Seattle…again
![Sister Rosalie Locati, director of mission and values for Providence Sacred Heart and Providence Holy Family hospitals, stands beside Ken Spiering’s sculpture in Riverfront Park. It commemorates the arrival of the Sisters of Providence, who built Sacred Heart on the banks of the Spokane River in 1886. Locati is the only Sister of Providence still working full time at Sacred Heart Medical Center. (Jesse Tinsley)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/vxkBqsQISf0eon0wCiY8xVvgS_o=/810x0/media.spokesman.com/photos/2011/04/11/sr_11qa.jpg)
What a week to live in Washington state!
The Seattle archbishop is trying to upend the same-sex marriage law signed by our (Catholic) governor in Washington state and now Rome has set forth an investigation into the work of thousands of American Roman Catholic sisters – an inquiry lead by? the Seattle archbishop.
Why investigate the sisters? Because you know, they may not be Catholic enough in their (endless) works of compassion, healing, teaching, housing, ministering to those who present themselves in the moment as being poor, marginalized, disenfranchised from the society in which we live. What do these guys think Catholicism is??
Me thinks thou doest protest too much, Holy See. Better look in the mirror, or in the rectory, but not the convent. Read what journalists Steve and Cokie Roberts have to say.
People ask why I stay in a Roman Catholic Church that so fiercely opposes some of my basic beliefs. I stay because I belong to a parish where the priests are informed, compassionate and do not promote nonsense; a parish where we care for the poor in tangible, welcoming ways, a parish where all are welcome and treated equally – no matter their gender or who they love. I stay Catholic because I will not forfeit my faith community to distant others. I stay Catholic because I believe that the Catholic Church is the People of God, people who gather every Sunday, 10:30, to worship our God: a God who delights in the good works that we do, a God who welcomes everybody.
(S-R archives photo)