The woman on the left of the picture is a Sister of the Fraternite Notre Dame. This particular religious order still wears the old style of habit, with veil and long dress.If she were on trial, attired so, would you be able to render a sensible verdict? Would you be swayed by her habit?
Prosecutors in Kane County, Illinois, wondered if it was really necessary for Sister Marie Marot to wear her official nun's uniform when she stand trial for running into a van and killing a passenger.
Would anti-Catholics declare her guilty as charged without listening to evidence? Would Catholic jurors decide that she's innocent without giving the prosecution a chance to present their case?
Judge Ronald Matekaitis has decided that the nun can keep her habit. Sisters of the Fraternite Notre Dame do not wear civilian garb for any reason, and the judge sees no reason to infringe on their right to religious expression.
All the same, it's going to be a difficult case. Everyone knows that nuns never lie. Sister Marie says the light was green and the mini-van she struck went through the red. The driver of the mini-van says that the nun ran a red light.
Who are you going to believe in a case of 'he said, she said'? And remember, God knows what you did and you don't want a black stain on your immortal soul, do you?
4 comments:
I'm glad I'm not on that jury. Jury selection should be quite entertaining in this particular case.
If this were Europe, where anti-clericalism is quite virulent, could be even more entertaining.
I would have a lot of trouble convicting a nun in habit. I'm a simple soul.
To make it even more entertaining, this particular nun is from France and doesn't speak English.
So now her attorneys have to be concerned with the possibility of some ultra-right-wing member of the jury who's boycotting all things French.
I'm sure a lot of potential jurors will be dismissed because they'll admit that they could never convict a nun who said she was innocent.
This religious order is NOT sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church.
http://amywelborn.typepad.com/openbook/2005/06/schismantics.html
Why not? Did they split off because of Vatican II? The Church not conservative enough for them?
Jesus Christ Almighty. Everybody wants to sit at the head of the table and Himself might as well have been speaking to the deaf.
Post a Comment