(no subject)
Australian Nun Who Was Excommunicated for Denouncing Sex Abuse to be Made a Saint
(I found the article in this entry at ontd_feminism .)
Interesting! She'll be the first Australia-born saint. I left this comment at the ontd_feminism entry, which I still agree with:
"The merits of Mother Mary MacKillop, her commitment to children, to the poor, to indigenous peoples, to the dignity of all human persons, were much more extensive than the fact that she denounced an abuser," Lombardi said.
I can actually see this part being relevant in a way aside from "look away from the sexual abuse" or to make it look like less of a PR move. Not necessarily the way Lombardi and Gardiner seem to be spinning it, but.
Her whistle-blowing wasn't just a one-time thing, that she did in ignorance of the way hierarchies protect those at the top. It was part of a life of activism. Treating the whistle-blowing as something that just anyone with a conscience would do can mean dismissing her strong will, principles, and accomplishments.
I mean, she co-founded a religious order. There are colleges named after her. (Regarding miracles required - wiki tells me her first one was declared in 1995 and the second in February of this year. She was nominated in 1925. Her heroic virtue was declared in 1992. ...I'm not Catholic and I'm definitely not informed about saints, but the Catholic Church takes its time. Anyways, my point was that she's been slowly making her way through the system, so it might not just be a PR move. I wouldn't be surprised if whistle-blowing had actually slowed the process down.)
Here's another article, written by a Jesuit priest. He comes at it from a different perspective than the first one. I actually really liked his.
(I found the article in this entry at ontd_feminism .)
Interesting! She'll be the first Australia-born saint. I left this comment at the ontd_feminism entry, which I still agree with:
"The merits of Mother Mary MacKillop, her commitment to children, to the poor, to indigenous peoples, to the dignity of all human persons, were much more extensive than the fact that she denounced an abuser," Lombardi said.
I can actually see this part being relevant in a way aside from "look away from the sexual abuse" or to make it look like less of a PR move. Not necessarily the way Lombardi and Gardiner seem to be spinning it, but.
Her whistle-blowing wasn't just a one-time thing, that she did in ignorance of the way hierarchies protect those at the top. It was part of a life of activism. Treating the whistle-blowing as something that just anyone with a conscience would do can mean dismissing her strong will, principles, and accomplishments.
I mean, she co-founded a religious order. There are colleges named after her. (Regarding miracles required - wiki tells me her first one was declared in 1995 and the second in February of this year. She was nominated in 1925. Her heroic virtue was declared in 1992. ...I'm not Catholic and I'm definitely not informed about saints, but the Catholic Church takes its time. Anyways, my point was that she's been slowly making her way through the system, so it might not just be a PR move. I wouldn't be surprised if whistle-blowing had actually slowed the process down.)
Here's another article, written by a Jesuit priest. He comes at it from a different perspective than the first one. I actually really liked his.