“Pope Stops Investigating the Good Sisters”

An NYTimes editorial.

The Vatican’s misguided investigation of American Catholic nuns seemed thoroughly steeped in chauvinism from its inception three years ago by the church’s male-dominated bureaucracy. Rome’s move against widely respected churchwomen was puzzling and provocative in an era of scandal by male priests committing child rape and being repeatedly shielded by their male superiors…

…

Proactive orders like the Sisters of St. Joseph, whose members felt they were under close hierarchical watch, are unimpeded in their efforts to revolutionize the treatment of imprisoned women.

What was actually laid bare by the Vatican’s inquiry was the considerable strength of the American sisterhood. Nuns remain unstinting at day-to-day charity in the most suffering corners of society. They continue building educational and intellectual resources personified by respected female theologians. Pope Francis has shrewdly let the nuns’ case fade from his agenda. He has also spoken of creating “broader opportunities” for churchwomen, and the world will be watching for what might come next.

The editorial does strike me as a bit disingenuous, given the nuns were prepared to propose that women should be priests too. But if the Times is implying that the problem of the nuns’ claims about the gender of the priesthood should be placed far below the problem of clergy sexual abuse, I would certainly agree.