From super-liberal RNS:
New ‘Nuns on the Bus’ tour to highlight Pope Francis’ US visit and agenda
[…]
“Obviously, Pope Francis’ message is exactly what we’ve been doing for 43 years,” Campbell said. “Having that affirmation is hugely supportive.”
But, she added, “what’s important is that we continue to do the mission regardless of how it goes,” and whatever the hierarchy says.
Does this pass the smell test?
The nuns’ mission seems to be, in fact, to piss off the hierarchy.
The Pope has said some strong things about abortion and about “gender theory”. The nuns reveal no solidarity with Pope Francis on those issues.
Will we hear a peep from them in defense of marriage and the unborn or will their silence demonstrate their fear to stand with the Church on homosexuality, fidelity to matrimony, and defense of the unborn?
I think we all know the answers.
No, they operate in terms of what is political and what promotes the Magisterium of Nuns, over and against the US Catholic Bishops.
Speaking of “the nuns”, let’s not forget the classic…
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When will the 1960s be over?
Their last time around I was walking home from church after Mass and did a double-take when their bus went by, right past the church. They do not go to daily Mass on their bus trips by the way (maybe to some this will seem obvious).
The idea that they and Pope Francis are on exactly the same page is nonsense. The main thing they promote on their bus tours is the welfare state. People think that’s Pope Francis’ point of view but it’s not as simple as that, he thinks people should work and not expect to be provided for by government, so Pope Francis is concerned a lot with employment, access to means of production etc. Even Dorothy Day was passionately against the welfare state.
One thing I’ve come to suspect is that for Sr Simone in particular, who is a Sister of Social Service, the overwhelmingly leftist and even marxist culture of the Social Work profession is one of the factors in her point of view. From a contemporary social work professional point of view she is a model public advocacy type social worker. Whereas if she mixed into her “social work” a public embrace of all of Catholic teaching and talked about it openly and faithfully that would be seen at odds with that profession.
The other day Cardinal Dolan stated that the mission of the church is housing, food for the poor, jobs, whatever, I can’t remember exactly what he said but his statement made it clear Cardinal Dolan thinks social services is the mission of the Catholic church. He never mentioned saving souls, helping prevent the lost from going to hell, or any of that old-timey nonsense. And if I had a dime for every homily on social justice….
So are these nuns out of touch, or are we. I really don’t know.
“Cardinal Dolan thinks social services is the mission of the Catholic church. He never mentioned saving souls, helping prevent the lost from going to hell, or any of that old-timey nonsense. “
One would indeed hope for much more from a Cardinal in such a prominent position. Still…
I was reflecting recently on a series of similarly…let’s call them half-focused, as material charity is still at least part of the Church’s mission…statements by another bishop, and compared it to my own experience when I talk with friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. about morality, religion, and related matters. It’s generally very hard to be bold, knowing the other party will judge me for my beliefs (the ironic condemnation for not being “open-minded”). I’m sure our bishops experience a lot of the same doubt I do, and soften their comments accordingly, sometimes falling all the way to the level of mere platitude. Given how much trouble I myself have arguing important matters with clarity and confidence, I don’t find myself in a good position to criticize them.
Then again, these are our bishops. Maybe I’d find it easier if we had more strong leaders setting a courageous example.
Oh well. I’ll take it as another reminder I don’t pray as often or fervently as I should, including for bishops capable of leading their flocks on the straight and narrow path.
Recently two women in the neighborhood of an age with these bus-riders expressed the opinion that Catholicism is equal to Islam regarding advocacy of violence. Their evidence centered around the Crusades and the Holocaust (WW2). Just another example of how the culture during their formation influenced their thought process. Culture matters….
Also wondering why the Nun’s response to every prompt is to get on that bus…
I’m tired of watching Catholics flout Doctrine and by their example, lead others astray. On Planned Parenthood and Abortion I’ve craved a stronger response from Church leadership
And, like Iamlucky13. I also need to re-examine my prayer life for the same reasons
(nice quote) The nuns’ mission seems to be, in fact, to piss off the hierarchy.
It’s not just the hierarchy that this lot have a tendency to piss off.
May God tire of their mockery.
At the heart of radical feminism is an intense resentment and outright hatred of men. Positions of power held exclusively by men (i.e. the Catholic priesthood) infuriate the feminists to the utmost degree and they’ll never be sold on the un-changeable fact that Jesus is the SON of God the FATHER, chose men to be His disciples and therefore, the priesthood is reserved for men only. That’s why you won’t see any signs of solidarity between these feminists (sorry, can’t call them nuns) and Pope Francis.
I recall reading a book penned by a radical feminist theologian from a “catholic” college telling her flock of XX chromosomed sheep, that the reason they need to stay in the church is to take over its structure.
I guess then that busses full of fighting nuns are merely the equivalent of Hummers in this battle for control the Church.
