The Catholic Church's Treatment of Nuns Is Polarizing and Alienating

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Their is another group for nuns called council of major superiors of Woman religious. This is a group of religious sisters that are traditional and have nothing to do with this crackdown on nuns by the vatican. These orders are actually growing every day with young ladies, while the other orders are deminishing. These sisters promote the values of the church while they do many good deeds throught the world, like teaching, parish ministries, and world missions in some of the poorest communites in the world.

ly of CA 1:52PM May 28, 2012

Thanks R.L. Your comment was great for a few chuckles. You don't actually believe any of that garbage, right?

Steve of CO 2:42PM May 23, 2012

No, the Bishops are busy running for office, Roman Catholic theology has many ways to handle the issues it is dealing with here and they are not taking them because that would be seen as "accommodating" and not worthy of a "conservative" church prelate who might want to be POPE, and the lackeys who follow them who might want to move upward to a Bishop's Palace.
This is just like the (Bishops/Cardinals) republicans who follow a path to recover power before they follow a path to help their fellow Americans (church members).
Sadly it is all of the same methodology and so lacking in grace.

Jay Saldana of TX 4:49PM May 22, 2012

As long as Catholic men and women who know the Church is wrong about so many things support them with compliance (even reluctant compliance) and money this will never change. That has to come from inside the Church, from its members.

Pat Brown 6:31AM May 22, 2012

"...the Vatican has become polarizing, extremist, ..."
This is not true. But rather, it is the evolving, progressive, liberals that have drifted from the Truth and now feel the traditional dogma of the Church to be "polarizing and extremist". That said, the objective truth of God and his Church has been mightily assailed by waves of progressive, subjective thought. Yet, it still remains the closest landmark to the unchanging will of God.
God is the source of Objective Truth, and as such, does not condone subjectivity in this regard. To say that Truth cannot be known is, in the final analysis, no different than saying that the will of God can not be known. Which, of course, would reduce God to subjective irrelevance - a faceless, unknowable deity.
This dilution of Perfect, Eternal Objective Truth - God - is heard daily in the babble of people who "feel" in place of thinking. They use "evolved" phrases like, "I'm not religious - I'm spiritual.", - "I have a personal sense of God.". - "No one can truly know the will of God.". Or my favorite, "My concept of God is ____(fill in the blank).
This blind subjectivity reduces God to an opinion - a malleable notion to be molded by personal values to all issues and situations.
This idea of a subjective, personal and "progressive God" is anathema, reducing His Eternal Truth to mere personal and cultural whimsy - ultimately condemning God to mystical irrelevance.
This situation is what has reduced the Protestant churches to apostasy, chaos and fragmentation - particularly the Anglican and Episcopalian denominations.
God wants us to know Him through His Son and through His Church. He speaks with one voice - not many.
Jesus said, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." And he added, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”. Do we now believe that the "keys to the kingdom" must evolve - changing configuration with every passing secular novelty?
Discrimination is not an evil word and "inclusivity" is not always a good thing. To tolerate the intolerable is not a virtue. God's love for sinners doesn't mean He wants you to be one.
Facile thinking people need to learn at least this much - God's Truth and His Church does not change in tune with popular, social mores, and is not subject to the personal whims and desires of the eternally "evolving" among us.

R.L. Schaefer of CA 3:20PM May 19, 2012

15 years of Catholic education and strict Catholic upbringing. it makes me sick to my stomach, where the church is today. I would never go back to worship
with leaders that are 'running ' that religion. never to an organized religion!

