UNITED STATES
Boston Globe
By Lisa Wangsness
| Globe Staff
June 12, 2012
Last week an obscure 2006 book on sexual ethics by a nun, a retired Yale Divinity School theologian, rocketed to number 13 on Amazon’s bestseller list.
Its dazzling success came courtesy of the Vatican, which sparked readers’ interest with its stern warning that Sister Margaret Farley’s “Just Love’’ contradicted Catholic teaching. Using justice as a framework for sexual ethics, Farley had written that masturbation, gay marriage, and divorce could be seen as morally acceptable.
The church’s edict was the latest crackdown by the Vatican and US bishops on American nuns who as scholars, activists, and institutional leaders push the boundaries of Catholic doctrine.
But, as leaders of a group of nuns arrive in Rome on Tuesday to meet with Vatican officials over recent sanctions, their supporters say the hierarchy’s actions have widened the chasm between the church’s male overseers and ordinary Catholics. Sisters have long been the face of the church to many of its people through their work in education, health care, and social justice.
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