Craven American of the day: Timmy Dolan

There is some hope among American nuns, now that Francis is pope. According to the linked article, many nuns believe that Pope Francis' focus on the poor will blend well with the way the nuns see their mission: to minister to the least fortunate. Mind you, the article also includes the pinched voices of religious authoritarians who seem to hope that the pope will flagellate the nuns in public, preferably in the nude. There will always be ill voices.

However, I found it detestable that cardinal Timmy Dolan would chime in, as if he's the voice of unconditional love:

In an interview with The Associated Press this week, U.S. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the head of the U.S. bishops' conference, said he expected Pope Francis would bring "freshness" and understanding to the debate with the Leadership Conference..."I think the greatest thing he's going to bring is to say to everybody 'Be not afraid. We're friends. We're on this journey together.'"

Indeed. Timmy, you're not anyone's friend. In fact, as the head of the US. Conference on Catholic Bishops, you had a hand in this debacle. And if I recall correctly, you seemed quite happy with the idea that the nuns would soon suffer at the Vatican's hand. And you certainly never spoke up for them. (Criticize your boss? That's not in your job description, is it, Timmy?) To hop in now and say you hope the pope brings "understanding to the debate" is hypocritical and, in your case, downright craven. Thus I crown you the Craven American of the Day.

We see you, Timmy. We really do. You are the very definition of "repulsive". Thank dog they didn't make you pope.

A test for the new popeyguy

Francis, the new popeyguy, is putting on a show of friendliness. Now, it may be that he really is friendly. Who knows? The man is a stranger to most of us. We'll need time to assess his actions and words.

We do know that he's against gay marriage. On the other hand, in Argentina he tried to work out a compromise with the government, which was pushing hard for gay marriage. I've read that Bergoglio (the popeyguy's maiden name) suggested civil unions for gays, as a form of compromise.

I find this encouraging. I don't recall the popeyguy emeritus ever saying that he'd like to see civil unions established for gays. All we heard from him were his all-too-frequent comments about gays being "intrinsically disordered". Benedict never said one conciliatory thing regarding the church's war on gays. On the contrary, he stepped up the church's attacks against everything lavender. So there's this difference between the two popeyguys. It doesn't give me great hope, but it's something.

Going forward, what I want to know is how this popeyguy will treat American nuns. You may recall that Benedict launched a howitzer attack against the nuns, all but calling them whores and Jezebels. But if Francis is truly kind, we may not see this type of virulent misogyny spewing from his lips. What will he do? I really want to know.

I suspect it won't be long before we know the answer to this question. After all, if he's a kind man he won't leave the nuns hanging. And his response will tell us everything we need to know about the new popeyguy.

Shady Vatican ejects nun supporter

All stories about the Vatican make me laugh and this one was no exception.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday transferred to the United States a high-ranking Holy See official who had ruffled feathers at the Vatican by openly seeking to mend its frayed ties with U.S. nuns. 

Apparently, Archbishop Joseph Tobin didn't know that you must be ugly to American nuns at all times. His kindness and understanding didn't fit in at the pope's palace, so they posted him to Indiana -- the greatest insult possible.

I mean, seriously. He wasn't mean enough to the nuns. That's the church that exists today. There's also a bonus story in the article:

It's not the first time the Vatican has removed a high-ranking official who annoyed the Vatican bureaucracy.

The No. 2 official in the Vatican administration was named to the arguably important position of U.S. ambassador last year after he stepped on too many toes in exposing corruption and inefficiencies in the Vatican's day-to-day administration.

So let's see. The implied Vatican rules are:

1. Be mean to nuns (and women in general).
2. Don't point a finger at the Vatican, no matter how seedy or unethical its actions may be.

This is how you become a good Catholic. All it takes is blindness and viciousness. That's quite a church they've got there.

What the American nuns say

I was trolling through HuffPo's religion section today when I came across an article about the Vatican/nuns divide. It was interesting. I was struck by something the nuns said:

Hughes [the most recent past president of the LCWR, which represents about 80 percent of the country's 57,000 Catholic sisters] said there's more to promoting the sanctity of human life than just working against abortion. She said her community's ministries against domestic violence and in support of homeless mothers and children is also pro-life work.

"That's about the sanctity of human life. It's about doing it differently. I think it's complementary. I don't think you can have one without the other," she said.

This is the crucial divide, and it's where most religious people show a severe moral deficit. There are so many "pro-life" religious people out there (and not just Catholics) who are only concerned with abortion. As soon as the child is born, they forget about it (or casually let some priest rape the child). The nuns have a much clearer view of morality. Life does not end at birth. It begins.

The Roman Catholic church, especially with this Pope's guidance, is grossly immoral. The solution is simple. The church needs women priests. Women would add what this church sorely lacks: a moral center.

No big splash by the nuns today

This was all I could find today on the nuns/Vatican kerfuffle:

ST. LOUIS (AP) — American nuns rebuked by the Vatican for tolerating dissent say they're willing to hold talks with church leaders but won't compromise their mission.

I think that's excellent. I want more but I understand. Saying anything even mildly argumentative at this point would bring on a massive fight. The damned Vatican is itching to excommunicate the lot of them.

The bottom line is that the nuns won't compromise and neither with the popey guy. Good. It's time for the nuns to say "So long, Catholic church." It's too early to say for sure, but I think they're movin' on out. Go, sisters!

UPDATE: What was a short, 3-paragraph article has morphed into something more substantive. (AP does that: fleshes stories out during the day and republishes the same link, but with more meat.) In any case, the article is great now. Here's how it ends:

Still, Farrell [president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious] gave no sign that her group would back down. In a speech Friday morning, she said the sisters have been asking themselves whether the Vatican assessment was an "expression of concern or an attempt to control?" Farrell ended the address with a phrase she learned while serving the church in Chile when the country was under a military dictatorship.

"They can crush a few flowers, but they can't hold back the springtime," she said, before receiving a standing ovation.

I love these nuns. They are totally cool.

Tomorrow is D-Day for American nuns

Storming the beaches.

Tomorrow, the largest group of American nuns will issue their response to the ridiculous charges spewed at them by the Vatican. No way they're gonna lie down for this. I cannot wait to read the response. And the nuns are getting tons of support from Americans:

More than 900 Roman Catholic nuns gathering in St. Louis, Mo., this week to discuss the future of their relationship with the Vatican were surprised to be greeted by supporters with a simple message on their signs: "We're with you, sisters."

We are indeed with you, sisters. Since the Vatican will never back down, I expect this to end with the nuns seceding from the Catholic church and forming their own, independent religious organization. That would be lovely. They could model Catholicism for the Vatican, to show them what it looks like.

Eat it, popey guy. No one in the US is going to bow down to the Vatican's authoritarian edicts. No one.