The Boys in Rome

I've been thinking a lot lately about the conflagration that has recently surfaced regarding the conduct of American nuns in the Catholic Church. I've been trying to figure out how to write this without sounding as if I don't like Catholics. That is not what I mean. I do have issues with the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Now, I'm sure you know that I'm not Catholic, so all of my viewpoints come from the perspective of someone who is outside, looking in.

It seems that the boys in Rome are objecting to a group of womyn who have opinions of their own, can make decisions and are following Jesus' teaching. The rest of the world doesn't see anything wrong with that. But the Catholic church has a problem with all of it. One of the major criticisms is that they are caring for the poor and hungry and not getting all upset with same-sex marriage and abortions. In fact some of the nuns actually care for people who are gay and have had abortions.  Why is this such a point of contention? What century are they living in? Obviously, the nuns are living in the 21st century and the boys in Rome are stuck back in the Dark Ages. It was called that for a reason. To me, it proves what I have thought for a long time - that the Roman Catholic Church cannot handle being in the modern age, where people are accepted just for who they are and the teachings of Jesus are taken seriously. Remember what Jesus said? "Love others as I have loved you. Love your neighbor as yourself" Yeah, those teachings. Oh, and, "Take care of the least of these." That means the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the ones on the fringe of society. THOSE people. If you are going to call yourself a Jesus following or a Christian, those are the kinds of things that one must do. The nuns are doing that, but their church is rebuking them because they aren't paying any attention to the social issues that the (male) bishops have decided need to be addressed, and that are very much out of step with the rest of society. The boys in Rome just nailed the their coffin shut. They have no relevancy in today's world and it is no wonder that their churches are loosing members rapidly.

One of the most controversial topics that nuns in the United States has been talking about and exploring is the ordination of womyn to the Roman Catholic priesthood. The boys in Rome won't have any of that kind of talk. That is is blasphemous and heretical. The problem is that scholarship and archaeology have made their viewpoints on womyn in the priesthood obsolete. It is well documented, both in the Bible and in non-canonical literature that womyn were very active in the ministry, both when Jesus was alive and after his crucifixion..There have been archaeological sites that have uncovered the names of womyn as leaders of churches in the Middle East.  Many of the very earliest people involved in establishing churches were womyn. Up until the fourth century (and even perhaps later in some parts of the world) womyn were priests, bishops and they were also married. Yes, clergy was married, both men and womyn. It is historical fact that womyn were priests and that can't be swept under the rug anymore.

The other interesting fact is that the Church organization that is rebuking the American nuns is the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith. That used to be called the Inquisition. How ironic it is that this is the Office in the Roman Catholic Church that would censure American nuns. For several years this Office has been running an "inquiry" into the womyn who serve the Church here in the U.S.A. In case the boys in Rome didn't get the memo: In the United States there is freedom of religion, the right to think differently about many things including religion, politics and government. Not everyone is going to think exactly like you do. That includes those who are devoted followers of the Roman Catholic Church.