..."In his Holy Thursday sermon, Pope Benedict XVI made headlines for criticizing those who refuse to obey the church's position on the ordination of celibate men. He traced his argument back to Christ's obedience to the will of God ...the pontiff fails to point out that Jesus was obeying God while also radically disobeying the religious leaders and laws of his time. ... I suppose the pope is using some of this same logic in his treatment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. He views the sisters' unwillingness to condemn gays and lesbians or contraception or women who feel called ordained ministry as an act of "caprice."But the basis on which the sisters focus their ministries is anything but shallow and whimsical. Their devotion is founded on a radical obedience to the voice of God as it emerges from the voices of the poor, the sick, the abandoned and the broken.Most sisters spend their lives immersed in the deepest sufferings of our world. They don't just stop by the soup kitchen on Ash Wednesday for a photo op. Some actually live in shelters with homeless women, orphans or the addicted..."
"Any disagreements on contraception likely stem from the sisters' work with
poor, homeless and battered women. They harbor girls enslaved in the sex trade,
women trapped in abusive relationships and mothers abandoned to poverty.Many sisters still run hospitals and are medical professionals. They have
seen firsthand the price that so many women pay for husbands and boyfriends who
refuse to wear condoms yet still demand sex. Every day, they see patients who
have been date raped or women who bear life-threatening pregnancies. Many sisters are theologians, ethicists, spiritual directors and teachers.
They engage students and directees in their metaphysical and existential
questions. They spend hours listening to stories and struggles and aid in
discerning ethical dilemmas and spiritual crises. And though technically they
cannot confer absolution, they have heard countless confessions.Some women religious do support the ordination of women. They have dedicated
their entire lives to being a sacrament in the world, yet they have been told
that their bodies are not worthy of consecrating the Eucharist or giving last
rites to an ailing patient whom they have shepherded through sickness unto
death.
With such an intensely sacramental life, it should be no wonder that sisters have deep intellectual curiosity and spiritual longings. With hearts so regularly broken open, why wouldn't they ask deeper questions of this mysterious world that brims with the power of a wounded God? With all that they've witnessed, how could they not entertain the possibility that holiness can be present in same-sex love or in the body of a woman priest?..."
[Jamie L. Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her columns for NCR earned her a first prize Catholic Press Association award for Best Column/Regular Commentary in 2010.]
With such an intensely sacramental life, it should be no wonder that sisters have deep intellectual curiosity and spiritual longings. With hearts so regularly broken open, why wouldn't they ask deeper questions of this mysterious world that brims with the power of a wounded God? With all that they've witnessed, how could they not entertain the possibility that holiness can be present in same-sex love or in the body of a woman priest?..."
[Jamie L. Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her columns for NCR earned her a first prize Catholic Press Association award for Best Column/Regular Commentary in 2010.]
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In an update on the Women Religious sex scandal, William Joseph Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that all of the women religious involved in the night out in Cartagena, Colombia, had now been disciplined.
"At this point, all have either been cleared of serious misconduct, resigned, retired, been notified of personnel actions to permanently revoke their security clearances, or have been proposed for permanent removal for cause," Levada said.
"The CDF is committed to conducting a full, thorough and fair investigation in this matter, and will not hesitate to take appropriate action should any additional information come to light."
We get it already. 13,537 signatures around the altar at:
http://www.change.org/petitions/support-the-sisters
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