The most recent issue (Nov. 22) of Rolling Stone has a great story on the nuns' bus tour this summer and their recent struggles with the Vatican ("The Sisters Crusade"). I don't think it has been posted online yet, but here's Sr. Simone Campbell (executive director of Network) on the bishops:

"You've got to realize that any crowd that took 350 years to figure out Galileo might be right is not noted for rapid change," she says. "The sadness is that the bishops are coming at it from the perspective of rules, and spiritual leadership is soooo much deeper than that. We work too much with the poor? We don't pick up their particular pet political issues? Give me a break! This is about a cultural clash between monarchy, in which the monarch is always right, and democracy, where everybody has equal dignity, responsibility and opportunity -- women and men. The whole idea that we live in a pluralistic society is news to these guys."

And on the similarity between the bishops and Romney/Ryan:

For Campbell, there's not much difference between the bishops, most of whom have had extremely limited pastoral experience, and politicians like Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney. "Their lives are very simplified," she says of the bishops. "They've been in academics, they've been in Rome, but they've never had to walk with people with horrible struggles." Romney, she says, is "a lost human being. He has never had experience with people outside of the one percent. He can't be expected to know what it's like for other people. But if he wants to lead this nation, he ought to know."

Eric Bugyis teaches Religious Studies at the University of Washington Tacoma.

Also by this author
© 2024 Commonweal Magazine. All rights reserved. Design by Point Five. Site by Deck Fifty.