The Pope wags his fat finger at uppity American nuns

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is the largest organization of Catholic nuns in America. Despite dedicating their lives to acting on their faith, they attracted the attention of the Vatican purity police in 2008. The membership of the LCWR stand accused and now convicted of allowing Sr. Laurie Brink to question the actions of the Church as LCWR president; failure to support papal orthodoxy on the ordination of women, bigotry against homosexuals, and preoccupation with genital morality; and engaging in what the Vatican considers "radical feminism." The LCWR will now have to submit to five years of contrite deference to dickish bishops and close supervision by their betters.

Therefore in order to implement a process of review and conformity to the teachings and discipline of the Church, the Holy See, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will appoint an Archbishop Delegate, assisted by two Bishops, for review, guidance and approval, where necessary, of the work of the LCWR.

The Vatican Cardinal in charge of putting the nuns in their place, William Levada, promises to verbally abuse the nuns until they comply fully with the doctrine of privileged old men.

Cardinal William Levada, a former Archbishop in the United States and the now the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, said in a statement that the Vatican process is aimed "fostering a patient and collaborative renewal of this conference of major superiors in order to provide a stronger doctrinal foundation for its many laudable initiatives and activities."

Cardinal Levada leads by example. He recently claimed the Vatican was beyond reproach in its handling of pedophile priests.

The irony is that if you go to the LCWR website, you will find women who have worked very hard to put the teachings of Jesus into action. And for raising the issue of allowing women a greater leadership role in the Church, they have been branded "radical feminists."

Here is their statement on the heavy-handed actions of the Vatican and its minions on any questioning of Doctrine.

The presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was stunned by the conclusion of the doctrinal assessment of LCWR by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. We had received a letter from the CDF prefect in early March informing us that we would hear the results of the doctrinal assessment at our annual meeting; however, we were taken by surprise by the gravity of the mandate.

This is a moment of great import for religious life and the wider church. We ask your prayers as we meet with the LCWR National Board within the coming month to review the mandate and prepare a response

Below that statement on their website is contact information. I strongly encourage you to offer your support for these courageous women as they seek to serve God while being forced to walk in the shadows of arrogant and morally bankrupt men that have all too often betrayed the teachings of Jesus.

Remember these women when you listen to the all male leadership of the Catholic Church make self-serving and hypocritical claims about religious freedom. The Vatican must be free to dictate health care policy for all women in the United States but nuns are not allowed to question Church doctrine. I guess that is not hypocritical after all. In the eyes of the Vatican, women are second class citizens that should never be allowed to make personal decisions about reproduction, aspire to leadership roles in the Church, or challenge papal authority.