Catholic War on Women Targets the Nuns, by Bridgette P. Lavictoire, Lez Get Real, April 22, 2012

Catholic War on Women Targets the Nuns

By Bridgette P. Lavictoire
Lez Get Real
April 22, 2012

http://lezgetreal.com/2012/04/catholic-war-on-women-targets-the-nuns/

If you want to know how a war is going, do not talk to the generals. Anyone who is not in the field or just tours the front lines occasionally won't really know how things are going. Why? Because they are not there every day. To them, the casualties are numbers and at arm's length. When was the last time that General David Petraus held a rifle and fired at someone in the Taliban? When was the last time that Marine Commandant General John Amos did the same?

Really, don't bother asking anyone above the rank of Captain how the war is going because they will have, at best, a fuzzy idea of how things are going, and their jobs largely depend upon not knowing if the battle on the ground is a major fuck up.

So, if you want to know just how healthy the Catholic Church is, the last person you want to talk to is the Pope. After that, you don't want to talk Cardinals, Archbishops or bishops. Don't bother talking to them. They don't have a clue what is going on, and their ignorance is bliss for them because they honestly do not want to know. All they want to know is that their jobs and their positions are secure.

Thus, it is not surprising that Pope Benedict is going after the nuns. It is also not surprising to note that, as John Zogby writes at the Huffington Post, "the bishops have adopted a Nixon-like 'circle the wagons' defensive posture during their disgraceful 'defend the institution at all costs' approach to the pedophile scandal, making us wince in shame at their outrageous behavior, it was our women religious figures who held high the social gospel, in word and deed — reminding us why we could still be proud of the Catholic church and its teachings."

Zogby also wrote that:

Instead of "silencing" nuns who support health care for all, the dignity of all life and have been in the forefront of the movements for peace and social justice, the bishops should be focusing their wrath on their peers who have spoken so shamefully about the President, behaved with such intolerance toward gays and lesbians and criminally mishandled the sex abuse scandals.

But that is the thing. The high end of the Catholic Hierarchy will refuse to do this because their power relies upon them holding on to this illusion of being morally superior to everyone else. This is the attitude they take in the battle over same-sex marriage, and yet, they have no moral authority because their entire authority is built upon this illusion.

The LA Times noted:

Most Catholics only know there are bishops, but they personally know the nuns — they teach their children, run their hospitals, and carry out the gospel injunctions to feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc. The bishops may want to convert the church, transforming it into a "corpus Santorum," but when they pick on the nuns, methinks they may be over-reaching.

In Philadelphia last week, a child sexual abuse trial involving Catholic clergy led to a bombshell — a bishop from West Virginia was accused of abuse.

In Kansas City, a Catholic bishop goes on trial in September, accused of failing to report suspected child abuse.

Last year church officials paid $144 million to settle abuse allegations and cover legal bills, and although many of the cases went back decades, church auditors have warned of "growing complacency" about protecting children today.

So who's in trouble with the Vatican?

Nuns.

You know, the thousands of women who took vows of poverty to work with the poor, the sick and disabled.

Why?

They're just not toeing the line, says the Holy See. Instead of frittering away so much time on "issues of social justice," they should be speaking out against contraception and homosexuality. They should also muzzle themselves on the ordination of women and other "radical feminist themes."

Of course not, the nuns are on the front line. They are out there helping the poor, the needy, and seeing the damage being done by those who are at the top. The LA Times goes on to report that:

Sister Campbell said this is all about a "clash of cultures" within the church. The male leaders live in a monarchy, while for decades, good sisters have lived in the real world, pursuing democratic principles in their service to the poor and their exploration of the new.

"Where was Jesus?" she asked. "Jesus was with the poor, with the marginalized, with the outcasts."

"God did not make mistakes," said France White, who told me she believes people ought to be able to express their love for each other regardless of sexual orientation. As for birth control, she opined that "the methods the church says are acceptable don't work."

Boy, she's out there now, but White's conscience is free. She suggested the pope and his minions could have saved a lot of time and trouble if, before investigating and trying to control so many devoted, hard-working nuns, they had asked themselves:

"What would Jesus do?"

In many ways, what made Jesus dangerous was the fact that he lived out among those who were in need. He was a threat to those who held power because he spoke out against the abuses. Once, the Church could have squashed this dissent, but today, it is going to be a lot harder for that to happen.