The Vatican and U.S. nuns

Hour 1

Next week the Leadership Conference of Women Religious which represents 80,000 American nuns will meet to formulate a response to the Vatican’s report that the group has strayed from the Church and had adopted “radical feminist” views.  The reprimand came as a shock to many, but some observers who are familiar with the relationship between the Vatican and many U.S. nuns say the confrontation has been brewing for a while, certainly since the 1960s when many nuns saw the reforms outlined as in the Second Vatican Council as a message to focus on social justice issues and the needs of their communities.   What is included in the Vatican report, what does it mean to American Catholics and how will U.S. nuns respond?  We get reaction from Father Jim Martin, Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby founded by sisters which was also reprimanded by the Vatican, and author Ann Carey who supports the Vatican’s findings.

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[audio: 052412_100630.mp3]