Hi, LadyJean-

I'm an associate member of the Sisters of Mercy. We're very proud of our nun in Phoenix who was excommunicated for approving an abortion when the mother's life was in danger. There's a subtle but very effective memorial to that event in the original chapel of the Sisters of Mercy on Baggot Street in Dublin - the tabernacle from the chapel of the hospital that the bishop "unconsecrated" in conjunction with the excommunication.

Those darn nuns are very good at practicing the annoying virtues of solidarity and collegiality. It does tend to make the Vatican bureaucrats rather testy.

And while Pope Francis does a lot of good stuff, the Vatican bureaucracy is alive and well - and still quite powerful.

-Joe-