"Become a Nun, Save the Church, Get Fired"

From an article about the three nuns whose contracts were not renewed as campus ministers.

The demonstrators chanted "Support our Sisters" and "Become a Nun, Save the Church, Get Fired" as they marched and then concluded with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. Most of the protesters were members of Voice of the Faithful, a lay group critical of Murphy’s handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal, and were joined by other nuns, a dozen students and Rabbi Meir Mitelman, the Jewish chaplain at Hofstra’s Interfaith Center.

They are trying to frame their ‘firing’ as age discrimination instead of what truly happened. That they are being let go because of their Catholic truth discrimination. In a previous article Sister Riordan had said:

… she always kept an open mind when she counseled students of all religions and many nonbelievers on tough issues such as abortion, gay rights and premarital sex.

The nun fears her replacements will be less available to students and that the young clerics’ more conservative views could turn troubled students away.

The fact that Long Island’s chapter of VOTF is supporting them is not exactly a ringing endorsement of their orthodoxy. In relation to their Bishop William Murphy:

Later in the day, Murphy’s press office released a statement praising the contribution of the religious orders in the diocese and saying the bishop was "personally upset" about the dismay over the dismissals.

Update: Here is an editorial about Father Barr who is intent on fixing campus ministry in Long Island. Look like he is on the right track. [Via Gen X Revert]