The nuns as pawns in the Church

Maureen Dowd, writing her regular op-ed column in The New York Times - this one headed "Bishops Play Church Queens as Pawns" - rightly ponders on the priorities of the Catholic Church when it is seen attempting to bring seemingly errant nuns, who are helping the poor, into line. She asks whether the Church hasn't a greater issue confronting it and with which to deal. Those priests who have abused and molested young boys.

"It is an astonishing thing that historians will look back and puzzle over, that in the 21st century, American women were such hunted creatures.

Even as Republicans try to wrestle women into chastity belts, the Vatican is trying to muzzle American nuns.

Who thinks it’s cool to bully nuns? While continuing to heal and educate, the community of sisters is aging and dying out because few younger women are willing to make such sacrifices for a church determined to bring women to heel.

Yet the nuns must be yanked into line by the crepuscular, medieval men who run the Catholic Church.

“It’s not terribly unlike the days of yore when they singled out people in the rough days of the Inquisition,” said Kenneth Briggs, the author of “Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns.”

How can the church hierarchy be more offended by the nuns’ impassioned advocacy for the poor than by priests’ sordid pedophilia?"

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