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American nuns struggle with Vatican for change

March 17, 2013 4:00 PM

Will Pope Francis change the way the Vatican has been dealing with the largest U.S. nun's organization? Bob Simon reports.

American nuns struggle with Vatican for change

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by blacknoodle March 23, 2013 11:52 AM EDT
I am a respectful and committed Catholic. I strongly support the nuns in the struggle for a Catholic Church that is in step with the century we live in and with the needs of many of it's members. I love my Church and hope for more reform in matters of birth control, women priests, allowing priests to marry, and gay marriage. Eating meat on Fridays is no longer a sin, the mass is now said in English in this country and there are other changes that have been made. So why can't the Vatican and the bishops discuss further changes without persecuting the Women Religious? I thank 60 minutes for bringing these issues and the unjust treat of the nuns in America to light.
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by maria1125 March 23, 2013 12:31 AM EDT
This is a total joke of journalism. I'm glad that these kind of "nuns" which shouldn't really be called that, bc they are not faithful to the Magestarium of the Church, are dying out. May God have mercy on their soul.
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by agagestudio12 March 20, 2013 8:24 PM EDT
I watched 60 Minutes segment on Catholic nuns in the Church on Sunday evening (March 17th). Unfortunately, some lack of research on the part of 60 Minutes sadly misrepresented the Church and the real reason why these nuns were called into question. Your story reflected Sisters as being victimized by the church because their views are being criticized or ignored. However, the truth is - many of these nuns are going against the sound doctrinal teachings of the Church. I can testify to this because I have associated very closely with many of them because I have worked for an Archdiocese for many years and have seen it firsthand.

The Church leadership represents the authority of Christ. Scripture specifically states this and counsels that obedience to authority is obedience to Christ himself. Yes, there are times when the fallibility of human nature comes into play, and we will disagree and feel compelled to call into question certain actions of our leaders, especially if they are sinful. However, when this is not the case, it is wiser to obey because in the end, God will always ensure that the Truth prevails. The Sisters are displaying their lack of trust in that.

Many of these Sisters are way off base in their thinking and are misleading others. The negative result of which is inconsistency and incongruity within the Church. The Sisters have developed their own perspective based on what they want to believe instead of trusting centuries of scholars, theologians and saints who have carefully and prayerfully brought to light the spiritual truths of our Catholic faith.

It is never acceptable to divert from doctrinal teaching and that is what they are doing. It is not only misleading the faithful but causing confusion, whereby the faithful sometimes do not know what to believe. It is very disheartening to see those who should be supporting and upholding our faith, being deliberately rebellious and disobedient.

This is our faith. Not everyone believes what we do. But we should have the peace and freedom to practice it without individuals deriding or polluting the purity of it with their erroneous ideas.

There are many good Sisters who are in sync with the Church and I applaud them for their loyalty and for their many good works. The bottom line - if these Sisters deliberately and willfully go against the fundamental truths of what we believe, than they should leave. Why would they want to be part of an organization in which they are not in alignment? It doesn't make sense and it is upending the balance and spirituality of our faith.
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by agagestudio12 March 20, 2013 8:11 PM EDT
I watched your segment on Catholic nuns in the Church last evening (March 17th). Unfortunately, some lack of research on the part of 60 Minutes sadly misrepresented the Church and the real reason why these nuns were called into question. Your story reflected Sisters as being victimized by the church because their views are being criticized or ignored. However, the truth is - many of these nuns are going against the sound doctrinal teachings of the Church. I can testify to this because I have associated very closely with many of them because I have worked for an Archdiocese for many years and have seen it firsthand.

The Church leadership represents the authority of Christ. Scripture specifically states this and counsels that obedience to authority is obedience to Christ himself. Yes, there are times when the fallibility of human nature comes into play, and we will disagree and feel compelled to call into question certain actions of our leaders, especially if they are sinful. However, when this is not the case, it is wiser to obey because in the end, God will always ensure that the Truth prevails. The Sisters are displaying their lack of trust in that.

Many of these Sisters are way off base in their thinking and are misleading others. The negative result of which is inconsistency and incongruity within the Church. The Sisters have developed their own perspective based on what they want to believe instead of trusting centuries of scholars, theologians and saints who have carefully and prayerfully brought to light the spiritual truths of our Catholic faith.

