What Lies Ahead For America's Nuns

After the Vatican accused the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, America's largest organization of Catholic nuns, of failing to follow Church doctrine on several controversial issues, the group's president suggested they will not backing down.

August 16, 2012

JOHN DONVAN, HOST:

Earlier this year, the Vatican accused the largest organization of Roman Catholic nuns in the United States of failing to follow church doctrine on a number of controversial issues. The church reprimanded the organization for challenging core Catholic beliefs and for promoting what it called radical feminist themes. Nuns with this organization, which is called the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, met earlier this month in St. Louis to consider their response to the Vatican's demands and comments.

Sister Mary Hughes is the past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and she joins us here in Studio 3A in just a moment to discuss the conflict. But Catholic listeners, we want to hear from you. What is the conversation in your congregation about this? Call us and tell us your story, what's going on where you live. Our number is 800-989-8255. Our email address is talk@npr.org. And now I want to welcome Sister Mary Hughes to our program. Thanks very much for being here.

SISTER MARY HUGHES: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

DONVAN: So Sister, at this point, are you still looking for reconciliation, solution with the Vatican on this?

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/16/158936472/what-lies-ahead-for-americas-nuns

16:35 audio at link.