• Pope Francis reiterates 'radical feminist' criticism of US nuns' group

    Max Rossi / Reuters

    Pope Francis, shown Sunday, reaffirmed the church's official criticism of the group representing most U.S. nuns as having 'radical feminist' doctrine.

    By Philip Pullella, Reuters

    VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican's criticism of a body that represents U.S. nuns that the Church said was tainted by "radical" feminism, dashing hopes that he might take a softer stand with the sisters.

    Francis's predecessor, Benedict, decreed that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the United States, must change its ways, a ruling that the Vatican said on Monday still applied.

    Last year, a Vatican report said the LCWR had "serious doctrinal problems" and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith," criticizing it for taking a soft line on issues such as birth control and homosexuality.

    The nuns received wide support among American Catholics, particularly on the liberal wing of the church, as LCWR leaders travelled around the United States in a bus to defend themselves against the accusations.

    On Monday the group's leaders met Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the new head of the Vatican's doctrinal department, and Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, who has been assigned by the Vatican to correct the group's perceived failings.

    "Archbishop Mueller informed the (LCWR) presidency that he had recently discussed the doctrinal assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform, " the Vatican's statement said.

    The Vatican reminded the group that it would "remain under the direction of the Holy See," the statement said.

    It was the nuns' first meeting with Mueller, who succeeded American Cardinal William Levada as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Levada, who retired last year, oversaw the Vatican's investigation of the U.S. nuns.

    A statement from the LCWR said the "conversation was open and frank" and added: "We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the Church."

    In April 2012, the doctrinal department criticized the LCWR for challenging bishops and for being "silent on the right to life," saying it had failed to make the "Biblical view of family life and human sexuality" a central plank of its agenda.

    The nuns supported President Barack Obama's health-care reform, part of which makes insurance coverage of birth control mandatory, while U.S. bishops opposed it.

    Many nuns said the Vatican's report misunderstood their intentions and undervalued their work for social justice.

    Supporters of the nuns said the women had helped the image of the church in the United States at a time when it was engulfed in scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests. They were praised by many fellow Catholics and the media for their work with the poor and sick.

    Monday's Vatican statement expressed gratitude for the "great contribution" American Catholic nuns had made in teaching and caring for the sick and poor.

    Related:

    Pope: Hypocrisy 'undermines church's credibility'

    Lapsed Catholics lured back by Pope Francis

    Pope orders church to act 'decisively' to stop abuse

     

  • 'We're with you, sisters': Nuns amazed by outpouring of support

    EPA/Larry Coyne

    Sister Mary Rose Crowley, from Windsor, Conn., makes the sign of the cross at the end of a morning Mass on the opening day of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest group of Catholic nuns in the United States, in St. Louis, Mo.

    By Becky Bratu, NBC News

    More than 900 Roman Catholic nuns gathering in St. Louis, Mo., this week to discuss the future of their relationship with the Vatican were surprised to be greeted by supporters with a simple message on their signs: "We're with you, sisters."



    "It's utterly amazing to all of us, really," Sister Annmarie Sanders, director of communications for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, told NBC News. 

    "They're having vigils every night," she added. "We've received... I think it's almost 1,500 letters that have been collected so they can distribute them to our members -- all letters of support."

    The Leadership Conference, which represents about 80 percent of the 57,000 nuns in the United States, is holding its yearly national assembly this week following scathing criticism from the Vatican of the nuns' alleged lack of fidelity to Catholic teachings.

    Their supporters say they were shocked by the crackdown.

    "Our phones were ringing off the hook at our organization," Erin Saiz Hanna, spokesperson for the Nun Justice Project and executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, told NBC News. "Our members were just outraged, they wanted something to do."

    The Nun Justice Project, a grassroots coalition of Catholic organizations, started the day after the Vatican released its mandate as a petition created on Change.org. 

    "The goal was to have 57,000 signers on the petition -- one name for every sister in the U.S. -- and we surpassed that," Hanna said. The group delivered the petition to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

    Courtesy of Nun Justice Project

    Two women march in support of Catholic nuns in Chicago in August 2012.

    This spring, after a three-year investigation, the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog issued a report questioning the organization's loyalty to some Church teachings, including the nuns' lack of outspokenness on issues such as gay marriage, abortion and contraception.

