• 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

     

  • 'It was a sign': Lapsed Catholics lured back by Pope Francis

    Gregorio Borgia / AP

    Pope Francis waves as he is driven through a crowd in St. Peter's Square prior to the start of his weekly general audience on Wednesday.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Twenty million Americans consider themselves lapsed Catholics, but Pope Francis is convincing many to test the holy waters again with his bold gestures and common touch.

    After years of disenchantment with the church's hierarchy and teachings, former members of the flock say they are willing to give the Vatican a second chance under new leadership.

    Dallas teacher Marilyn Rosa is one of them.

    "He's being studied very closely," Cardinal Edward Egan of the Archdiocese of New York said of Pope Francis, added that wherever he goes, priests want to know how the Pope will change the Catholic Church and what the implications will be. Cardinal Edward Egan is interviewed by TODAY's Lester Holt.

    "It was a sign," Rosa, 57, said of the Argentine Jesuit's election as pontiff last month. "It was like a miracle."

    Born and raised Catholic, Rosa attended parochial schools and had a church wedding for her first marriage. Over the years, she drifted away from the religion that had been such an integral part of her Puerto Rican family's life.

    She questioned the relevance of church policies in the modern world. As a divorced woman, she felt cast out. The pedophile-priest scandals disgusted her.

    Three years ago, she quit going to Mass and joined an evangelical church. But she didn't feel at home and she started to wonder how she could fill the void.

    "The day the pope got elected, I turned on the TV and when I learned he was Latin, I went crazy at home," said Rosa.

    "When they started to talk about how he lived by himself and didn't move into the archbishop's residence, how he took the bus to work, I said, 'I know God is talking to me. This is the man we needed.'"

    On Palm Sunday, she and her second husband "reverted," attending services at Dallas' St. Pius X Catholic Church.

    "It was packed. I had to stand up the whole time. But I felt so happy. It was like a revival," she said.

    Ron Feldman

    Father Peter Mussett of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center in Boulder, Colo., had five people tell him they were returning to the faith in a week because of Pope Francis.

    Rosa has kept going to back to St. Pius, encouraged by what she's seen of the pope: from the simple white robe he wears to his rejection of the opulent papal apartment in favor of a spartan guest house.

    "He's not letting himself be controlled by the rest of the church," Rosa said. "He's his own man."

    Embrace of poor, emphasis on service
    It's unknown how many others have joined Rosa around the country and globe and the vast majority of lapsed Catholics have not been enticed back. In the U.S., that's a huge pool of potential "new" members for an institution challenged by secularism and rival religions.

    A 2009 report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimated one in 10 adults in the U.S. was raised Catholic but has broken with the church. Its teachings on abortion, homosexuality, birth control and treatment of women were often cited as reasons.

    Pope Francis hasn't given any hint of radical change on those issues, but his man-of-the-people persona is appealing to some of the unfaithful.

    Tom Peterson, president of Catholics Come Home, which airs ads aimed at the lapsed, said his website traffic tripled the day of the election, adding several thousand visitors. It's been double ever since.

    Some interest could stem from the hubbub surrounding the selection of any pontiff, but Peterson thinks Francis' "love for the poor and his humility is exciting people to a great extent."

    Father Peter Mussett, pastor of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, which serves the University of Colorado at Boulder, agrees.

    Slideshow: Pope Francis: His life before the papacy

    Marcos Brindicci / Reuters

    Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to lead the Catholic Church following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. 

    Launch slideshow

    "I had five people in a week who were saying, 'Pope Francis has inspired me to return to my faith,'" he said. "It's pretty remarkable."

    Brian O'Neill, 48, an Irish-American cop from Washington State, went to Catholic elementary school and a Jesuit high school but hasn't practiced since graduating from a secular college. He says that could change soon.

    The Vatican's stance on social issues, along with the gilded lifestyle of some higher-ups previously drove O'Neill away. Francis' embrace of the poor and his background as a service-minded Jesuit might bring the father of two back.

    "I was shocked and amazed when he started doing those things -- you know, 'No Popemobile for me,'" said O'Neill, who wrote a column for his local newspaper about possibly returning to Catholicism.

    He said that while Francis' views on church teachings might still be far from his own, his election heralds change.

    "When the church says that's the guy we're going to put on St. Peter's throne, that says enough about where the church wants to go," O'Neill said. "Will I go back? I'm planning on it -- if I can find a good service."

    'He's another retro pope'
    Last weekend, when he was formally installed as bishop of Rome, the pope used the opportunity to appeal to defectors, urging them to come back to the fold.

    The News Tribune (Tacoma)

    Brian O'Neill, a cop and father of two from Washington state, is a lapsed Catholic who is considering returning to the church because of Pope Francis.

    It will take more than an invitation for Kathy Budreski, though. The 70-year-old left Catholicism after the abuse scandal and has been attending a Unitarian church in Cape Cod.

