As an update to two stories I recently wrote about, I read in the paper 900 Roman Catholic nuns are meeting this week in St. Louis, MO to discuss their future relationship with the Vatican. As they would say in the south:
“Is ya’ll succeeding from thar state (meaning are you separating from the church)?”
According to the St. Louis Post – Dispatch:
“…the Vatican report was released in April, … has resonated with some American Catholics who feel bishops have become too focused on gay marriage and abortion. Many took issue with the Vatican report that denounced the sisters’ group — which represents nuns who work with the poor and sick — for being ‘silent on the right to life from conception to natural death” and for leaving “the Church’s biblical view of family life and human sexuality” off its “agenda.“”
Seriously, I know the nuns would never split from the Church, but personally, I find this so funny. The Vatican denounced the sister’s group on the right to life from ‘conception to natural death?’
One would think that the ‘conception to natural death’ would be central and include such things as combating poverty, illness, sex trafficking, etc. Ah … not exactly. To find a truer definition, one only needs to look at the St. Louis Respect Life Apostate and their mission statement (or maybe that’s their personal mission perspective):
“… promoting the Catholic Church’s teachings on respect for and legal protection of every human life from conception to natural death by coordinating educational, spiritual, pastoral, and public policy advocacy efforts with particular focus on those issues in the culture that threaten life – abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and unethical advances in scientific technology.”
So that’s it? Just issues focusing on abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, etc., etc.? Man … that’s whacked. What happened to child welfare, healthcare reform, housing insecurity, increased use of self-medication, lack of education, unsafe sex, ineffective parenting, inability to hold a job, lack of self-care, suicide, spousal abuse, incest, crime, assault, battering, rape, and homicide? Nada!
I also find it interesting that conservative American churchmen in Rome, including disgraced former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, were key players in pushing the hostile takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Many have long viewed the LCWR with suspicion for emphasizing social justice over loyalty to church hierarchy on issues such as abortion and gay marriage.
Still, Law was joined by a former archbishop of St. Louis, Cardinal Raymond Burke, who was named to a top Vatican judicial post in 2008 — a move that was seen as a case of being “kicked upstairs” because Burke’s hard-line views made him so controversial in the U.S. Also reportedly backing the probe was Cardinal James Stafford, a former Denver archbishop.
The fact that Burke and Law, who were given refuge in 2002 after the sexual abuse scandal exploded in Boston, played a key role in the investigation of the LCWR has been like salt in the wound for those who support the nuns.
I believe the LCWR should have grudge match with Bishop Leonard Blair at the villa in Grant Park. I mean think about it … The ‘Thrilla at the Villa.’
If you see any of the LCRW, tell them I said to kick butt.