Bishop Blair Goes after Sisters of St. Francis--Again!

As a member of a misogynistic, autocratic men's club, Toledo Catholic Bishop Leonard Blair just doesn't get it. In a March 30 article in the Catholic Chronicle, his main concern about the recently passed Federal Health Care Bill was that it "may" lead to federal funding for abortions. That, in spite of the fact the senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for abortions and that the bill will provide an historic $250 million in support of pregnant women. Instead of recognizing the new Health Care Bill is finally coinciding with the social justice concerns and teachings of the Catholic Church, the Bishop, ala Sarah Palin, concentrates on repeating the false claims of the bill's opponents

But that is not all. The bishop singled out the Sister of St. Francis of Tiffin as being suspect for signing a statement supporting health care reform. Representatives of 61 Catholic nuns' groups signed the letter, including the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The signers represented more than 59,000 of the 67,000 nuns. As a result of the bishop's criticism, the Tiffin Franciscans issued a statement reaffirming their dedication to life issues and their opposition to abortion. The whole world knows this, but they had to restate the obvious in light of the bishop's misgivings.

Sister Jacquelyn told the Toledo Blade they endorsed their support for the "offending" statement because " we have supported health care reform, especially to cover the poor, uninsured and also to assist pregnant women, and our understanding was that this bill would do this."

Perhaps Bishop Blair's negative and paranoid attitude is not surprising when one considers that the Vatican's response to priestly pedophilia is 1) defensive ("we are the victims of unjust criticism) and 2) false ("the cause of priestly pedophilia is homosexuality").

Many Catholics wonder when their church's leaders are going to stop obsessing about our religious women's devotion to the Gospels and return to preaching the positive message of "The Good News." As it appears now, this men's club fears the potential of their "sisters."