    She was heartened to see the cardinals pick a pope from South America, and loved seeing Francis hug a little boy with cerebral palsy after Easter Mass but says he's not a progressive.

    "He has a big heart and he loves the poor people, but he's not going to do anything to change the stance of the church on birth control and gay rights," she said.

    "I don't see him as a mover and shaker. He has some wonderful qualities but he's another retro pope."

    Slideshow: The election of Pope Francis

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    Cardinals from around the world gathered in the Vatican to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

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    Related:

    Sex-abuse crisis: Experts draft to-do list for Pope Francis

    'Peace to the whole world': Pope urges unity in Easter Sunday address

    Pope chooses simple residence over regal papal apartment

    Full coverage of Pope Francis from NBC News

  • 'I'm not going to see Pearl Jam anymore'; seminarians prepare for life as priests

    John Makely / NBC News

    Danny Peterson is a seminarian attending the Immaculate Conception Seminary located on the Seton Hall University campus in South Orange, N.J.

    By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Half a world away from where Catholic cardinals gathered this week to elect Pope Francis, men who hope to do the daily work of the faith woke up at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange, N.J., and met for pre-sunrise prayers.

    Fifty-seven aspiring priests from around the world live in the seminary on the campus of Seton Hall University. They will spend from six to eight years undergoing the process of formation before becoming full priests in the archdiocese of Newark, which has 238 parishes over four counties.

    Afflicted by scandal and battling decreased enthusiasm in the United States and Europe, the church will rely on men such as these in coming decades to maintain the faith. The pope himself alluded the challenges on Friday, urging cardinals to never "give in to the pessimism, to that bitterness, that the devil places before us every day."


    Danny Peterson, of Richmond, Va., knows most of his peers do not want to become men of the cloth. A surfer who studied international affairs, the 28-year-old used to pack an ice chest of beers for football games and concerts. No longer.

    “I’m not going to see Pearl Jam anymore,” Peterson says. “Those days are over.” Peterson sees himself in what he calls the “John Paul II generation” – a cohort of younger Catholics inspired by the charismatic deceased pontiff. At 14, he saw John Paul II at a World Youth Day celebration in Rome. He’s traveled all over the world, from Haiti to Ecuador to the Czech Republic. This winter, he sold his old surfboard for $400 to fund a ski trip – a hefty sum considering he stretches out two stipends of $500 each year.

    Becoming a priest was always on the table in his large Catholic family which includes five older brothers and sisters, Peterson said. His father briefly spent time in the seminary before meeting Peterson’s mother. His family has supported his choice, he said. He’s heard other reactions from friends, including: “You’re an effing idiot.”

    “It’s hard here,” Peterson said of the seminary life. “We don’t have a lot of money. The room is the size of a closet. If I didn’t think I was called to do it I would have left already.”

    John Makely / NBC News

    Nelson Oyola, a seminarian attending the Immaculate Conception Seminary, sets the chapel up for an afternoon mass.

    The average age for new priests in 2012 was nearly 35, according to a review conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Thirty percent of new priests were born outside the United States. More than half had more than two siblings.

    American-born and opinionated, Peterson is one model for what the next wave of American priests may look like. Nelson Oyola, 31, is another.

    Oyola’s day begins with a class quiz on the laws of the church. There are heads with more than a few gray hairs in his classes, and several Spanish speakers.

    Oyola knew little English when he left his village outside Bogota, Colombia, nine years ago to pursue his dream of becoming a priest. Now, dressed all in black with a white roman collar that seminarians are allowed to wear only on campus, the soft-spoken student searches carefully for the right word.

    “God was calling me to serve here,” Oyola says. “It was something in me. I always saw myself celebrating Mass.” As with many priests, the voices of loved ones also helped when choosing a life that includes celibacy, little money, and late-night visits to hospital beds.

    John Makely / NBC News

    Peterson prepares for class.

    Encouraged by his grandmother and a young local priest named Father Julian, Oyola never felt that aspiring to become a priest was a strange ambition for a young man.

    Oyola had five girlfriends in high school. It’s good for a priest to know what it’s like to be a in a relationship, he said. The last girlfriend broke up with him as they approached the age young people often marry in Colombia. She knew his heart was set on the priesthood.

    The Spanish-speaking congregations he has met at churches like St. Francis de Sales in Lodi and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Jersey City remind Oyola of home. At one point recently, there were 15 Colombians among the seminarians in South Orange. Every time a new Colombian arrives, he is brought by the group to the Statue of Liberty, Oyola said.

    Though it 'died' ages ago, Latin is all over Rome and the Catholic Church. A Latin scholar explains why the language is worth understanding.

    That God has called him to serve so far away from home does not make leaving his parents and two older brothers in Colombia any easier: “Every time the plane leaves, it feels like your heart stays on the ground.”