dorothee of AZ 3:01AM May 16, 2012

"The fact that women are barred from administering the sacraments and saying Mass, in this day and age, is becoming increasingly indefensible."
The above quote demonstrates why this is an incredibly poor article, especially if the author truly wants to reform the Catholic Church. "This day and age" tells us nothing about what is true and what ought to be practiced, it's merely a description of contemporary cultural norms. More specifically, the Catholic Church clearly finds this type of reasoning unpersuasive (as it should), just look at its position on contraception. Also, she uses anecdotal evidence about two nuns to defend the practice of ALL the nuns. It's possible for some nuns to be faithful and others to be unfaithful. It's possible for nuns to be faithful in some areas and unfaithful in others. Forgive me if I find her arguments lacking. Furthermore, there appears to be no disregard for the talents of women in the Catholic Church, the author made this clear in her laundry list of leadership positions they hold. As to the priesthood, any appeals to how holy, righteous, and wise the nuns are misses the point--I doubt anyone in the RCC denies this about the vast majority of them. Instead, the priesthood seems to be an ontological issue, not a merit based determination.
The author is most likely not trying to reform the Catholic Church (or woefully ignorant, which I doubt). If she were, she would point to some kind of authority within the Catholic Church. I'm not Catholic, and even I know that. If the author wants a revolution and has no faith in the authority of the Catholic Church, come join the Protestants. If she wants reform, speak to Catholics in a persuasive manner--appeal to some sort of legitimate authority. If all she wants is to preach to a choir of liberal protestants and a secular culture, job well done.

NPR4U of OH 6:24PM May 15, 2012

If Catholic "traditionalists" believe married men should not be priests, they should soundly reject the Vatican's attempts over the past 25 years to welcome married Anglican clergy into the Catholic priesthood. The poaching of Anglican clergy, particularly married priests, received a boost from Benedict himself when he named former Anglican priests to a "personal prelature." What does this say to every (allegedly) celibate Roman Catholic priest who has been told to subjugate his sexuality and forgo having a spouse and family?
As for the duties of a Catholic priest (I once studied to be one), they are no different from the duties of other clergy. I know plenty of married rabbis, ministers and imams who give of themselves to their congregations, and know what they're talking about when it comes to family counseling. To have some 26-year old who has (allegedly) never had an intimate relationship of any kind in his life start lecturing me (together with my spouse for more than three decades) with pseudo-psychology and theological babble, and not show one ounce of humanity nor care for emotion, is the antithesis of what Jesus would want them to do.
Throw in the total disregard and outright hostility for gays and lesbians, often by closeted and self-loathing clergy and hierarchy, and you have a Church that has lost its soul and is losing its members in droves.
I, too, place my money on the nuns, and have stopped donating to any aspect of the hierarchy-driven institutional Catholic Church. I'm old enough to remember the priests, brothers and nuns who marched for civil rights at great risk to their lives, and fought for other social justice issues. Now, our nuns are being told they focus too much on the poor. What??? Benedict and the bishops want them to focus on issues involving sex -- about which the "celibate" clergy knows nothing.
The Catholic Church has become a far-right political organization that screams for religious freedom while trying to deny others civil freedoms in a country that was founded, in part, by people seeking to avoid religious persecution. The Church is very good at playing the martyr (after all, they invented it) while it tries to bully women, gays and lesbians, the people still in the pews, and spineless politicians who should tell the Catholic Church the United States of America is not a theological state.
Amen!

Tim of NJ 2:05PM May 15, 2012

So as well a physician shouldn't be married, cause an emergency call may reach him just in the middle of Christmas dinner, as well a fire fighter, a policeman...
And it is quite common that a wife has to leave a company flat, when her husband dies.
I'm partner of an catholic priest since more than 20 years. We really miss that we can't marry. So now I must accept just being his 'house-keeper'.
If you want to share your life with someone, who may be called away at any time, you DO accept this!
And also: why shuldn't women be ordained? Among Jesus' disciples were a lot of women, and if you say, all those who Jesus 'ordained' were men, I say: they also were jewish, circumcised, and married.

Ulla 9:43PM May 14, 2012

Very well written article. I am Catholic who could no longer support a system that views me a second class baby making machine. I now attend my husband's church (he's a Methodist) with our children. I'm sure the pope and bishops couldn't care less, but they should considering PEW data shows I am not alone.

Jc72 of NC 9:05PM May 14, 2012