Catholic nuns urge passage of Obama's health bill

Mea Culpa · #1 Mar 17, '10, 4:22 pm

Is this some sort of misunderstanding - or have the nuns in this country really drifted this far away from Catholic teaching?

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Catholic nuns are urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama's health care plan, in an unusual public break with bishops who say it would subsidize abortion.

Some 60 leaders of religious orders representing 59,000 Catholic nuns Wednesday sent lawmakers a letter urging them to pass the Senate health care bill. It contains restrictions on abortion funding that the bishops say don't go far enough.

The letter says that "despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions." The letter says the legislation also will help support pregnant women and "this is the real pro-life stance."

SugarMagnolia · #2 Mar 17, '10, 4:39 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mea Culpa

Is this some sort of misunderstanding - or have the nuns in this country really drifted this far away from Catholic teaching?

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Catholic nuns are urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama's health care plan, in an unusual public break with bishops who say it would subsidize abortion.

Some 60 leaders of religious orders representing 59,000 Catholic nuns Wednesday sent lawmakers a letter urging them to pass the Senate health care bill. It contains restrictions on abortion funding that the bishops say don't go far enough.

The letter says that "despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions." The letter says the legislation also will help support pregnant women and "this is the real pro-life stance."

Perhaps you misread the article. It says: "the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions"

Mea Culpa · #3 Mar 17, '10, 4:51 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SugarMagnolia

Perhaps you misread the article. It says: "the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions"

That's actually a quote from the dissident "sisters." The Bishops say something different.

However, the bishops were left disappointed and puzzled to learn that the basis for any vote on health care will be the Senate bill passed on Christmas Eve. Notwithstanding the denials and explanations of its supporters, and unlike the bill approved by the House of Representatives in November, the Senate bill deliberately excludes the language of the Hyde amendment. It expands federal funding and the role of the federal government in the provision of abortion procedures. In so doing, it forces all of us to become involved in an act that profoundly violates the conscience of many, the deliberate destruction of unwanted members of the human family still waiting to be born.

Click here for statement by the Bishops.

jrsmith · #4 Mar 17, '10, 5:09 pm

i've noticed some of the nuns up here act strangely. I was sitting in front of one, and for the responsorial Psalm she wouldn't refer to God as "Him", but said "God" in place of it. I also heard first hand how a group of sisters pray at their house: "In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier"...

**the phoenix** · #5 Mar 17, '10, 5:14 pm

Praying for the conversion of those Catholic nuns ...

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

kimmielittle · #6 Mar 17, '10, 6:16 pm

Quote:

" The letter says the legislation also will help support pregnant women and "this is the real pro-life stance."

Dear Sisters.

No, the REAL pro-life stance...is a reverence of ALL life.

Rence · #7 Mar 17, '10, 6:17 pm

I admit, they're a little too progressive and liberal for me, but come on, where's the Christian charity? These women, in their work in the healthcare field, see some bad things. Of course they're going to try and advocate for their patients and clients.

Here's where you can read the letter, and below is an excerpt that touched me frankly.
http://www.networklobby.org/press/3-...tersLetter.htm

Here's an excerpt of their letter:
We have witnessed firsthand the impact of our national health care crisis, particularly its impact on women, children and people who are poor. We see the toll on families who have delayed seeking care due to a lack of health insurance coverage or lack of funds with which to pay high deductibles and co-pays. We have counseled and prayed with men, women and children who have been denied health care coverage by insurance companies. We have witnessed early and avoidable deaths because of delayed medical treatment.

The health care bill that has been passed by the Senate and that will be voted on by the House will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured Americans. While it is an imperfect measure, it is a crucial next step in realizing health care for all. It will invest in preventative care. It will bar insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It will make crucial investments in community health centers that largely serve poor women and children. And despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions. It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments – $250 million – in support of pregnant women. This is the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it.

It's hard to watch people be sick and deteriorate, and feel helpless to do anything about it....

**catharina** · #8 Mar 17, '10, 6:18 pm

Best explanation is this:

this group of women is called the Leadership Council of Women Religious. They are rather notorious for their radicalism and by no means, does this group include most vowed religious Sisters in the USA. Link below leads to their site's page of their leaders and former leaders since their beginning. One example of former leaders is one Sr. Theresa Kane RSM who chose to "welcome" Pope John Paul II to the cathedral in Wash DC by insulting him and berating him regarding his "limitations" on women. (The "issue" in those days was the Holy Father's clear refusal to ordain women-priests in the Catholic Church.)

In a very unusual move to shield their actual identity now, the LCWR, for once, did not fly their own banner to news sources. Then again, any Cathiolic of a certain age would remember the actions of Sr. Kane and the LCWR.

It took me six searches to find their identity re the 'statement.'

http://www.lcwr.org/lcwraboutus/lcwrofficers.htm

lil_flower_luv · #9 Mar 17, '10, 6:24 pm

Weren't one of these nuns on the World Over? I remember some nun really for the Healthcare bill.

**catharina** · #10 Mar 17, '10, 6:27 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by lil_flower_luv

Weren't one of these nuns on the World Over? I remember some nun really for the Healthcare bill.

Sorry. I've never heard of the World Over.

kimmielittle · #11 Mar 17, '10, 6:31 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by catharina

Best explanation is this:

this group of women is called the Leadership Council of Women Religious. They are rather notorious for their radicalism and by no means, does this group include most vowed religious Sisters in the USA. Link below leads to their site's page of their leaders and former leaders since their beginning. One example of former leaders is one Sr. Theresa Kane RSM who chose to "welcome" Pope John Paul II to the cathedral in Wash DC by insulting him and berating him regarding his "limitations" on women. (The "issue" in those days was the Holy Father's clear refusal to ordain women-priests in the Catholic Church.)

In a very unusual move to shield their actual identity now, the LCWR, for once, did not fly their own banner to news sources. Then again, any Cathiolic of a certain age would remember the actions of Sr. Kane and the LCRW.

It took me six searches to find their identity re the 'statement.'

http://www.lcwr.org/lcwraboutus/lcwrofficers.htm

lil_flower_luv · #12 Mar 17, '10, 6:32 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by catharina

Sorry. I've never heard of the World Over.

On EWTN. Hosted by Raymond Arroyo....it was in the fall, I think.

**catharina** · #13 Mar 17, '10, 6:34 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by lil_flower_luv

On EWTN. Hosted by Raymond Arroyo....it was in the fall, I think.

I watch very little TV.

**catharina** · #14 Mar 17, '10, 6:35 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimmielittle

Back at ya'.

A little history goes a looooong way.

**catharina** · #15 Mar 17, '10, 6:47 pm

More on recent history of the LCWR:

http://acatholicview.blogspot.com/20...bort-lcwr.html

"Thursday, August 13, 2009

Amid Vatican probes, Pro-abort LCWR keynote speaker is papal critic

In the midst of two Vatican inquiries-- the Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious in the United States, and an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith into “the tenor and the doctrinal content of various addresses” at its meetings-- the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is featuring Cokie Roberts as the keynote speaker at its annual assembly, which is taking place in New Orleans.

Mrs. Roberts-- who has described Pope Benedict XVI as “really lacking in the theological virtue of charity,” and who has called pro-lifers “extremists”-- is a critic of Catholic teaching on embryonic stem-cell research. Appearing on ABC-TV in 2007, Mrs. Roberts said that she found the federal law against partial-birth abortion “offensive as a woman.”

American Nuns Honor Pro-Abortion Cokie Roberts as Vatican Investigation Continues