    “That’s something that’s always on my mind,” Oyola said. “What if I don’t get to spend any time with them any more?” When he saw his cousin’s newborn, he wondered what a baby of his own would look like. “But I live with joy and no regrets,” Oyola said.

    As the seminarians lined up to engage in a special vigil they held for as long as the conclave continued, they were aware that the church’s problems – ongoing revelations of sex abuse, a top-secret dossier on corruption in the church – would not go away with a new pope. The seminarians gathered around a big-screen TV to watch Pope Francis’ first appearance on Wednesday, Peterson said.

    “We used to say that Latin America was the hope for the Catholic church,” Oyola said. “Now I realize that maybe we are not the hope anymore. We are the present.”

    Slideshow: Electing a pope

    Cardinals from around the world gather in the Vatican to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

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    Related:

     

  • LA's Cardinal Mahony calls himself 'scapegoat' ahead of deposition, conclave

    There still isn't a frontrunner to succeed Pope Benedict, and some are asking that California Cardinal Roger Mahony – who was criticized for his role in shielding abusive priests -- skip the conclave. New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is also attending the conclave, was recently deposed regarding his role in dealing with abusive priests in Wisconsin. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Los Angeles' retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, who was rebuked last month for his handling of the sex-abuse crisis, suggests he was "scapegoated" in a blog post ahead of two important dates: his Saturday deposition in a lawsuit alleging that the church hierarchy protected a priest accused of molesting children and his trip to Rome to help pick the next pope.

    The high-profile "prince of the church" is at the center of an outcry over several scandal-tainted cardinals being allowed to help choose who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI at next month's conclave at the Vatican.

    Ireland's Sean Brady, Belgium's Godfried Danneels and Philadelphia's Justin Rigali have all been pilloried in the Italian press over allegations they failed to protect children from pedophiles -- but it's Mahony who has drawn the most ire.

    A group called Catholics United started a petition against his attendance at the conclave. And an Italian consumer group requested Rome prosecutors open a criminal investigation into Mahony if he travels to the Vatican, the news agency ANSA reported Friday.

    Improbable as that is, it underscores the outrage in some quarters that cardinals whose reputations have been battered by cover-up allegations will have an equal say in who will next lead the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.

    NBC News' Vatican expert, George Weigel, said he could not recall similar calls for abstention at other conclaves, but he noted that voting is an obligation under church law and that other "less-than-admirable" figures have attended for more than a millennium.

    "If people are looking for a perfect, sinless electorate to choose religious leadership, they should look somewhere else," Weigel said.

    Mahony, who retired as head of the L.A. Archdiocese last year, was stripped of his remaining diocesan duties last month over his handling of priest sex abuse cases. He has repeatedly apologized for past mistakes but isn't bowing to pressure to skip the historic moment. No criminal charges have been filed against him.

    He's raising eyebrows and hackles, however, with a series of blog posts about the rebuke.

    In one this week, Mahony said he had tried to live out "the acceptance of being scapegoated, pointing out the necessary connection between humiliation and redemption."

    Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images

    After Pope Benedict XVI steps down next week, the cardinals will pick his successor. Some say not everyone deserves a vote.

    "This scandal is putting us, the clergy and the church, where we belong -- with the excluded ones," he added. "Jesus was painted with the same brush as the two thieves crucified with him."

    The Surviviors Network of those Abused by Priests slammed the language.

    "It's hurtful and disingenuous for Mahony to claim he's been scapegoated," said director David Clohessy. "He's been a bishop for almost 40 years and the sole head of America's largest archdiocese for more than a quarter century. Few, if any, U.S. Catholic prelates have been more powerful than Mahony. So for him to somehow pretend to be a powerless pawn is pathetic."

    Fueling the latest round of criticism of Mahony is last month's release of reams of confidential personnel files that, according to Reuters, showed Mahony and an aide, Thomas Curry, worked to send priests accused of abuse out of California to shield them from law enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s.

    In a letter to the archdiocese about the documents and his dismissal, Mahony said that he had worked hard since 1989 to toughen guidelines for handling abuse and apologized for missteps before that.

    "I have stated time and time again that I made mistakes, especially in the mid-1980s," he wrote. "I apologized for those mistakes, and committed myself to make certain that the Archdiocese was safe for everyone."

    The document release -- part of a $660 million settlement with abuse victims struck in 2007-- has set the stage for this weekend's deposition by Mahony in a lawsuit by a 35-year-old man who says he was molested by a priest in the late 1980s.

    The suit alleges that church officials effectively let the Rev. Nicholas Aguilar Rivera escape to Mexico after child sex-abuse complaints were made, the Associated Press reported. He remains a fugitive.

    One 1988 memo made public last month revealed a top Mahony lieutenant confided that he told Rivera “it was likely the accusations would be reported to the police and that he was in a good deal of danger."


    The plaintiff’s lawyer, Anthony De Marco, will have four hours to question Mahony about Rivera and 25 other priests, attempting to show a pattern of cover-up so he can try to collect punitive damages on behalf of his client.

