Sister Francis explains it all to you

Our parents sent us to Catholic School, told us to obey the nuns. Of course, they also told us to obey the priests, to do what they tell us to do. Look how that turned out.

I wasn't subjected to the attentions of perv priests. We did have one in the ninth grade who really liked to spank us with his paddle. But he may have just been a sadist.

The nuns, on the other hand, were tough and principled, even empathetic at times. I never did know their political leanings. I attended Father Lopez High School in Daytona Beach, Florida, from 1965-69. It was the worst of times in the Vietnam War, but not a whisper of protest from any of the nuns. Only later, as an adult, did I meet nuns so dedicated to social justice that they risked arrest and prison. Some attended my church in Denver, the 10:30 Catholic Community.

But the nuns of my youth taught me well. I know the difference between right and wrong. I can see hypocrisy when it rears it ugly head. Obviously, there are other nuns continuing the "truth to power" tradition of progressive Catholicism. Witness this article in the Winston-Salem Journal :

A progressive group of U.S. nuns has called on Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney because of their roles in the war in Iraq.

“The National Coalition of American Nuns is impelled by conscience to call you to act promptly to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for ... high crimes and misdemeanors,” the group wrote in a letter written on behalf of its board members.

The letter says that impeachment is warranted for their “deceiving the public under the false pretense that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction” and “destroying” the reputation of the United States and the good will of other nations.

“The time for impeachment is now — before the example of George W. Bush’s regime is set in stone,” they wrote. “Future generations will thank you for preserving the freedom of our nation and its relation to the entire human community.”

The coalition was founded in 1969 for individual nuns dedicated to issues of social justice and human rights.

The letter was approved during a mid-August meeting of the board, held in Chicago. During that same meeting, the board unanimously adopted statements opposing all war and affirming peacemaking efforts. “Rather than continuing support of a just-war theory, a more compassionate church would oppose all war and teach peacemaking skills for all levels of government and interpersonal conflict resolution,” the statement reads.