US Nuns Meet with Doctrinal Officials at Vatican; Told They Come Under the Direction of Holy See

Leaders of an umbrella group -- which represents the majority of U.S. nuns -- met with top Vatican doctrinal officials yesterday (June 12, 2012) in an atmosphere of  "openness and cordiality," the Religion News Service website reports today (June 13).

At the meeting, the Vatican made it perfectly clear that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) -- which represents most of America's 57,000 nuns -- "remains under the supreme direction of the Holy See," and offered little leeway in its crackdown on the nuns' leaders. 

The meeting was called after the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog office -- the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith -- issued a "doctrinal assessment" this spring that criticized the LCWR for not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, women priests, and abortion.

The Vatican also chided the women for "serious doctrinal problems" among many LCWR members, and said LCWR conferences suffered from "a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."