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Great story. I hope these same nuns take on the Vatican, next.

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Absolutely!!!

The nuns I encountered in schools in Pointe-aux-Trembles and my sister had in Repentigny were sadistic witches. I hope they rot in Hell. My sister was traumatized for years by the sweet-smiling self-righteous 'brides of Christ' whose idea of an education was to break the spirit of 13-year-old girls like horses and then fill their heads with crap.

O the sisters of mercy they are not
Departed or gone,
They were waiting for me when I thought
That I just can’t go on,
And they brought me their comfort
And later they brought me this song.
O I hope you run into them
You who’ve been traveling so long.

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Originally posted by fossilnut:
I suppose the NAZIs supported some good causes but they pale in their evil compared to the harm Catholic Church perpetuates among the poorest of the poor in the Third World.

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Since then though, I've met and seen on the media lots of progressive nuns of all ages who appear to have opened the stain glass windows and let the fresh air into the convents.

Nuns have traditionally been on the front lines of the progressive movements within the church, moreso perhaps in N America. This was brutally supressed early in JPII's reign, but has survived underground.

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When I picture Quebec and Catholicism, I picture Duplessis...And given how I feel about that Hitler sympathising theocrat sonofabitch, you all can conclude how I feel about the historical role of the Church in Quebec.

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This is, I think, a bit of an unfortunate comment, Newbie. Quebec has moved light years beyond its political past marked by authoritarian governments and the hierarchical church.

We on the Anglo Canadian left have to be extraordinarily careful to recognize the profound changes in Quebec society.

For example, in the debate on the Meech Lake Accord, Anglo-Canadian feminist groups acted vociferously against the Distinct Society clause for fear that the days of Duplessis would return and the Quebec state would override the rights of women and force them into family policies to rejuvenate the Quebec nation.

There is a left progressive Catholic Church like this particular group of nuns, the liberation theologists etc. and there is a conservative right-wing church a la Ratzinger.

So I think this particular group of nuns should be praised for the solidarity they are showing for Walmart workers. Its very much a good thing.

And I have heard stories about Catholic priests/nuns working in Africa who are blatantly ignoring church dogma and have been handing out condoms in Africa...the AIDS crisis being so severe that they can't ignore reality.

In honour of our newfound solidarity with Sister Esther Champagne and the sisters in her order, let's take a moment to offer our support for their worthy endeavor. In the tradition of labour activists like Woody Guthrie and Utah Phillips, I suggest a rousing protest song. Perhaps this one is most appropriate:

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Climb every mountain, search high and low
Follow every byway, every path you know.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream!

A dream that will need
all the love you can give,
Every day of your life
for as long as you live.

Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream!

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[ 03 June 2005: Message edited by: Granola Girl ]

Good Heavens! They have a website! Here it is!

This is where I was incarcerated from 1968 until I was paroled in 1977

Well things certainly have changed in 28 years. I hardly recognize the nuns (full habits when I was there) or the chapel. Nowadays, the nuns I meet seem like nice human beings who aren't the living reincarnations of Nurse Ratched that I knew.

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I'm willing to believe times have changed in this regard, despite the scars that will never quite heal. If nuns, any nuns, can wound Wal-Mart that is atonement in my book.

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Just as we all know very well that there are Americans such as yourself that oppose the whole Bush agenda, the war in Iraq etc. there have always been folks in the Catholic Church who oppose the direction that the church leadership is taking.

There are heroic figures like Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador who was assasinated by CIA-funded death squads.

Folks like Dom Helder Camera, former Archbishop of Recife, Brazil known as the "Red Bishop" who's most famous quote was something to the effect of "When I feed the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist".

A number of members of cabinet in the Sandinista government of Nicaragua were Catholic priests. Father Ernesto Cardinal was the Minister of Culture and Father Miguel D'Escoto was the Foreign Minister.

I recall back in the 1980's during the depths of the recession when the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops published an encyclical entitled "Ethical Reflections on the Economic Crisis" where they denounced the economic policies of the ruling elite here in Canada. All of the business elites at the time were denouncing the bishops for "interfering in politics".

A couple of members of the federal NDP caucus in the 1980's were Catholic priests.

So its important to recognize that these right-wing Catholic groups no more speak for all members of the church than the Republican Party speaks for all Americans.

[ 04 June 2005: Message edited by: radiorahim ]

Catholic, and Orthodox, are in many cases "identities". I have many cousins who define themselves as Catholics although they don't go to Mass except for weddings, funerals and occasionally to please elderly relatives while enjoying some contemplative time in pleasant surroundings, though they disagree with everything the Pope says.

The CSN (Confédération des syndicats nationaux), the furthest left of the labour confederations in Québec and no doubt North America, is of Catholic origin. Other groups such as the JOC (Jeunesses ouvrières catholiques) have played an important role in the most radical movements here.

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All of the business elites at the time were denouncing the bishops for "interfering in politics".

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Worth underlining.

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Pope John XXIII, who preceded Wojtya as head of the Church by two papacies, is still revered by many Catholics for radically reorienting the church by convening the Vatican II Council, which directly fed the growth of what is known as “liberation theology”. From Vatican II the democratic notion emerged that the whole church — laity and clergy — were united as the “People of God”.

John Paul II's pontificate was organised as a conscious counter-revolution against Vatican II — a winding back of the clock towards an archaic Catholicism politically aligned with violent terror against liberationists around the world.

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Green-Left Weekly article (Australia)

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Originally posted by radiorahim:

When Romero was assasinated the silence from Pope John Paul II was deafening.

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[ 05 June 2005: Message edited by: Fidel ]

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There are people who believe that Ratzinger is a liberal and a "progessivist".

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My husband's family feels that the Catholic church is the way to go. Except my father-in-law, who remains firmly agnostic. He's the cool one!

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I didn't type most of the post above. I started it and someone else in my home finished it, someone who has since apologized.

Just for the record, I was going to say:

My husband's family feels that the Catholic church is too liberal. They are not happy about vatican 2 and still attend masses in Latin. I don't see eye to eye with them much and I feel very uncomfortable visiting.

[ 05 June 2005: Message edited by: Melsky ]

[ 05 June 2005: Message edited by: Thrasymachus ]

[ 05 June 2005: Message edited by: Melsky ]

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Religious suffering is at one and the same time the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

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