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isabella R

In defense of our women religious | National Catholic Reporter - 0 views

  • By comparison, this reflects badly on the hierarchy, fixated on retrieving their own image and power by dragging the Church backward in time. They fuss about obedience, dogma, retro-liturgical maneuvers, the charade about religious freedom, women’s reproductive behaviors, and who marries whom. American nuns find such issues to be counterproductive to the works of the Gospel, at worst; and mere distractions at best. Hence, they refrain from pursuing them. There is so much to do in helping “the neighbor” survive in human dignity that nuns have no time for what is surely not on the Holy Spirit’s agenda. And, therein lies the danger! Today these issues are foremost on the hierarchical agenda.
  • Exhibit A, entered by the defense: The Gospels.
  • Exhibit B, entered by the defense: Teaching from Vatican Council II
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  • Exhibit C entered by the defense: Statements from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
  • Exhibit #D entered by the defense: Papal statements quoted in opening paragraph, above.
  • It seems very disingenuous for Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor, John Paul II, to “appeal” for a greater participation of women in the formal leadership and missions of the Church. It is in the Pope’s power to accord equality to women, and he can bring it about whenever he chooses to do so.
  • It is reasonable to think that this accusation of doctrinal unfaithfulness would not have been directed to the LCWR if women provided balance in the Vatican tribunals and bureaucracies. Women, with their “superiority” and “genius” would surely help the males prioritize issues according to appropriate judgment concerning their importance for the common good and the mission of the Church.
  • Exhibit #5E entered by the defense: Warnings and indictments addressed by Jesus to those in power.
  • : Jesus detested hypocrisy. In the light of recent public exposure of deplorable behavior and practices by the hierarchy, for which they have yet to assume public responsibility, I submit that these words of Jesus should be entered into the court documents as reflecting on a lack of integrity in the prosecution. The Defense Rests
  • Catholic theologian Regina Schulte is one of the reasons our church is in trouble today. Years ago she went off and got educated. For a while she served the church as a Catholic sister. Eventually she left the religious life and married. For years she and her late husband, Jim, earned their livings as Catholic theologians. Jim died eleven years ago. Regina continues reflecting on life, church, and the human condition while living in partial retirement.
  • Pope Benedict XVI expressed an appeal for women to have a more visible role within the Church. In two earlier instances, the Pope also spoke of the need to expand roles of women. “Women’s spiritual power will know how to make their own space. And we will have to try and listen,” he said on one occasion. On the other: “[Women], and we with them, must look for their right place, so to speak….I believe that women themselves, with their superiority…will know how to make their own space. We’ll try not to stand in their way.”
  • Condescending though they be, these remarks seemed to have handed a blank check to women. But, in the case of U.S. women’s religious congregations, the Vatican is now placing a “hold” on that check. Not only has their “space” been closed, but bishops (as in “men”) have been given control of what nuns have created in that space. The Vatican’s actions speak louder than their words (as in “false prophecy”) It isn’t that nuns were awaiting permission to pursue their modern apostolates; the above-quoted words of Benedict merely endorse what they have been doing in their own inspired way since Vatican Council II. But, perhaps they became too successful “in their space.”
    • isabella R
       
      Pope Benedict XVI expressed an appeal for women to have a more visible role within the Church. In two earlier instances, the Pope also spoke of the need to expand roles of women. "Women's spiritual power will know how to make their own space. And we will have to try and listen," he said on one occasion. On the other: "[Women], and we with them, must look for their right place, so to speak….I believe that women themselves, with their superiority…will know how to make their own space. We'll try not to stand in their way." Condescending though they be, these remarks seemed to have handed a blank check to women. But, in the case of U.S. women's religious congregations, the Vatican is now placing a "hold" on that check. Not only has their "space" been closed, but bishops (as in "men") have been given control of what nuns have created in that space. The Vatican's actions speak louder than their words (as in "false prophecy") It isn't that nuns were awaiting permission to pursue their modern apostolates; the above-quoted words of Benedict merely endorse what they have been doing in their own inspired way since Vatican Council II. But, perhaps they became too successful "in their space."
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    They [the hierarchy] fuss about obedience, dogma, retro-liturgical maneuvers, the charade about religious freedom, women's reproductive behaviors, and who marries whom. American nuns find such issues to be counterproductive to the works of the Gospel, at worst; and mere distractions at best.
isabella R

