American Nuns Vow to Fight Vatican Criticism [View all]

[Are_grits_groceries]

The American nuns who were harshly condemned by the Vatican in April as failing to uphold Catholic doctrine finally responded on Friday in their own strong terms, saying the Vatican’s assessment was based on “unsubstantiated accusations” and a “flawed process,” and has caused scandal, pain and polarization in the Roman Catholic Church.

The nuns issued a statement after six weeks of virtual silence, during which their religious communities across the country mulled over the Vatican’s startling pronouncement, and Catholics across the country rallied to support the nuns. The Vatican had announced it would dispatch three American bishops to lead a complete makeover of the sisters’ principal organization, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents about 80 percent of the nation’s 57,000 nuns.
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The Vatican ordered a “doctrinal assessment” of the women’s leadership conference in 2008 after years of concerns about its direction. The conference was formed in 1956 to provide communication and coordination among communities of sisters, and is a canonical organization, which means it answers to the Vatican. The assessment concluded that the leadership conference had hosted speakers who “often contradict or ignore” church teaching; had never revoked a statement from 1977 that questioned the male-only priesthood, and focused their efforts on serving the poor and disenfranchised, while remaining virtually silent on issues the church considers great societal evils: abortion and same-sex marriage.

It also reprimanded the sisters for making public statements that “disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.” Many influential nuns who work in hospitals and health care had supported passage of the Obama administration’s health care overhaul, crossing wires with bishops who were working with Congress to forestall the bill’s passage because of their concerns about abortion.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/us/nuns-speak-about-vatican-criticism.html?_r=1

I think the nuns should have been sent to reorganize the Vatican. That country needs a coup and is run by a group of venal and immoral mooks who have little real interest in serving Christ.
When they have let pedophile priests run amok without censure and moved them around to escape the authorites, they have lost all moral authority over anything except a group of slugs. Even that is in question.
The Vatican and the Cloven-footed Red Hats have picked on the wrong group. I don't know where this will end, but I am rooting for the Sisters.
Can you say schism?