That “NUNS GONE WILD” link at the end of the OP really tells it: Nuns For Choice T-shirt – leaves a person wondering how anyone calling themselves Catholic can claim to be dedicated to God and dedicated to the destruction of innocent children in their mothers’ wombs all at the same time . The lack of logic in their, um, beliefs and their apparent dissent for both the Holy Catholic Church and Her (“all male”) priesthood make it difficult to believe that these troubled souls might still somehow be availing themselves of the sacrament of Reconciliation.
. . . Kind of scary what can happen to us on a personal level when we stop making use of the sacrament of Confession . . .I wish I could remember who I’m quoting here – heard it from a deacon friend of mine, (if anyone knows where this quote comes from, maybe they could post the author’s name):
They’re sure to get a warm welcome in Des Moines http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/des-moines/2015/08/25/catholic-house-woman-priest-eucharist/32346939/
I think it is important to remember who helped financed their bus tour and is probably
involved with this one.
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/1467/surprise_nuns_on_the_bus_was_a_sorosfunded_publicity_stunt.aspx
Now might be a good time to (re-)read Dom Chautard’s The Soul of the Apostolate!
There were actually very few nuns on the bus, but the media gave them so much attention that it looked like they were the majority. Meanwhile, meetings or events of orthodox sisters are completely ignored.
Yes, we have all been waiting for 2000 years for this crew to clarify things. The hubris is revolting. Keep walking that maze, delving into that enneagram, but please stay away from innocent souls hungering for Jesus Christ. It is all as unbearable as those who provide it approbation.
Just read more about the mission of this year’s “nuns on the bus” tour. Following Pope Francis’ call to transform politics in meeting the needs of people, especially the poor, these sisters are meeting people, listening to stories, and advocating for just political structures and policies to better serve them.
If this were happening during Jesus’ time on earth, betcha he’d be on that bus.
AnnTherese:
Caring for the poor is vital to the Church’s mission, but not when divorced from the Gospel, the Church’s sound doctrines, and the spiritual needs of the people. Faithful, orthodox priests and religious also do much around the world to care for the poor and downtrodden. Mother Teresa comes to mind- and she fully submitted to the Magisterium.
With all due respect to our blog Father and my fellow commenters here, I have to say that my opinion of Sister Simone Campbell and the Busnuns has been evolving, so much so that I will hazard to express it here.
With the Nunsbus roaring into town, I feel a lot safer in my political convictions as a Catholic, both in having them and in expressing them and sharing them and taking action. It is the action of Sister Simone that makes the action of the trad and homeschooling mom who bears witness to the situation of the unborn and the coerced mother in prayer in front of Planned Parenthood ok in the secular imagination and the public square in these strange times we are living in.
Sister Simone’s activism boldly refutes the now shopworn secularist command that we as Catholics “refrain from imposing our religious beliefs upon others”. Sister Simone’s work reminds us that a humanism made politically devoid of the ability of every being to freely praise their Creator through existence is irrational and xenophobic.
When there are sisters on the bus campaigning for legislation, raising political awareness, lobbying those in political office, commenting in the media, organizing those who are vulnerable and betrayed by the elite power structures creating the laws of this country, we understand more fully that the famous speech of NY Governor Mario Cuomo at Notre Dame indicating that Catholics in the political sphere should be, well, seen and not heard, from the depths of our faith, and be willing, for the sake of political appeal, to stifle deeply held objections to that which even though immoral per se the modes and fashions of the day seemed to nonetheless crave irrationally.
Sister Simone makes it OK for all of us Catholics to come out of our hiding places and safely advocate to our pastors, our Bishops, our Catholic media, our university presidents, our secular spheres of contributions, to politically animate everyone we know on our blogs, our facebooks, twitters and instagrams, to divest of Planned Parenthood, and for the sake of the littlest and most vulnerable already among us, to permit life, that we may all live, and to urge one another to support and vote for only candidates who accept the sanctity of human life from womb to tomb.
TWF, I don’t see these sisters divorced from the Gospel, spiritual needs of people, or the Church. And of course they are not the only people –Catholics or others — who are doing good.
But, in fact, these women ARE doing much good, in the name of Jesus.
I’m shocked by the hostility toward these sisters that’s expressed on this blog.
AnnTherese, I expect you must be aware that these particular sisters have not supported the cause of the sanctity of unborn human lives — so the exasperation (I do not agree that it is “hostility on this blog”) that you typically find in reply to their political activism or organizing and media based efforts here and in many other places across the Catholic world in the U.S. relates to that. This is what people mean when they say that there has, at least in the past, seemed to be an unwillingness to connect their brand of social justice to the plainest aspirations of the Gospel. However, I think that today is a new day. Perhaps the sisters did not realize the full activities of Planned Parenthood and their ilk, and they did not fully register the torture and violence in the wombs of women that is going on under veil of legalism in this country, for money and to serve the cause of greed. I do not think that it is “too late” for any one of us to advocate clearly and firmly to all who possess power that we are no longer going to be tolerating politicians who deceive us with their ideas about “women’s health”, pitting mothers against children, which goes against every idea of women’s dignity, feminism, and humanism.