    Then, within days, Mahony will fly to Rome to join 116 other cardinals under the age of 80 who will meet twice a day in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pontiff.

    "Mahony’s bad luck is all of these documents were released right before the pope resigned and this is why people are going after him instead of other people," said Father Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church."

    He said there was virtually no chance Mahony would be pressured to stay away.

    "The last one turned away from a conclave was in the time of the Napoleon," he said.

    "If Mahony can't go, then there's a whole list of other cardinals who maybe can't go, and if you say these guys can't attend for this reason, then what about other reasons."

    Even after sidelining him, the L.A. Archdiocese backed Mahony's voyage to Rome. In a statement, it portrayed Catholics United as a fringe group and its petition as pointless.

    "Cardinal Mahony will travel to Rome to fulfill his sacred duty under church law to vote for the next pope,” it said.

    Cardinal Roger Mahony was stripped of duties last month. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

     

     

  • Boston's sandal-wearing Cardinal O'Malley getting papal buzz

    AFP - Getty Images file

    Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, shown here at a 2009 press conference, is generating buzz ahead of the papal conclave in Rome.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley is generating buzz in Rome as a possible contender to be the next pope, even though Vatican watchers have long said an American pontiff is a longshot.

    John L. Allen, a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, took note this week of the growing number of Italian newspapers and commentators who have mentioned O'Malley as a candidate or written favorably about his cleanup of the archdiocese's sex-abuse scandal.

    "Right now, it's tough for an American journalist to walk into the Vatican Press Office without fielding questions from colleagues about him," Allen wrote.

    O'Malley -- a distinctive figure in the monkish brown cassock of the Capuchin religious order -- isn't entertaining questions about his chances of succeeding Pope Benedict XVI when the College of Cardinals convenes.

    "As the Cardinal said last week at his press conference, he has a round trip ticket to return home and will rely on the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit as the College of Cardinals enter the conclave in March," spokeswoman Kellyanne Dignan said.

    O'Malley, 68, was named archbishop of Boston in 2003, after Cardinal Bernard Law stepped down amid allegations he covered up sex abuse by priests. He was elevated to cardinal three years later. 

    Thomas Groome, a theology professor at Boston College, said that of all the American bishops who've had to deal with the abuse crisis, O'Malley "has come closest to satisfying the victims." He sold the archdiocese's palatial headquarters and used the money for victim settlements.

    A low-key personality who prizes simplicity and "isn't a hardened idealogue," O'Malley would bring a starkly different style to the papacy, Groome said.

    "We'd go from Prada booties to sandals and no socks," he said. "He wouldn't be a blustering public personality like John Paul. You'd have to go back to John XXIII to find someone analogous."

    Groome said that when O'Malley's name surfaced he initially laughed it off but now thinks he could emerge as the next pope from a brokered conclave where the cardinals from the northern and southern hemispheres square off.

    Franco Origlia / Getty Images file

    Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, archbishop of Boston, attends a concistory held by Pope Benedict at Saint Peter's Basilica on November 24, 2012, in Vatican City, Vatican.

    "There are 117 cardinals and probably 116 of them would love to be pope," he said. "The one who wouldn't is O'Malley and that could be why he gets it."

    Rocco Palmo, who writes the popular Whispers in the Loggia blog, noted that O'Malley heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' high-profile pro-life committee, giving him exposure outside his Boston archdiocese.

    But he said it's way too soon to say he's on a short-list.


    "It's a wide open field, and anything is possible," Palmo said. "But there are 117 voting cardinals and in the next 25 days, I expect to hear every one of those cardinals' names mentioned."

    O'Malley is no Vatican insider and some will question whether he has the managerial mettle to accomplish a much-needed overhaul of its sprawling bureaucracy. And there's never been a pope from the Capuchin order of friars, who are noted for their service to the poor. 

    It's been conventional wisdom that American cardinals have little chance of being the pope because of a global phobia of a U.S.-dominated Vatican. Allen says that may have changed because the country's superpower status has dimmed over the decades.

    "The Americans have the second-largest voting bloc -- 11 -- after the Italians," Palmo said. "It's only natural an American name is going to appear at some point."

    Previously, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan was mentioned by many as America's top papal possibility. He says those predictions are off-base.

    “Those are only from people smoking marijuana,” Dolan said Sunday at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

    Slideshow: The life of Pope Benedict XVI

    Javier Barbancho / AFP - Getty Images

    Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Look back at his life from childhood through his papacy.

    Launch slideshow

  • US will have unprecedented voice in electing new pope

    Franco Origlia / Getty Images, file

    Wisconsin native James Harvey, right, was among six new cardinals installed during a ceremony on Nov. 24.

    By John Newland and Claudio Lavanga, NBC News

    Updated at 6:41 p.m. ET: When the next Papal Conclave meets behind closed doors to replace the retiring Pope Benedict XVI, the United States will have an unprecedented voice in the process.

