Vatican Tries to Lock Down Nuns

Jun 18, 2012

The Vatican has recently been working overtime to show just how much it despises women.

In April, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith censured the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)–which represents 80% of American nuns–for promoting “radical feminist themes.” Last week, it reaffirmed that position, warning the group that it must buckle to Vatican doctrine or risk decertification.

Radical feminism, to the Vatican, apparently includes acknowledging the existence of homosexuality and abortion. It includes taking stands on social justice issues and against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because those are the kinds of positions the LCWR is in trouble for.

Most of the people who have gone to Catholic school would be surprised to hear that the nuns who taught them are radical feminists!

The Vatican has even gone so far as to place the LCWR under the control of a man–the Archbishop Peter Sartain, who has been given the task of overhauling the group, rewriting its statutes, and reviewing its plans and programs. Because, you know, women can’t be trusted to control their own organizations anymore.

So far, the LCWR has not buckled under the pressure or accepted control from the Archbishop.

At the same time the Vatican is attacking the nuns’ commitment to social justice, church leaders in the U.S. have been showing how opposed they are to the cause of justice: they’ve been battling state legislatures’ attempts to stretch or remove statutes of limitations on sex abuse cases–so victims of abuse by priests could no longer bring charges or lawsuits against the Church!

If anybody wanted an example of the harm caused by religious backwardness, the Catholic Church is providing plenty!