Vatican Scolds Group of US Nuns for Bad Habits; Says It Backs Feminist Views Opposed by Church

The New York Times website reports today (April 19, 2012) that the Vatican has appointed an American bishop to oversee the largest and most influential group of Catholic nuns in the United States, saying that an investigation found that the group had "serious doctrinal problems."

The Vatican's assessment said that members of the group -- called the Leadership Conference of Women Religious -- had challenged church teaching on homosexuality and the male-only priesthood, and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

The sisters were also reprimanded for making public statements that "disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church's authentic teachers of faith and morals."

The verdict on the nuns' group was issued by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is led by an American, Cardinal William Levada, formerly the Archbishop of San Francisco.