It is never acceptable to divert from doctrinal teaching and that is what they are doing. It is not only misleading the faithful but causing confusion, whereby the faithful sometimes do not know what to believe. It is very disheartening to see those who should be supporting and upholding our faith, being deliberately rebellious and disobedient.

This is our faith. Not everyone believes what we do. But we should have the peace and freedom to practice it without individuals deriding or polluting the purity of it with their erroneous ideas.

There are many good Sisters who are in sync with the Church and I applaud them for their loyalty and for their many good works. The bottom line - if these Sisters deliberately and willfully go against the fundamental truths of what we believe, than they should leave. Why would they want to be part of an organization in which they are not in alignment? It doesn't make sense and it is upending the balance and spirituality of our faith.
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by oceanborder March 20, 2013 7:03 PM EDT
I am the mother of a sexually abused child and sister of her predator, a Roman Catholic priest. Although this places me in a less than enviable position, it also compels me to use my voice. Watching the 60 Minutes segment on American nuns and their struggle to achieve power --their voice--in the Church and Vatican (3/17/13), I had a visceral reaction. While I fully support any woman striving for equality, their timing comes up short. Given the rising number of sexual abuse cases against the Church, many filed by former parochial school students, questions rise to the surface. Where, Sisters, were those voices when our children needed them most? Serving as teachers in numerous Catholic schools, nuns watched in silence as the good Fathers circled their young prey. Did no nun, despite being witness to this pattern again and again, connect the dots? Where were their voices, their outrage, their horror, then? 60 Minutes, I applaud your efforts to keep the Roman Catholic Church in your sights. Just keep mining. There are many more layers to unearth.
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by Par_value March 19, 2013 6:15 PM EDT
These women are in the trenches helping the needy, as they have been for hundreds of years, while their male counterparts were alternating between burning people at the stake, greedily accumulating wealth at the expense of the masses, and now, abusing children, or covering up for others who are doing so. The superior moral authority here is clear. What do I care what the priests think the Bible stands for? I care to follow those who practice what they preach.
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by NinthSt78 March 19, 2013 3:03 PM EDT
Viewing the change as a high markup over wholesale might cast things in an entirely different light.
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by marychgo March 19, 2013 5:01 AM EDT
Most commenters here are too young to remember the "fresh air" John XXIII brought the Church, or the hope for genuine change inspired by the Second Vatican Council he convened. Sadly, John died during the Council's first session, and Paul VI -- and all the Popes who followed -- seem to me to have been engaged in a holding action against real reform ever since.
Meanwhile, the religious women I learned from school have served God and His people for decades, no matter what arcane battles the men in Rome fought. I respect those women and their work but fear that the men who have led the Church have never truly understood its Founder's message.
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by libaw March 18, 2013 10:20 PM EDT
Bob brings up the "Inquisition" and asks the bishop investigating if the language used describing the nuns transgressions as "hyperbolic"? He then goes onto say that people are leaving the church. Yeah, a lot are, but you know else? A lot are joining the church! Americans must realize that we can't have everything our way, all the time. As a Catholic, you submit to the authority of the church, conform to it, not the other way around. These nuns are all over age 60, their formation took place in the 1960's probably. They don't wear habits. If Bob or anyone else wants to get a good feel for the church, talk to nuns under 40 years old who wear habits and get their thoughts on the priesthood and women's roles in religious life.
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by Solarrays247 March 18, 2013 9:25 PM EDT
As a woman, I agree completely with Jimmy Carter. And he states it so much more elegantly than I can about why I have dropped out of all organized religion:

Excerpt from a speech by Jimmy Carter:
[i]"It is ironic that women are now welcomed into all major professions and other positions of authority, but are branded as inferior and deprived of the equal right to serve God in positions of religious leadership. The plight of abused women is made more acceptable by the mandated subservience of women by religious leaders.

The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions - all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views and set a new course that demands equal rights for women and men, girls and boys.

At their most repugnant, the belief that women are inferior human beings in the eyes of God gives excuses to the brutal husband who beats his wife, the soldier who rapes a woman, the employer who has a lower pay scale for women employees, or parents who decide to abort a female embryo. It also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair and equal access to education, health care, employment, and influence within their own communities."
~Jimmy Carter[/i]
http://www.cartercenter.org/news/editorials_speeches/parliament-world-religions-120309.html
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