and the rain came down in buckets. It came down so hard it washed the thinned paint off the church and knocked the painter off the scaffolding and onto the ground.
He knew this was a warning from above, and got on his knees and cried out, "Forgive me Lord, what should I do?!"
From the clouds boomed a voice: "Repaint, repaint....and thin no more!"
Yes, I had read the Vatican was not overly impressed with the "Sisters" of late and in their usual male dominating way were squashing any resistance the Nuns were exhibiting to the old school doctrines. I was raised in the Catholic faith and attended their schools and Mass until grade 8. I was impressed with the nuns I had as teachers, though some could be harsh they had a soft spot in their hearts for us. Around that time my Mom was told by the local priest that she should stay in an abusive relationship and continue to fulfill her marriage vows and live with her husband who was also physically abusive to his five children. She was told if she left him she could still attend Mass but would not be able to receive Communion. Lucky for us she bravely moved on. How very big of the church to allow her to enter the doors and take a seat in a pew, and this from a priest who had never experienced marriage. So, I am not surprised by anything the Catholic Church is up to or how they justify their reasoning.
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