Gender Gap in Higher Education in Utah: Women on Bottom

Writing in today's Salt Lake Tribune, Brian Maffly reports that for years now, women in Utah have not entered or completed college at the same rate as have men.  In 2008, 26 percent of Utah women had a bachelor’s degree, while 32 percent of Utah men did, according to a 2009 Utah Foundation study.  Women constitute 55 percent  of undergraduates nationally, but 45 percent in Utah.

Vatican Goes after Irish Priests and Theologians: Jesus or the Church Again

I've had a bit to say in recent days about the Vatican mandate that American religious women be "reformed" (though, curiously, no such mandate has ever come down requiring reformation of the hierarchy itself, as it has hidden and protected priests raping minors).  The crackdown on the LCWR in the U.S. is not the only aggressive action Rome has taken in recent weeks to claim unilateral control of the Catholic conversation, however.

Three Statements on Vatican Attack on U.S. Nuns: Maureen Dowd, Nicholas Kristof, Ivone Gebara

Some statements about the Vatican's attack on American women religious worth reading, I think, as the week turns:

Europe's Resurgent Far-Right: "Same Politics of Scapegoating" (with a Catholic Footnote)

At Salon, Steve Weissman and Frank Browning report (as many other commentators in the U.S. and abroad are also reporting) that the far right is marching strong in Europe these days.  As the Anders Breivik trial unfolds in Norway, the media are paying renewed attention to the resurgence of a right energized by economic stress across Europe now.

Me and My Shadow (A Book Report Update)

A little note to readers as I continue grinding away at the final draft of the book on which I've been working, with the goal of having it in the hands of the press by early May: if I seem distracted as I blog here lately, I am!  I find the final stages of working on almost anything--an article, a book--far more difficult than the beginning stages.

Gerald T. Slevin: Philly Predator Priests & Papal Politics

As this work week ends, another outstanding piece from Jerry Slevin, commenting on the ongoing trial in the archdiocese of Philadelphia, the current political strategy of the Vatican and U.S. Catholic bishops, and the mandate to "reform" American religious women--and how these pieces fit together.  This is a rich and detailed posting, and I'm grateful to Jerry for providing this information to all of us who are trying to understand how these various pieces interlock.  What follows is Jerry's posting:

Mary Hunt on LCWR Situation: "We Are All Nuns"

As ever, Mary Hunt is right on target with her commentary at Religion Dispatches about the Catholic hierarchy's attack on American women religious, entitled "We Are All Nuns."  An excerpt: