Nat'l Catholic Reporter on John Paul II and the Religious

You can tell a lot about the leanings of a Catholic pastor depending on if you see the National Catholic Register or the National Catholic Reporter in the vestibule of the church. "Progressive" pastors favor the Reporter, while more traditional pastors like the Register.

NC Reporter correspondent Stacy Meichtry demonstrates why in her story, "John Paul II Gets Mixed Reviews From Religious Congregations."

The only problem is Meichtry only quotes one head of a religious order: Sr. Camilla Burns, Superior General of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Burns quotes consist of boilerplate feminist complaints generally heard from the nuns-who-don't-look-like-nuns.

No quotes from the Jesuits, the Legion of Christ, Dominicans, Franciscans, Norbertine, Christian Brothers, etc.

Meichtry does quote Sr. Victoria Gonzalez, a Religious of the Sacred Heart who heads something called the International Union of Superiors General. Sr. Gonzalez serves up a particularly ungracious quote about the late Pope:

“He didn’t know much about religious life. It just wasn’t his strong point. He wanted what he saw in Poland--nuns walking around with big habits.”

You can read this May 14, 2001 message from Pope John Paul II to Sr. Gonzalez's unhappy group, and then compare it the UISG's 2001 Declaration of Women Religious and decide for yourself who doesn't know much about religious life.

Comments

Just FYI but Stacy is a man.