[OafOfOffice]

I need more on “network” to fight this. Who are they and what?

[Mrs. Don-o]

Network is a sisters' "Catholic social justice lobby" claiming to represent the views of over 100,000 members. There are less than 60,000 sisters in the USA, and of course not all of them are represented by Network; so Network claims to represent 160% of all American nuns, right?

They have no canonical status (which is to say, they are a private, incorporated, political lobbying group, not a structure of the Catholic Church) and, while they may have a huge mailing list --- who knows? --- that includes me (I have gotten their mailings over the years) and many others who are NOT dues-paying members, not nuns, not even necessarily Catholics, let alone a formal constituency whose opinions they "represent."

There can be no doubt that they reflect the politics many ---- way too many --- dissident convents, e.g. the ones who are coldly and defiantly refusing even to answer simple questionnaires from legitimate Church authorities.

It's going to get worse before it gets better.

I don't know whether to express sorrow, outrage, or pity.