Will the real nun please stand up

Previously on my Thoroughly Modern Mary (progressive nun parody blog) I posted a comment that I found on Dom's site by a Sister M. Immaculata Dunn. In my parody alter ego as Sr. Mary Biko, PhD I agreed with it and wished that I had her email address so that I might praise her thoughts. What follows is her original comment.

Regarding the recent actions of Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs, I have one question that, try as I may, I can’t seem to answer?

Where does the Pope find these guys?

Sheridan’s actions boogle the mind and surely must test the faith of his 120,000 church members much more than they do mine, but I have to tell you, it is getting a little scary out here.

What are we to expect next?

The rack?

Fingernails being pulled out?

Wholesale burnings at the stake?

I would like to ask Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, one of the few voices of reason to expound on this subject lately, how Sheridan will be able to tell the sheep from the goats when they present themselves at the communion rail?

Will they have halos and horns, respectively?

It appears that the bishops’ idea of their June meeting being one of prayerful reflection and retreat is quickly evaporating.

Must be all that fire and brimstone.

To save themselves from utter perdition, I recommend that Bishop Wilton Gregory, as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, issue a gag order, effective immediately, in the name of the entire membership of the USCCB, to be binding under pain of mortal sin - dare we mention excommunication - until the bishops’ meeting is called to order in Denver on June 14.

Here, here!

The comments for this post on my Thoroughly Modern Mary questioned whether she was a real nun and they had quoted some articles where letters to the editor under this name were by a real nun or not. Well yesterday it appears that I received an email from Sister M. Immaculata Dunn who says that she is a "real nun" (not scare quote, she used them) though the name given is not her real name. She first emailed me as to this fact (thinking she was emailing Sr. Mary Biko) of this fact and then later sent another email with references from newspapers and an article from a priest backing up her authenticity.

Now I find it really funny and ironic that a nun is trying to prove her authenticity to my non-existent Sr. Mary Biko. I had even placed a disclaimer on that blog that it was a parody, because I was getting too many emails from people who agreed with the parody views I expressed. To me it is a rather scary thought that people could agree with a parody of progressivism that should be over the top even for progressives. But to do good parody it has to be very similar to what you are parodying or it has no use.

Dear Thoroughly Modern Mary,

I just discovered your website. I am the Sister M. Immaculata Dunn, non de plume or pseudonym if you wish, but a "real nun" nevertheless. I see you found me on Dom's site. I do seem to have ruffled some feathers these last few years. I do try to do all that I can to support victims of clergy sexual abuse, girls and boys, young women and men, as well as vulnerable adults. We are talking about using one's position of trust and authority to sexually abuse individuals, remember, so that covers a wide area.

I sent a letter to the Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph Herald which was published on May 8, 2004. I think the Erie Diocese called them to say that I was not a "real nun." Subsequently Brian Cooper did an Editorial on men: Bogus letter forces stricter verification policy which was published on June 8, 2004. Then, my good friend, Fr. Tom Doyle, O.P. wrote to Cooper vouching for me. As far as I know, it was not published

And here is the letter she said was written by a Fr. Tom Doyle, O.P.

Dear Brian.

Your story about Sister M. Immaculata Dunn was emailed to several people who are associated with the clergy sex abuse survivor movement, myself included. I am a Catholic priest and a long time advocate for clergy sex abuse victims. In fact, I was ordained in Dubuque in 1970.

Sister Immaculata Dunn is a real person and a genuine religious sister. I have met her and know her. She has used a "pen name" since she began writing on behalf of clergy sex abuse victims and against various other forms of institution abuse in the Catholic church solely for reasons of self-protection. She has never intended to dupe anyone. However as a priest and a religious order member with vast experience in this field I can assure you that those of us who have spoken out publicly almost always incur serious retaliation from the institutional church. Every priest who has taken a public stand, and there are only 6 that I know of in the entire country, has been retaliated against in some way by his bishop, myself included.

Most of the email I get for this blog and the various sites that I blog for are positive and many have given me good suggestion for what to parody. Some though are just whacko. For a while I got a spew of emails from someone wanting to inform me of the perils of Opus Dei. Definite tin-foil hat stuff. Some radical traditionalists and Sedevacantist send me stuff complaining about other bloggers thinking that I might agree with their positions. I think that I am even more annoyed by Rad Trads than progressives. They seem to hold to every possible conspiracy theory and constantly whine about the pope and the Church and how Vatican II has destroyed the Church. Hey I love the Latin Mass, but I also love the new order of Mass when it is done reverently. If the Latin Mass was still the norm do they really believe that liturgical progressives would not have experimented with it? So if you fall in these categories and want to inform me via email, don't waste your time.