If only the Vatican were open to the Gospel…

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | May 07, 2013

The defense of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious by the president of the International Union of Superiors General would be funny if it were intended as a parody. Read the story and you’ll see what I mean.

According to Sister Mary Lou Wirtz, the problem is simple:

1. Since Vatican II, obedience and authority are understood differently.
2. So we have to look at what Gospel leadership means today.
3. The LCWR hopes for an open discussion of this.
4. But there is no openness to the Gospel at the Vatican.

In other words, Sister Mary Lou pulled standard response number 1A out of the drawer and filled in the name of the group in question on this occasion.

As I said, this would at least be humorous if it were a deliberate parody of what dissident groups always say. In that case, any of us could have written it. And if we had written it, oddly enough, we would very likely have called the spokesperson “Sister Mary Lou”, for effect.