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Pope Francis maintains Vatican stance against US nuns' group | Pope Francis maintains Vatican stance against US nuns' group |
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Pope Francis has reaffirmed criticism of a body representing US nuns that the Vatican said was tainted by radical feminism. | |
Francis's predecessor, Benedict, decreed that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents more than 80% of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the US, must change its ways, in a ruling 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, criticising it for taking a soft line on issues such as birth control and homosexuality. | Last year, a Vatican report said the LCWR had serious doctrinal problems and promoted radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith, criticising it for taking a soft line on issues such as birth control and homosexuality. |
The nuns received wide support among US Catholics as LCWR leaders travelled around the country in a bus to defend themselves against the accusations. | |
On Monday, the group's leaders met Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the new head of the Vatican's doctrinal department, and Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, who has been assigned to correct the group's perceived failings. | |
"Archbishop Müller informed the [LCWR] presidency that he had recently discussed the doctrinal assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the programme 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. | The Vatican reminded the group that it would remain under the direction of the Holy See, the statement said. |
The LCWR said the conversation had been open and frank, adding: "We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the church." | |
In 2012, the doctrinal department criticised the LCWR for being silent on the right to life, saying it had failed to make the biblical view of family life central to its agenda. The nuns backed Obama's healthcare reform, part of which makes insurance coverage of birth control mandatory. | |
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