Nuns & male hierarchy

OPINION

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Nuns on the Frontier

By ANNE M. BUTLER

The tension between nuns and the Catholic Church's male hierarchy has roots in the 19th century.

THE recent Vatican edict that reproached American nuns for their liberal views on social and political issues has put a spotlight on the practices of these Roman Catholic sisters. While the current debate has focused on the nuns’ progressive stances on birth control, abortion, homosexuality, the all-male priesthood and economic injustice, tension between American nuns and the church’s male hierarchy reaches much further back./.../