U.S. nuns won't let survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic sisters address annual conference
This past week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which
represents 95 percent of the orders of Catholic sisters in the U.S.,
held its annual meeting in New Orleans. The main topic on the agenda was
the Vatican's current investigation of the doctrinal deviations they
believe may be rampant among the sisters who were freed of strict
control in dress and living arrangements following the Second Vatican Councilin the early 1960s.
Nuns, it seems, are no longer as obedient as the Vatican would like. One
sister I know is a clinic escort at her local reproductive health
clinic; others are active in gay and lesbian ministries and one, close
to 90, has been a leader in the movement for sex worker rights. They
fasted for the Equal Rights Amendment, spoke out in favor of women
priests and choice, marched with Martin Luther King, and thought John
Paul II was a disaster.
