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SHE'S not the Catholic Church.
In fact, she's apparently abandoning the Catholic Faith.

You hardly make your point very clear by doing the same.

Mrs. Don-o, I think you're missing the point. If the sister in question is "abandoning the Catholic Church" then why is she still a member in good standing? And she is far from the only example. Why are so many liberal Democrats Catholics in good standing? And please don't give me the "they're not in good standing" talk. The fact that they are not publicly reprimanded in some way gives a scandal to other good Catholics which is why the good Catholics leave the Church. In fact, the Church gives traditionalists a much tougher time than it gives liberals.

FCOL. I was told in graduate school that the way I believed "wasn't Catholic" and that I should get out because I believed the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Can't the hordes or liberals be told to get out as well, or is belief in Genesis 1-11 some sort of Supreme Sin That Outranks All Others?

You've got a good point there, ZC. Actually I wrote too hastily in virtually reading Sr. Simone out of the Church. I was wrong, because I was thinking she was one of the old IHM's, who actually did leave the Church (they were a breakaway congregation in L.A.) Actually, she's a SSS and her congregation is still in the Church, a canonical congregation. I misjudged her based on misinformation.

To your larger point: It is not inherently incompatible with Catholicism to be a liberal Democrat, or even a liberal Repub, a conservative Democrat, a monarchist, an anarchist, an imperialist, an anti-colonialist, a tribalist, alibertarian or a socialist, IF --- I'd better put that in larger typeface, --*IF*--- one has cut off the pats of those "systems" that are incompatible with Catholicism, and not vice-versa. In other words, one can be a patriarchalist, but only a patriarchalist "as transformed by Christ"; one can be a feminist, but only a feminist "as transformed by Christ": it's not the Left or the Right or the patriarchal or the feminist that really matters: what matters is the transformation.

That's what Catholicism is ---what it has to be --- or it is nothing.

So this Sr. Simone, to the extent that she is being conformed to the mind of Christ, she's in the Church and she's approaching perfection: and --- although I'm quite different from her politically --- the same goes for me.

Now I don't know much what her whole political Thing consists of. (No. I didn't read the whole RNS article!! Eek.)If she's a pro-abort, she's gravely in the wrong. If she's a welfare-statist, that's something we'd have to argue about. The first issue is a moral absolute; the second is a different category, merely a prudential judgment. This distinction must be made: the Church is not a political party and does not have a political program. We do, however, have moral precepts, precepts which Christ teaches through His Church. which must not be violated.

I can't address your other points right now because it's past my bedtime. I'm up at 5 am tomorrow. But I did want to say that my initial "she's no Catholic" was not factually correct. It was a rash judgment based on misinformation on my part. This thing would take much more careful parsing.

Peace be with you. G'Night!