UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 08, 2012
By Joe Orso

Essay

The Eucharist will live only if we find a way for it to live outside the Mass. I heard this from a Catholic sister last year, who was quoting a lay parish worker.

Another sister told me this about a decade ago: The hierarchy is like a dying dragon, breathing fire on those around it as it flails through its final collapse. But don’t worry, she said, it is dying and someday something else will resurrect.

I believe both of those statements, I love both of those sisters, and the recent news about the Vatican’s actions toward the Leadership Conference of Women Religious does not stir anger in me one bit.

I am not shocked by the Vatican’s bad manners in handling the incident, nor by the hypocrisy of these so recently scandalized Catholic authorities attacking…