Vatican Blames Lack Of Priests On Secularism, Abuse, Parents - 0 views

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    It's hard for me to dismiss the thought that this refusal to consider any change in the priesthood is because the Vatican is currently being run by a group of entrenched 80 something year old clerics who function on the spiritual and emotional level of self absorbed teen age boys.  It's their priesthood, their little clique and by God to join it, a man has to play by their rules. After all, they played by these rules their entire lives.  To change now would be to cheapen and disavow the sacrifice they and their predecessors made.  In short, it's all about them and to hell with the People of God who are enduring an unchosen sacramental fast for the sake of the priesthood of Benedict XVI. 
isabella R

7th Most Powerful Person in the World and a Formidable Opponent of Obama « Th... - 0 views

  • Ascension Health Alliance, sponsored bhe Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the Daughters of Charity and the Congregation of St. Joseph, is “planning to build a $2 billion ‘health city’ in the Cayman Islands with an India-based hospital group. ‘We’re not considering this a medical tourism facility. That’s not the intent at all,’ said Anthony Tersigni, president and chief executive…. But the system’s for-profit partner, Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals in India, has cast the project in sharply different terms. For years, Narayana’s founder, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, has promoted the idea of building an offshore medical center to serve primarily American patients who cannot afford health care in the United States.”
  • A Mexican official admitted in 2007 that the Church accepted drug money.“ This appears to be so widespread that the spokesman used the customary term for this – “narco-alms.”
  • s ‘Octopus Dei,’ it created a financial empire…replete with offshore accounts, financial scandal and nefarious names.” Murder by digitalis-induced heart attacks is their preferred method of dealing with their enemies. This led Opus Dei, pledged to support and promote hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church, “to the jubilant arrival at the right hand of Catholic power.” “On its tightening Church ties, Hutchison sketches in how Pope John Paul II as archbishop of Cracow, Poland, and many other bishops, were brought into Opus Dei’s network, or net.”
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  • The American fraternal society, the Knights of Columbus,
  • The modern day Knights of Malta
  • Opus Dei prelate
  • Neocatechumenate, Focolare, Legion of Mary for example – as well as the Knights of Columbus, the Legion of Christ’s lay group, Regnum Christi, and Opus Dei, turning out large crowds in St. Peter’s Square“to cheer the pope and his policies, and they have these people all over the world.”
  • According to a November 2011 study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Catholics had 41 lobbying groups in Washington D.C. “
  • Mercy Health, with revenue of nearly $4 billion, “could qualify as one of the largest corporations in the St. Louis region.” But due its 501(c) (3) status “pays few corporate, income, property, capital gains or sales taxes…and is exempt for federal requirements to disclose certain financial data about its operations….Mercy Health oversees a network of more than 55 tax-exempt organizations, including fundraising foundations, physician groups and hospitals in Missouri and three other states.
  • The financial statements list “Social Development and World Peace” as an expense category which received only 8 percent of chancery (archdiocesan headquarters) spending from 1997 through 2009. Catholic Charities (CC), the only archdiocesan agency completely dedicated to helping the unfortunate, states year after year in its annual report that it receives only 3 to 4 percent of its income from the “archdiocese, parishes and other church” while 35 percent came from the government. Most people think that the Roman Catholic Church receives the bulk of its income from a percentage of parish collections forwarded to the (arch)bishop. From 1997 through 2009, only $54 million (21 percent) of $251 million in chancery income came from the parishes. For the archdiocesan entities combined, $312 million (34 percent) came from gifts. (The rest came from investment income, program fees, tuition, cemetary sales, etc.) The archbishop gave away $34 million in gifts. Some dioceses are not as wealthy as Denver; some more so. With 200 dioceses in the U.S., their numerous foundations and the USCCB also receiving millions in donations and government grants, that’s a staggering amount of money coming and going with no transparency or accountability.
  • A good example of how Roman Catholic money flows around the world is when the Los Angeles archdiocese had to pay a $660 million settlement to its victims of sex abuse, the Allied Irish Banks (AIB) provided a loan of $240 million in 2009.  AIB loans of up to $500 million were extended to four American dioceses in 2005-07 which had claimed bankruptcy. According to the Irish Daily Mail in 2011, the loans are being serviced and repaid “…from an unknown source.”
  • As noted in His Holiness, the Church fears exposure more than monetary loss
  • have fought so hard to prevent laws which extend the statutes of limitations on sexual abuse
  • The Church wants to prevent more lawsuits and, therefore, further exposure of their internal documents. And that’s also why there will probably never be another diocesan bankruptcy due to sex abuse lawsuits – because the debtors must provide the court with a list of their assets.
isabella R