    Eleven cardinal electors, almost 10 percent of the conclave, will be Americans -- the largest share the country has ever had, even though it has historically had a large Catholic population.

    The retiring pope gets credit for the greater influence of the U.S.

    Last year, he named three new American cardinals, increasing the U.S. total to 19. Only 11 will be electors because in order to vote in the papal election, the cardinals must be under 80 when the pope being replaced dies or leaves his seat.

    With 11 votes, the U.S. is now the second-largest bloc, behind only Italy, which has 28 electors, according to the Holy See press office at the Vatican. Germany is third, with six. The new pontiff is expected to be elected by the end of March, according to Vatican officials.

    The archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, explains the "mixed emotions" he feels about the news that Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 28, saying he feels a "special bond" with the pope.

    Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York who was elevated to cardinal last year, is considered a longshot candidate to succeed the pope.

    When asked about the qualities necessary for the next pope, Dolan told TODAY that "a good place to start would be to look at Pope Benedict."

    He added: "There's a learning, a savviness about the world, there's a theological depth, there's an unquestionably personal piety and holiness, there's a linguistic talent, there's a knowledge of the church universal."

    When asked whether he would be allowed to vote for himself, Dolan laughed. "Crazy people cannot enter the conclave," he joked.

    The shift in power toward the U.S. “reflects the vitality of the Catholic Church in the United States,”  John Paul II biographer George Weigel said in November.

    "But I don’t think it likely that any American will be elected pope for as long as the United States remains the world’s pre-eminent power," he added.

    Alessandro Speciale, Vatican correspondent at Religious News Service, echoed Weigel’s opinion, adding that “coming from the world’s only superpower could still be seen as a negative factor in a global church.”

    What the increasing U.S. presence among the cardinal electors might mean is that Benedict XVI was very much aware that Catholicism is no longer a predominantly European religion.

    Slideshow: The life of Pope Benedict XVI

    Javier Barbancho / AFP - Getty Images

    Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Look back at his life from childhood through his papacy.

    Launch slideshow

    The U.S. has as many as 78 million Catholics, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. For comparison’s sake, Italy, despite having the largest share of electors and being primarily Catholic, has a total population of fewer than 61 million residents, according to World Bank estimates from 2011.

    "It remains to be seen whether this numerical weight will actually translate into influence at the conclave," Speciale said in November. "Though national links are powerful, many other factors ... play into the secret voting at the Sistine Chapel."

    Some experts have suggested that the next pope might be from Latin America.

    Reuters noted Monday that Latin America now "represents 42 percent of the world's 1.2 billion-strong Catholic population, the largest single block in the Church, compared to 25 percent in its European heartland."

    Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, who now holds the pope's old post as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is among the senior Vatican officials to suggest that it might be Latin America's turn.

    "I know a lot of bishops and cardinals from Latin America who could take responsibility for the universal Church," he told Duesseldorf's Rheinische Post newspaper in December.

    Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the retired archbishop of Los Angeles, announced in a statement Monday that he will help pick the next pope: "I look forward to traveling to Rome soon to help thank Pope Benedict XVI for his gifted service to the Church, and to participate in the Conclave to elect his successor."

    Mahony's announcement that he'll participate in the decision came despite documents revealing he was complicit in protecting priests accused of sex abuse during his tenure as head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

    The 85-year-old pope says he no longer has the strength to carry out his duties, announcing that he will resign effective February 28. NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports from Rome.

    Related:

    Pope Benedict XVI to step aside on Feb. 28

    'Heavy heart but complete understanding': Pope's resignation stuns church leadership

    From prisoner of war to pontiff: A timeline of Pope Benedict XVI's life

  • The path to an American pope? Cardinal's elevation gives US clout at Vatican

    Tony Gentle / Reuters

    New Cardinal James Michael Harvey of U.S. (right) is congratulated by another cardinal during a consistory ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Saturday.

     

    By Claudio Lavanga, NBC News

    Update at 7.20 a.m. ET on Nov. 24: Milwaukee Archbishop James Harvey and five others were made cardinals by Pope Benedict Saturday, Reuters reports. He reminded them that they wear red vestments because they must be ready to defend the faith "even to the shedding of your blood" in a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica.

    Published on Nov. 23, 2012: ROME — The red, or rather scarlet, carpet will be rolled in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday for the elevation of six cardinals. The new so-called "princes of the church" will receive their ring, scarlet skullcap and the traditional biretta, a four-cornered hat, in a solemn ceremony presided by Pope Benedict XVI.

    The ceremony won't only be a rare insight into one of the oldest and most colorful traditions in the Catholic Church, which with 1.1 billion adherents worldwide, represents more than half of the world's Christian population. It will also redefine the balance of power in the Catholic Church, and further increase the United States' influence in the election of the next pope.

