Church’s stance on women hurts itself

Intense national media coverage of the Catholic Church has ranged from letters on abortion and contraception to reporting stunningly provocative actions, to wit: Pope Benedict’s denouncement of priests who have questioned church teachings on celibacy and the ordination of women, the Vatican’s medieval-like crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and U.S. bishops’ scrutiny of the Girl Scouts of America.

What are Catholics to make of these goings on, especially the bullying of the nuns (median age of 74), who are some of the bravest, toughest and most admirable people in the world? Consider the following. Now, for the first time in U.S. history, whites of European ancestry account for less than half of newborn children, marking a demographic tipping point that is changing Catholicism in America as Hispanics are not only becoming the new majority in America, but also the new majority in the church. Contrast this change with the declining population of nuns who continue to heal and educate although aging and dying out because few younger women are willing to make sacrifices for a church determined to subjugate women.

The Vatican appears to be counting on a rise in the number of obedient, conservative Catholics and the dying out and/or smothering of what they must consider dispensable progressive forces represented by the LCWR and its fervent supporters.

We believe women religious are true servant-leaders who could catalyze a new age of enlightenment if the institutional Church abandons its dictatorial modus operandi and returns to the guiding principles of Vatican II espoused by Pope John XXIII. We also believe the church’s actions are no less than abominable, intellectually dishonest distractions from its real problems — a stark reminder of how power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We are beyond outrage.

Frank and Judy Splitt

Mount Prospect