I Wish I Were In Paris

From war to peace and politics to gossip, if we have an opinion on something we'll share it here.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Another Example Of The Dehumanization Of Women By The Catholic Church

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you know that I have a problem with the Catholic Church for many reasons. As usual, I was not surprised when I read this Catholic story. Thanks Chris for the story!!

Nuns fired for refusing to be maids

Nuns know they are signing up for a hard life when they take their vows, stretching from dawn prayers to gruelling missionary work, but three nuns working in a community near Rome decided they had been pushed too far when the local bishop demanded they double up as personal cleaners for two ageing priests.

The nuns, supported by their mother superior back at their order in Lucca, refused to interrupt their good works with local youngsters to pick up mops and start cleaning.

After digging in their heels they were fired for their disobedience by the bishop, Marcello Semeraro, according to La Stampa newspaper.

By asking the nuns to leave the parish Semeraro ignored the wishes of parishioners in the parish of St Peter and Paul in Aprilia, south of Rome, 1,500 of whom signed a letter rallying to the nuns' cause and expressing their "bitterness and incredulity" with the church.

"We have here an ecclesiastical hierarchy which will give a role to women who have taken vows if they are prepared to first go and work as housewives for priests," local people wrote in an angry statement that was issued after the nuns were pulled out of Aprilia by their order on October 21.

"We hope very much his excellency is not really convinced that taking such a commitment is a condition that the sisters can remain in our community."

The three unnamed sisters had been dispatched to Aprilia by the order of St Gemma in Lucca, an order named after a 19th-century Italian woman who suffered from meningitis before reportedly experiencing stigmatic wounds which bled copiously. She died of TB at the age of 25.

"No one in the church considered that these nuns are a spiritual point of reference in people's lives," wrote the parishioners. The two priests in question, they added, had not even asked for nuns to wash their floors, but the bishop had insisted.

The diocese of Albano takes in Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the Pope. Semeraro, 60, who has taught theology at the pontifical Lateran University and who heads the board of administrators at Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishop's conference, was not available for comment.

The nuns that I interacted with when I was in college were treated with respect. They weren't treated like fucking Cinderella. They weren't ordered to be maids, and they certainly weren't fired for refusing to do something.

It's rather sickening to see how women in the Catholic Church are treated. They're treated like the shit on the bottom of a man's shoe. This story is just another example of that. What really gets me though is that women actually put up with it. Fight back!! Tell men (including the priests, the bishops, and the Pope) where they can shove it. If they still don't get the message that you're not going to stand for this bullshit and abuse any longer, leave!! The cloud being (God, if you actually believe in HER) is not going to strike you dead for standing up for yourself. The cloud being is not going to punish you for demanding respect and equality.

Grow a spine ladies!! You're human beings too, and it's way past time that the Catholic Church understands that!!

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2 Comments:

  • At 12:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Boy this does not look like an objective news story. It is written like a tabloid. Anyway, all religious take vows of chastity, poverty and obedience not just women. Religious brothers who have advanced degrees mop floors, make dinner, and clean up after people too. I’ve visited a priory before and I’ve seen it first hand.
    So this isn’t an issue of women being oppressed. I don’t know about the specifics of the case but nuns, brothers and priests all have several years (6 to 8 in general) of discernment and they all agree to be obedient beforehand. (So it is not like that this is a surprise). From what I can tell these are two ageing priests, boy helping out the sick isn’t something Christians are called to do.
    Helping the aged is just as important as helping out children.

    If you don’t like following someone else’s orders then you’re probably not called to be in a religious order. As for why religious takes these vows please see the last section.

    Christianity from the beginning has been in favor of women. Many early Christians were women because they were given respect that pagan religions didn’t offer.

    I find it interesting that people who criticize the Catholic Church haven’t actually read anything the Church has written on the subject whether it’s feminism, sexual ethics, the disagreement many Protestants have with Catholics, etc.
    Please take sometime and read the Catechism of the Catholic Church or MULIERIS DIGNITATEM (DIGNITY AND VOCATION OF WOMEN) or Pope John Paul II’s letter to women.
    Hey if at that time you disagree than that’s still fine, at least be informed instead of repeating the same old arguments that Catholics hear ad nauseam

    Paris is a great city, I especially like the layout of the city being able to see a great deal of the city from the Arc of Triumph whether it’s all the way down the Champs Elysees or towards La Defense. Vive La France!

    Don

     
  • At 9:51 AM, Blogger ParisL0ve2 said…

    Don, you religious people are all alike. Whenever someone points out something to you, the only responses you know how to have are "Please read Catechism of the Catholic Church" or something as equally ridiculous.

    You can take your religious tripe and shove it up your ass!!

    I'm not going to be told by some ass what to write on my own blog. Nor am I going to be told how to think. If you don't like what I have to say, don't read it!!

     

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