Dear Michael S.,

In response to your post:  I'm sorry that what I said was not clear.  Of course, the Vatican's own explanation for its investigation is non-patriarchal, non-sexist, whatever.  (By the way, by "sexist" I do *not* mean "misogynistic".)  The question I raised--not that the question is new with me--is whether there is a non-patriarchal explanation for "the state of affairs referenced in the [NYT] article."  Whether, that is, there is a (plausible) non-patriarchal explanation for the fact of the investigation.  Shouldn't we wonder whether a non-patriarchal institution would have thought that the contemporary situation of sisters in the United States warranted such an investigation?  Many sisters--my eighty-two-year-old aunt, a Dominican, among them--are skeptical.  Sr. Sandra Schneiders.  Sr. Joan Chittister.  Others.  No doubt, many Catholics are not skeptical.  (No doubt, some Catholics think it's past time for such an investigation.)  In any event, one can be engaged in a patriarchal project without being aware (self-aware) that one is engaged in a patriarchal project.  Consciousness-raising and all that!  Now, off to the grill ...