Hey Joe, having read your interesting links, I too am rooting for the nuns.

I have often felt regret with my "superstitious nonsense" stance, which I still firmly stand by, because there are many good people doing good deeds and a religion gives them the collective tools and support for them to be good people. Hence the dismissive stance of people like me can deflect from the good done in the name of religion.

I'm not surprised by what I have read. The nuns are working tirelessly in spartan surroundings with little personal possession whilst the Vatican leaders are in their gilded palace.

That's perhaps one of the reasons I cannot understand how and why good people prop up such institutions. My past voluntary work included seeing NGOs with no religious stance building up infrastructure, schools, wells, self sufficiency etc whilst the aid agencies attached to religions did the same, except the church / chapel / mosque etc was a condition of help.

I doubt it was the actual workers on the ground who made these stipulations....