Mary Valle: Rapist priests! Good news! You can rape, abuse and lie all you want in the great lag time when your case is sent for review, investigation, further inquiry, empanelation and cooling on a desk in Rome somewhere. You may even be shuttled from parish to parish, which is convenient if you are a predator. New victims come to you! However: If you’re a nun and you authorize an abortion of an 11-week-old fetus to save a woman’s life, when the stated outcome of not performing the abortion would be death for all? Automatic excommunication for you, little missy. Maybe we should just start calling children “ambulatory fetuses?”
4 comments
ingrid says:
May 18, 2010
You have GOT to be kidding me.
Roy says:
May 18, 2010
Sister Normandin started her work with women imprisoned at MCI Framingham in the 1970’s. In the 80’s Sister Normandin worked with Social Justice for Women to introduce alternatives to jail time such as rehabilitative programs for women. In the 90’s she founded Ruah House – a residential program for homeless women with AIDS. Ruah – is Hebrew for “Breath of Life”
I met her only once in 2000 and just for an instant but was struck by the happiness and joy that she radiated. It was on a snowy winter night. My son Andrew and I had to travel to a hotel in Cambridge for the annual fund-raising benefit for Ruah. Andrew was involved with Ruah House through his school at the time. We were walking across the hotel lobby area and Sister Jeannette spied Andrew. “Andy!” she said with obvious delight. She hurried over to him, greeted him warmly and gave him a big hug.
Hugging was a big thing for Sister Jeannette – in the Boston Globe interview she talked about it like it was her secret weapon.
Towards the end of her working life, Sister Jeannette’s prophetic nature ran afoul of the Catholic hierarchy. She was removed from her post as Co-Director of the Jesuit Urban Center where 75% of the parishioners are self identified gay and lesbian folk. To make their point even more emphatically, the boys in charge evicted Sister from her living quarters at the Center.
Her sin? The wrong she committed that brought such swift discipline?
She wore priestly vestments and participated in the baptism of a gay couple’s infant at the Jesuit Urban Center.
Her actions provoked lightning response and swift disposition of sentence.. unlike the glacial justice the boys enjoy.
Mary Valle says:
May 18, 2010
@Ingrid: I’m only sort of kidding. I’m just wondering what the already-born have to do to warrant protection and respect.
@Roy: Yet another example of the “crimes” that merit swift action. Thanks.
Diane says:
May 27, 2010
After 55 years, I no longer call myself a Catholic.
It is for many reasons, but mostly for the stories like these above.
Do you honestly think that if a priest made the same decision, that he would have been excommunicated?
It was a display of power pure and simple.
I believe the next time a similar situation occurs, that bishop should be forced to sit by the women as she dies.
I cannot believe that in this day and age, a women is less important then an 11 week old fetus.
But that is what the catholic church believes.