    Among the six cardinal-elects is James Harvey, an archbishop from Milwaukee who will become the 11th cardinal elector from the U.S., strengthening the country's position as the Vatican's second-largest voting bloc after Italy.  Cardinal electors are the members of the College of Cardinals who have not reached their 80th birthdays on the day the pope dies and are thus able to vote for the new prelate.

    But as American author and John Paul II biographer George Weigel explains, the fact that American cardinals will represent almost 10 percent of worldwide electors in the next Conclave (the election of the pope), does not necessarily mean one of them will become the next Holy Father. 

    "The prominence of American cardinals in the current college reflects the vitality of the Catholic Church in the United States," Weigel told NBC News. “But I don't think it likely that any American will be elected pope for as long as the United States remains the world's pre-eminent power." 

    What the selection of an American to be one of the new cardinal electors might show however, is that Pope Benedict XVI is acutely aware that the Catholic Church is swiftly ceasing to be predominately European religion. After all, with 134 million followers, Brazil alone has more Catholics than Italy, France and Spain combined, according to a major study released in 2011. Even the United States, with 75 million or  24 percent of the world's Catholics, is far ahead of any European country.

    Harvey, 63, is a well-known and respected figure in the Vatican. He was named prefect of the papal household in 1998, and has since arranged daily meetings and engagements for Pope John Paul II first, and Benedict XVI later. Having lived for the past 30 years in the Vatican, he may be more familiar with the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica than the "Domes" at the Mitchell Park Conservatory, but he never severed his ties with his native city.

    Once he receives his ring, skullcap and hat on Saturday, Harvey will become the third American to be elevated to cardinal this year, after Edwin Frederick O’Brien and Timothy Michael Dolan received the honor back in February.

    External link: Cardinals by country

    While chances of an American to be elected Pope are still slim, American cardinals are undeniably a force in the Vatican. 

    Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, has quickly become the superstar among American cardinals. His charismatic personality and quick wit  made him an instant hit with the media, who have been waiting for a camera-friendly cleric since the death of Pope John II, arguably the greatest Catholic communicator in the age of mass media.

    Spencer Platt / Getty Images

    Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, speaks with people waiting for free Thanksgiving groceries at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Community Center in Harlem on Tuesday.

    "Cardinal Dolan is definitely a candidate and enjoys a lot of name recognition — which helps in a global church," Alessandro Speciale, Vatican correspondent at the Religious News Service, told NBC News.

    "But two factors might weaken his chances: coming from the world's only superpower could still be seen as a negative factor in a global church, and he has never held a leadership position in the Roman Curia," he said, referring to the Holy See's administrative body.  

    In any case, the choice of non-Europeans to high office in the Vatican is a way for the Holy See to shift the balance of power towards other continents and prove the “universality of the church.” 

    "There was considerable criticism of the last group of cardinals being too European, too Italianate, and too Curial. I think it's fair to read this group as a response to that criticism," Weigel said.

    Speciale agrees: "The previous Consistory in February had been criticized for being overly skewed towards Italy (and more in general Europe) and, again, the Curia. With this quite unusual second batch of red hats in a year, Benedict wanted to show his attention to the rest of the world."

    Slideshow: The life of Pope Benedict XVI

    Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Look back at his life from childhood through his papacy.

    Launch slideshow

    Whatever the reason for the choice of non-European Cardinals, the selection plays in favor of the American grouping, which will have one more elector in their ranks.

    "The power of Americans in the Vatican has grown significantly in the last few years: not just because of the star power of Cardinal Dolan but also thanks to the organization, economic resources and boldness in the defense of Catholic values in front of a perceived hostile society is admired by many in the Vatican," Speciale said.

    "But it remains to be seen whether this numerical weight will actually translate into influence at the Conclave: though national links are powerful, many other factors — the strongest being whether one is part on not of the Roman Curia — play into the secret voting in the Sistine Chapel."

    When the time comes, all Cardinals-electors from all over the world will "lock" themselves in the Sistine Chapel in order to vote for a new Pope. While it is unclear who will emerge from it as the new leader of the world's Catholics, one thing is certain: that American influence in that choice went up a notch.

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  • Judge dismisses child sex-abuse case that accused Vatican

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    CHICAGO -- A U.S. federal judge in Oregon on Monday dismissed a clergy sexual abuse case that was the first to try to hold the Vatican responsible for moving an offending priest into unsuspecting parishes, lawyers in the case said.

    U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman in Portland, Oregon, ruled the Holy See in Rome could not be shown to be the "employer" of the late Father Andrew Ronan, who abused children in Chicago and later in Portland.

    Church officials in Chicago knew that Ronan, who ultimately left the priesthood and died in 1992, had a history of sexual abuse, but he continued to abuse after he was transferred to Oregon, court documents showed.

    Mosman had previously ordered the Vatican to provide all the relevant documents in Ronan's case but he ultimately concluded the Holy See did not belong in the case.

