Problematic.
Sally Quinn has, you might say, gone too far…as usual.
Jesus would be rolling over in his grave if he hadn’t already left it. The pope is taking on the nuns.
The Roman Catholic Church is a hierarchical institution if there ever was one. Nobody does anything without consulting a superior. Eventually, that would lead to His Holiness. And this time he has gone too far.
Quinn is not really opposed to hierarchy. I’d say that if women were in the hierarchy in the Catholic Church as they are in some other ecclesial congregations, then she would be fine with hierarchy. What she is opposed to is patriarchy, the idea of spiritual fatherhood. In other words, men. The Left views spiritual fatherhood as a threat to women. If women can’t be fathers, then this means, in their minds, that women aren’t considered equal. Of course, having a different role does not mean you aren’t equal with someone who has a different role. I do not consider myself to be of less value than a baby who is fed with a spoon. Nor do I consider myself to be of less value than my priest. When it all boils down, the issue isn’t “hierarchy” with the feminists. The issue is spiritual fatherhood.
I, for one, love my priest and all of the priests who minister to me as spiritual fathers on a daily basis. I do not consider them to have more value and dignity than the many nuns I know, and the many nuns I know would agree with me, believe me. The priests, too, would tell you that my value to God is as immense as theirs is.
The Pope is not “taking on the nuns.” He is taking on the umbrella group of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. It is one of two leadership confederations conferences of nuns in America. The other is the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious.
Father Z takes us on a trip down memory lane with LCWR.
As a convert to Catholicism, I have to say that knowing that some things were, are and always will be true is core to why I converted. If everything is negotiable, then there would be no reason to call it a religion. If everything were negotiable then it would be no better than any other man-made government. As it stands, I find peace in knowing that some things will always be true, no matter what anyone else thinks, and I’m sure there are many members of LCWR who would agree with me on that.
The Pope isn’t “taking on nuns” at all. He is bringing about some needed reforms for the good of the Church. And Sally Quinn is not taking on “hierarchy.” She is taking on patriarchy, which is itself a rejection of the role of Our Father Who art in Heaven.
