The repulsively lefty Maureen Dowd has a piece in the Irish Times… it’s like a perfect storm, no?… in which she lays into Pope Francis.
This is how the Liberal catholic Left will be talking about Francis before too long.
Let’s have a peek at her green-inked piece with my emphases and comments:
American nuns at rough end of Pope Francis’s mixed messages
So much for all the cozy hugs and soothing cold calls and fun selfies and humble gestures and talk of mercy, love, inclusion, equality and justice. Pope Francis appears guilty of condoning that most base Vatican sport: bullying nuns. [We don’t, of course, accept her absurd premise. But we are sure that she believes what she wrote.] The cool pope suddenly doesn’t seem so cool, allowing Rome’s grand inquisitors to torque up the derogation this Mother’s Day [Ummm… Maureen? This happened some days before Mother’s Day.] of the American sisters who have mothered so many – even as an endless parade of ghoulish priests were shielded as they defiled vulnerable kids in their care. [She conveniently leaves about the part about nuns who violated children.]
Pope Benedict XVI’s Vatican was determined to rein in American nuns inspired by Vatican II, accusing them of pushing “radical feminist themes” [which is true] and caring for the sick instead of parroting church teaching opposing contraception, gay relationships and the ordination of women. [“parroting”? Fidelity to the Church’s teaching is mindless repetition, it seems.]
Although some conservative American bishops have politicised the abortion issue, [HAH! There she goes! Now she is parroting liberal talking points.] punishing liberal pols who were pro-choice, [“punishing” liberal pols? Name 10 who have been “punished”.] they were furious that some uppity nuns supported the president’s healthcare plan, including his compromise on contraception for religious hospitals. [She has conflated various issues into one, hasn’t she? The Holy See’s CDF recently addressed the LCWR leadership about doctrinal and spiritual issues. That is not the same thing as concern about how some American nuns gave cover to pro-abortion politicians so that they could betray their Faith and vote for ObamaCare. BTW… has your insurance been cancelled yet?]
On Monday, we learned that German cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Vatican orthodoxy watchdog, upbraided the officers of the largest group of American nuns, [I doubt Maureen actually read Card. Müller’s remarks. In no way can he be fairly described as having “upbraided” them.] the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which has been investigated and reprimanded by Rome.
He objected to their plan to honour Sr Elizabeth Johnson, a Fordham theology professor, who has written that women are uncomfortable with “the dominant images of God as father, lord and king” and would prefer “non-authoritarian” female language for God. [But, Maureen, try to follow… that’s not all she wrote.]
Last year, Francis said he would let the Vatican’s coercive reform of the nuns’ group continue. And this past week, he was silent after Müller’s mauling of the nuns. [So?] The odd thing, as his biographer Paul Vallely told me, is, “He basically agrees with the nuns.” [Now turn the sock inside out. If someone like Pope Francis wants his deputy to talk to you like that, then how far off the rails are you?] The new pope’s focus on the poor and social justice, his “Who am I to judge?” cri de coeur on gays, [I suspect Dowd has no clue about the actual context of that remark.] his critique that the church has become too “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception [That is a mischaracterization. He has never said that “the Church has become too ‘obsessed’ with abortion”.] – all these shocking and refreshing moves echo the Gospel-infused spirit for which the nuns are being punished.Butterfly of delight
“This latest slapdown raises a big question about Pope Francis’s character,” said Kenneth Briggs, the author of Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns. “Is he content projecting a Mr Nice Guy image while giving the green light to the Vatican big boys to pursue a hard line? Is he the butterfly who delights everybody, or is he also the strong arm?” [The Left are turning on Francis.]
Although the 77-year-old pope has said that women could gain greater power in the church, other comments have been typically atavistic. While praising women for their “sensitivity,” “intuition” and mothering skills, he said flatly that women’s ordination to the priesthood “is not a question open to discussion”.
It is fitting that she ended with that last point.
The holy grail of the catholic Left is the ordination of women. They will never be content until that happens.
It is never going to happen.
