[Mrs. Don-o]

She's not employed by her bishop. She's not employed by the Catholic Church per se. She's employed --- as far as I can make out --- by Network, a political lobbying group of which she is Executive Director. That's what makes things complicated.

Her religious congregation is the Sisters of Social Service (SSS). Their motherhouse is in Encino, CA and therefore is in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Network hdq. is in Washington, DC, and is neither legally nor canonically "owned" by the SSS. So canonically, I don't even know who her bishop is.

It's mighty frustrating and perplexing for people who assume the Catholic Church is a monarchical, hierarchically-organized monolith, when actually it is quite crazy-quiltish in practice. Unless you're directly under the authority of a bishop (like a parish priest) it can be quite difficult to stop somebody by actually "firing" them. Who would do the firing?

:o/

[JPG]

Thanks for expounding. It seems ludicrous that a ‘sister’ under the auspices or imprimatur of the Catholic Church cannot be dealt with for flagrantly violating Catholic doctrine. Maybe Benedict XVI could give her a call and tell her to hit the road.