    Roman Catholic Church official convicted of endangerment in priest-abuse trial

    "There is no fact in the record on which to base an employment relationship," Jeffrey Luna, a lawyer for the Vatican in the United States, said in summarizing the judge's ruling.

    The Oregonian newspaper quoted Luna as saying the ruling was "quite significant ... because the Holy See has patiently and cooperatively worked with the American judicial process to arrive at this day."

    Bowing to public pressure to be more transparent in its policies, the Vatican on Monday posted guidelines regarding the handling of clergy sex abuse cases and for the first time stated that every case of sexual abuse by priests should be reported to the police. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.


    Vatican accused of negligence
    When confronted about the abuse, Ronan admitted it to his superiors at Our Lady of Benburb, Ireland, according to the documents, but was transferred to a Chicago high school anyway. He abused children there, the documents show, then was transferred to St. Albert's Church in Portland.

    Vatican issuing guidelines to combat sex abuse

    "It's clearly a disappointment, but we're definitely not discouraged," plaintiffs' attorney Jeff Anderson said according to The Oregonian.

    Anderson, who has represented scores of victims of clergy abuse, said he would appeal Mosman's dismissal of the case on behalf of the now 60-year-old victim. 

    A monsignor who oversaw hundreds of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese was found guilty of one count of endangering the welfare of a child. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.

    "He is eager to keep this alive, to hold the Vatican accountable for their role in this," Anderson said of the unidentified plaintiff. The Portland diocese and the Servite Order of priests are also defendants in the case.

    When it was filed in Portland, the lawsuit was heralded by clergy abuse victims as the first to require the Vatican to produce documents detailing its involvement in an American priest's career path, which Rome did.

    Philadelphia priest gets 3-6 years for cover-up in Catholic priest sex-abuse scandal

    Numerous other lawsuits alleging clergy abuse have named the Vatican as a defendant, usually accusing the Holy See of negligence in allowing offending clergy to remain in the priesthood.

    The clergy abuse crisis exploded in Boston more than a decade ago and spread around the world. The church in the United States has paid out more than $2 billion in settlements to victims.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • US nuns call for more dialogue with the Vatican

    Seth Perlman / AP

    Outgoing President of The Leadership Conference of Women Religious Sister Pat Farrell, right, and president-elect Sister Florence Deacon, left, listen to questions from reporters Friday in St. Louis.

    By Becky Bratu, NBC News

    American nuns under fire from the Vatican said they will continue their dialogue with Catholic bishops "for as long as possible," the group announced Friday as it wrapped a week of discussions and prayer at its yearly national assembly in St. Louis, Mo.


     

    According to the National Catholic Reporter, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella organization representing about 80 percent of the 57,000 nuns in the United States, "will reconsider if [they are] forced to compromise the integrity of [their] mission."

    Hours before the scheduled press conference, the organization's president addressed its members, urging the sisters to be “truthful, but gentle and absolutely fearless," according to the National Catholic Reporter.

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

    Seth Perlman / AP

    Joe Koerner and his wife, Maria Allen Koerner, of St. Louis, rally with other supporters of The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) at a vigil Thursday in St. Louis.

    Franciscan Sister Pat Farrell added that “some larger movement in the church… has landed on LCWR." She ended her speech with a phrase she said she had learned in Chile, according to the NCR: “They can crush a few flowers, but they cannot hold back the springtime.”

    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.

    After blistering Vatican report, nuns gather to weigh response

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

    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."

    Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com

    This week, about 900 Catholic sisters discussed a range of responses to the criticism, from accepting the Vatican's mandate to starting a new organization independent of the church's control.

    In a Thursday interview with EWTN, a Catholic television network, Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura, warned that the Leadership Conference could be shut down if it rejects the Vatican's mandate for reform.

    “If it can’t be reformed, then it doesn’t have a right to continue,” Burke said, according to LifeSiteNews.com.

    “How in the world can these consecrated religious who have professed to follow Christ more closely … be opposed to what the Vicar of Christ is asking? This is a contradiction,” he added.

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  • '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."

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  • After blistering Vatican report, nuns gather to weigh response

    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.

    By Becky Bratu, NBC News

    American nuns are gathering in St. Louis, Mo., this week for their organization's yearly national assembly, where they are expected to discuss the future of their relationship with the Vatican following scathing criticism of the nuns' alleged lack of fidelity to Catholic teachings.


    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."

    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."

    This week, the nuns will 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.

    In an interview with NPR in July, Franciscan Sister Pat Farrell, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella organization representing about 80 percent of the nuns in the United States, said the organization is "not talking about the risk of excommunication or leaving the church."

    /

    Sister Pat Farrell, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

    "The one and only underlying option for us is to respond with integrity with however we proceed," Farrell added. "Some of the options would be to just comply with the mandate that's been given to us. Or to say we can't comply with this and see what the Vatican does with that. Or to remove ourselves and form a separate organization."

