Vatican seeks reforms of women's religious orders

Positions of nuns, sisters contrary to teachings, it says
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
April 18, 2012

The Vatican on Wednesday called for a reform of the nation's largest organization of women's religious orders, saying it promotes positions contrary to church teachings on such issues as abortion, homosexuality and the ordination of women.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the call as part of a Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents the vast majority of the 57,000 Catholic nuns and sisters in the United States.

Milwaukee Sister Florence Deacon of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, the conference's president-elect, was in Rome on Wednesday to receive the assessment and did not return an email seeking comment.

Several other local religious orders declined to speak. But a Washington-based sister whose social-justice lobbying group was cited in the assessment suggested that many women religious will continue to follow their consciences in the service of the church. the rest