UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Robert McClory | May. 19, 2014 NCR Today
In November, I gave a talk about Pope Francis at the Call to Action conference, and every story, every quote I gave about him was greeted with smiles, cheers and laughter. It was something like a papal pep rally.
In my inbox on Friday morning were no fewer than four no-nonsense messages from very upset Catholic organizations urging the signing of petitions calling on Pope Francis to apologize for Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s harsh words to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and urging him to tell the Vatican to back off the “unjust reform agenda” it imposed on U.S. nuns. It is time, several said, “to stop bullying Catholic women leaders.”
My, how things have changed in six months. Of course, the vigorous scolding by Müller has been the big story in recent weeks, but his harangue (the sentiments, if not words, of which it appears the pope agrees with) is only one among a sudden outburst of hierarchical moves to parade power and retake the high ground. Here are some examples you may have seen in NCR or elsewhere.
Franciscan Fr. Jerry Zawada, a longtime human rights and peace activist, was sentenced in March by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to “a life of prayer and penance” to be lived in a Franciscan friary in Wisconsin. He may not present himself in public as a priest or celebrate the sacraments but may say Mass in private. His singular offense was concelebrating a liturgy in November 2011 with a Roman Catholic woman priest.
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