Adele Stan tells why. She places the Vatican's move against the nuns in the context of recent political developments and the child sex abuse scandal. She makes a persausive case that "the church hierarchy is a cult of power." "Misogyny is but one tool...to ensure that power remains in their possession."
The Vatican and the heirarchy sees threats everywhere--uppity nuns, outraged parents, lay people who think for themselves, secularists who show them no respect at all. It wasn't like this in the 13th century!
American Catholics, often enthusiastic in their patriotism, are, in reality, subject to two different and contradictory faiths: the American civic religion of liberty, individualism and participatory democracy, and the Roman tradition of collective submission to ecclesiastical authority. As time has passed, the American religion in many ways came to surpass the faith tradition of their ancestors in terms of forming a primary set of values.
Stan makes a thorough and insightful case. Read the whole thing for a superb analysis of current events in the Roman Catholic church.
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