    Another concern voiced by the Vatican relates to conferences organized by the nuns featuring "a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

    After blistering Vatican report, nuns gather to weigh response

    On April 18, the Vatican appointed Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle to oversee the nuns' organization and reform its programs to adhere more closely to "the teachings and discipline of the church."

    Since then, the Nun Justice Project has organized more than 100 vigils across the country, 37 of which took place Tuesday night. At one vigil, Hanna said, someone had driven two and a half hours just to spend two hours supporting the sisters.

    "I've been blown away by the support," said Hanna, who is also an associate with the Sisters of Mercy and says nuns have been her role models in life. "People really relate to the sisters."

    The coalition also asked American Catholics to redirect their annual Peter's Pence contributions from the Vatican to their local communities of women religious. 

    "We were able to redirect $100,000 from that Peter's Pence," Hanna said. "People were able to choose the community that they wanted to redirect their funds to."

    David Goldman / AP

    Princess Wilson, center, joins a demonstration in support of U.S. Catholic nuns outside the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' biannual meeting on June 13, 2012, in Atlanta.

    This week, the nuns will pray together and discuss a range of options for the future, from accepting the Vatican's mandate to starting a new organization independent of the church's control. 

    US priests reportedly behind Vatican crackdown on nuns

    Sanders said the nuns are expected to announce their decision at a press conference Friday afternoon. 

    No matter what the women religious decide in St. Louis, Hanna says she believes a new Catholic Church is being formed. 

    "People are really with the sisters here, they look to their leadership and they model the leadership that they want to see in our church," she said. "I think people just have a lot of hope in the sisters right now."

    Jim FitzGerald, executive director of the Catholic organization Call To Action, which is also part of the Nun Justice Project, told NBC News there is a growing disconnect between the Vatican and the nuns.

    "It's really two different world views," he said. "It's the Vatican, that is very concerned with how Catholics follow rules and you have the perspective from the women religious and how they live out the gospel values."

    A vigil is planned for Thursday night in St. Louis, and the nuns will try to be present to greet their supporters. 

    "We are a faith where we believe that with God all things are possible," FitzGerald said, "and I would like to think that those who are seeing the incredible support around the country for the sisters would be moved by that support and be a little more reflective about their actions."

    More content from NBCNews.com:

    Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     


  • Catholic nuns group 'stunned' by Vatican scolding for 'radical feminist' ideas

    The Catholic Church accused the nation's largest organization of American nuns of espousing "radical feminist" ideas. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell discusses the charges with Sister Jeannine Gramick, who was once silenced by the Vatican, and Jeff Stone, communications director of Dignity USA.

    By Reuters

    A prominent U.S. Catholic nuns group said it was "stunned" that the Vatican reprimanded it for spending too much time on poverty and social justice concerns and not enough on abortion and gay marriage.

    In a stinging report on Wednesday, the Vatican said the Leadership Conference of Women Religious had been "silent on the right to life" and had failed to make the "Biblical view of family life and human sexuality" a central plank in its agenda. It accused the group of promoting "certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

    It also reprimanded American nuns for expressing positions on political issues that differed, at times, from views held by American bishops. Public disagreement with the bishops -- "who are the church's authentic teachers of faith and morals" -- is unacceptable, the report said.

    The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a "doctrinal assessment" saying the Holy See was compelled to intervene with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to correct "serious doctrinal problems."

    The nuns group, based in Silver Spring, Md., said in a statement Thursday on its website, "The presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was stunned by the conclusions of the doctrinal assessment." It added it may give a lengthier response at a later date.

    The conference says it represents 80 percent of America's 57,000 Catholic nuns. It is influential both in the United States and globally.

    Academics who study the church said the Vatican's move was predictable given Pope Benedict's conservative views and efforts by Rome to quell internal dissent and curtail autonomy within its ranks.

    "This is more an expression of the Church feeling under siege by trends it cannot control within the Church, much less within the broader society," University of Notre Dame historian Scott Appleby said.

    That includes a steady drumbeat of calls to ordain women as priests, which the pope has reasserted was an impossibility.

    The Vatican named Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain and two other U.S. bishops to undertake the reforms of the conference's statutes, programs and its application of liturgical texts, a process it said could take up to five years.

    Msnbc.com's James Eng contributed to this report from Reuters.

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.