Bilgrimage: Chaput Cleaned up the Legionaries, but He Didn't Clean Them up? Please Expl... - 0 views

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    As Long as you have money....
isabella R

Following is the text of the settlement agreement between Paul J. Marcoux, Archbishop R... - 0 views

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    http://www.misconductinlatrobe.com/the-prophet/ This was in November 1992, long before a scandal over such abuse would erupt nationally, yet Weakland felt too much attention had been paid to the issue. He declared that sexual abuse by priests had "become almost a preoccupation in our society" and that "priests need to be reassured by the entire Catholic community that they are loved and supported." Only one sentence in the 800-word column acknowledged the victims: "My heart goes out to all victims and I am sincere in saying that the Catholic community wishes to do what is right in helping those so affected to regain full and productive lives." The column hit Isely hard. Brought up as a devout Catholic, Isely seemed destined to join the clergy. Isely had attended St. Lawrence, a seminary prep high school where he was sexually abused. Although he ultimately abandoned his dream of the priesthood, he was still a practicing Catholic who attended Mass weekly. He had tried to put the abuse behind him and consciously avoided stories on the subject. "I turned away when something was reported on television," Isely says. "I wanted to put it all behind me." But after reading Weakland's piece, Isely went immediately to his computer and wrote a response. "In a moment, I knew what I had to do," Isely recalls. "I hoped I could prod Weakland to take the lead in the church" and take on the clergy abuse issue. Journal Editor Sig Gissler received the response from Isely and decided the newspaper would run it the following Sunday, again on Page One. "We checked his credentials," Gissler recalls. "He was a psychotherapist and had a divinity degree from Harvard." And his "open letter to Weakland" was compelling. Isely called on Weakland and the church to not only banish the abusers but confront the culture that allowed the abuse to occur. "Root out the priest sex offender, yes; but also root out, when necessary, any attitude
isabella R

Vatileaks and the Vatican's irritation - Vatican Insider - 0 views

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    From what I know the internal investigation into who was responsible for the leaks has not yet been successful. The three old cardinals in charge of the investigation (Herranz, Tomko and De Giorgi) have received the results of the work carried out by the Vatican Gendarmerie, but it seems that there are no specific leads, despite the fact that only a few people have had access to the documents going in and out of the Pope's office and that of his secretary
isabella R

Vatican spokesman pelts out one denial after the next - Vatican Insider - 0 views

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    "Certain statements which invite the Italian government to take on a role it is not meant to play in a democratic state, are shocking. As such, the parliamentary interrogations announced by certain policians whom one would expect to firmly defend the freedom of press, appear out of place,"  the note continued.
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