Oh, ho

Richard John Neuhuas writes on the First Things blog, On the Square:

Nobody has revealed the details, but Judith Miller declares herself “very satisfied” with the severance package she got from the New York Times. In an interview, she described herself as a “free woman.” Then there is this interesting line on what she means by that. She said she is free from the “convent of the New York Times, a convent with its own theology and its own catechism.” Who would have thought of the Times as a convent?

The image of the nun jumping to freedom over the convent wall was a staple in the heyday of anti-Catholic propaganda. Of course the nun almost never had the help of high-powered lawyers extracting a big severance deal from the convent.

Yes, who indeed would have thought as the Grey Lady as a convent? Certainly not me. If it were it would probably be like one of those LCWR orders with close to zero vocations and an aging readership, I mean, leadership and membership.