    Earlier, in a June interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Farrell said the option to become an independent organization would stay on the table.

    "Again, that’s something we can’t respond to without further consultation with our members," Farrell said. "But the option always is there."

    On the question of submitting to the Vatican's appointed overseer, Farrell said: "Clearly this is an outside control. We would rather not have that."

    In a statement released just after the Vatican report, the nuns said the report had "caused scandal and pain throughout the church community, and created greater polarization."

    “Board members concluded that the assessment was based on unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency,” the statement read.

    American Catholics are showing their support for the nuns, organizing vigils across the country to advocate for the end of the crackdown. The Nun Justice Project is one organization standing with the nuns against what they call "a prime example of how the hierarchy in the Roman Catholic Church misuses its power to diminish the voice of women."

    On Aug. 12, Nun Justice supporters are planning a flower march in support of the nuns in Seattle. According to a June 20 press release, "Catholics have already pledged over $61,000 at nunjustice.org to communities of women religious all over the U.S."

    Nuns and their supporters have said that questioning the church's teaching is not the same as disobeying it.

    US priests reportedly behind Vatican crackdown on nuns

    It is possible that no decision will be reached by the end of the assembly, but private sessions will give leadership a sense of the "leaning" of the group, Farrell said.

    The conference opens Tuesday evening and concludes Friday. Farrell is expected to speak at a press conference Friday afternoon.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Clash of the titans: Vatican takes on reforming US nuns

    LCWR, Tony Gentile / Reuters, file

    Sister Janet Mock, executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), is among a delegation meeting Cardinal William Joseph Levada on Tuesday.

    By Claudio Lavanga, NBC News

    ROME - What do American nuns do when they are accused of being radical feminists? They respond as radical feminists might: by challenging the male authority face-to-face.  

    Sister Pat Farrell, head of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the umbrella group that represents 80 percent of the U.S.'s 57,000 Catholic nuns, traveled to Rome to confront accusations that her organization promotes "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." 

    Farrell met American Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on Tuesday.  The gathering was aimed at reconciling their differences, but it has the potential to permanently alienate many American nuns from the Holy See. 

    From the beginning, the meeting was fixing to be a titanic clash between strong-willed servants of God.  

    On one side next to Farrell sat Sister Janet Mock, the group’s executive director.

    Opposite them, Cardinal Levada was joined by Vatican-appointed Archbishop Peter Sartain, who has been named to oversee the overhaul of the the LCWR.  Sartain has been given the power to rewrite the group's statutes, its meeting agendas and liturgical texts. 

    US priests reportedly behind Vatican crackdown on nuns

    Alessandro Speciale, the Vatican Correspondent for Religion News Service, said the discussions – held in private – were unlikely to have been amicable.

    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.

    "It will (have been) a deaf argument," he told NBC News.  "They will both try to force their message across, but it's unlikely to be a friendly chat."  

    Both sides emerged from Tuesday's meeting without giving much away. 

    Farrell told journalists outside the Vatican she had an "open dialogue" with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and found the support in America "very affirming."

    Likewise, the Vatican did not go into much detail on the meeting's outcome, but said the gathering had happened in an "atmosphere of openness and cordiality."  

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

    What is almost certain is that Farrell, a determined representative of thousands of American nuns, asked Levada to reconsider the damning assessment his office issued about her group. The report followed a two-year investigation into the nuns' outspoken social and political outreach, which has often differed from the Vatican's official position.

    Tensions between the American nuns and the Vatican have been simmering for years, and stem from the open discussion among LCWR's members of sensitive issues such as gay marriage, contraception and on the ordination of women.

    On April 18, the Vatican harshly criticized the group, and accused it in a statement of perpetuating "a distorted ecclesiological vision, and (having) scant regard for the role of the Magisterium as the guarantor of the authentic interpretation of the Church's Faith."

    Magisterium, the official teaching authority of the Catholic Church, is made-up of the pope and bishops.  Ecclesiological refers to the nature and functions of the church.

    Catholic heavyweights challenge Obama rule on contraception

    In his first ever Twitter message, Pope Benedict XVI announced a new online portal that aggregates the Vatican's various media on one website. The Tweet from the pope was sent from and ipad.

    The Vatican then appointed a trio of bishops to deal with the differences with the LCWR.  

    The LCWR's official response came more than a month later, but it was just as strong-worded.

    The nuns said that the Vatican's charges are based "on unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency. Moreover, the sanctions imposed were disproportionate to the concerns raised and could compromise their ability to fulfill their mission. The report has furthermore caused scandal and pain throughout the church community, and created greater polarization."

    Whatever happened behind closed doors at the Vatican on Tuesday, the meeting will eventually help the world's estimated 1.2 billion Catholics understand whether the Vatican and the American nuns can reach a compromise – or, as seems more likely, remain poles apart.  

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