vatican denounce Nun

An American nun sister Magret A. Farley who taught Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School has been denounced by the Vatican`s doctrinal office for a book that attempted to present a theological rationale for same-sex relationships, masturbation and remarriage after divorce. The Vatican office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that the book, "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics," by Sister Margaret A. Farley, was "not consistent with authentic Catholic theology," and should not be used by Roman Catholics. "I can only clarify that the book was not intended to be an expression of current official Catholic teaching, nor was it aimed specifically against this teaching. It is of a different genre altogether."Sister Farley responds in a statement. The book, she said, offers "contemporary interpretations" of justice and fairness in human sexual relations, moving away from a "taboo morality" and drawing on "present-day philosophical, theological, biblical and scientifical resources." Coming only weeks after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a reprimand of the main coordinating group of American nuns, prompting many Catholics across the country to turn out in defense of the nuns with protests, petitions and vigils. Three bishops have been appointed by d vatican to supervise the Nuns organisation.The nuns' organization, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, said on Friday that its board had declared that the Vatican's accusations were "unsubstantiated," and that it was sending some of its leaders to Rome to make its case. The censure of Sister Farley, who belongs to the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, will make it the second time recently that a book by an American nun has been denounced by the church's hierarchy. "Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God," by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, a professor of theology at Fordham University in New York,was condemned by the doctrine committee of united states bishop in 2011. The dean of Yale Divinity School, Harold W. Attridge, a Catholic layman, and the president of the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Patricia McDermott, issued statements in support of Sister Farley. So did 15 fellow scholars who, in a document released by the divinity school, testified to Sister Farley's Catholic credentials and the influence she has had in the field of moral theology. The Vatican's doctrinal office, led by an American, Cardinal William J. Levada,first notified sister Farley`s superior of its concern in march 2010. And has spent more than two years reviewing Sister Farley's book, which was published in 2006. The office said it had opened a further investigation because a response she had sent to the Vatican in October 2010 had not been "satisfactory." It said her book had "been a cause of confusion among the faithful."“ It cannot be used as a valid expression of Catholic teaching, either in counseling and formation, or in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue."Says Cardinal Leveda and Pope Benedict XVI approved the statement's contents and ordered its publication, The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican had not called for any sanctions against Sister Farley and was not expected to do so because she has retired from teaching. Sister Farley's book finds moral and theological justifications for same-sex marriage, which aside from abortion, has become the major political and moral issue for American bishops. The statement took Sister Farley to task for writing that same-sex marriage "can also be important in transforming the hatred, rejection, and stigmatization of gays and lesbians." She wrote that "same-sex relationships and activities can be justified according to the same sexual ethic as heterosexual relationships and activities." "This opinion is not acceptable," the Vatican statement said. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, it said, says homosexual acts are "acts of grave depravity" that are "intrinsically disordered" and "contrary to the natural law." It said that Sister Farley's assertion that sometimes divorce is a reasonable option for couples who have grown apart contradicted church teaching on the "indissolubility of marriage." The statement quoted liberally from some of the racier passages in "Just Love," including ones in which Sister Farley writes that female masturbation "usually does not raise any moral questions at all." She adds that "many women" have found "great good in self-pleasuring - perhaps especially in the discovery of their own possibilities for pleasure. The Vatican said this assessment contradicted church teaching that "the deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." And must not be encouraged in anyway.