Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Must One Wear Jeans and Tie-dye to Minister to Women Religious?

The cultural divide in the American Church church is nicely illustrated by the National Catholic Reporter's argument that if a Cardinal wears a long cape, "he cannot possibly fairly fathom the lives and work of our women religious."

Featured below is Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for the Religious.



Some comments on NCR's site on the "story" here, a story sent out with trumpets blaring in an email blast, in case they are deleted after being quoted here:

Just in time for Halloween!

What would Christ say of these men in their pretty pink silk and expensive dresses and a pope who dresses like Santa Claus with red Prada slippers?

Looking at these photos I could hardly stifle my laughter. Looking at these photos I wondered 'what year is it?'. Looking at these photos I questioned why these liturgical drag queens have so much power over the humble, earnest religious sisters of America.

I bet the costuming department for the Tudors is way jealous. On the other hand maybe they did the costuming.

I'm pretty sure there are no biological females in these photos.

OH THIS GUY NEEDS A DOSE OF JESUS AND SERVICE! He missed out on these lessons. Can you imagine Jesus in this position?

You have to feel sorry for the poor fellow who needs to retreat into fancy dress to express his role.... Of course the goody two shoes types will probably scorn my advice. They'll reap the whirlwind.

Did I just fall into a time warp? You're kidding - right?


Just one point: the orders of women religious that find Catholic liturgical garb offensive are shrinking and disappearing, while those who aspire to something higher than sneakers and pant suits are growing.

More recent articles:

For more articles, see the NLM archives: