Vatican's Report on U.S. Nuns Will Be Released December 16 - Aleteia

 

According to Vatican spokesperson Father Thomas Rosica, a press conference will be held at the Vatican December 16. At that press conference, three American nuns will join Vatican officials to publicly reveal the final report of a five-year investigation of congregations of Catholic sisters in the U.S. The inquiry was initiated in 2009 under now-retired Cardinal Franc Rodé, following concerns by many that some congregations of women religious had become too liberal and had abandoned traditional religious lifestyles.
Speaking at the December 16 press conference will be the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Institute of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, and the Congregation's secretary, Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo.
Also participating in the press conference will be three American women religious:

• Sister Sharon Holland, head of the Monroe-based Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) congregation and current president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR);
• Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life, who leads the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious; and
• Mother Mary Clare Millea, who led the Apostolic Visitation inquiry for the Vatican.

Father Rosica is president of Assumption University in Windsor, Ontario, and serves as a Vatican spokesperson. He told the Detroit Free Press that while he could not divulge contents of the report, he expected it to allay the fears of many Catholic sisters about the investigation. Speaking Tuesday at Detroit's Catholic Cristo Rey High School, Father Rosica said, "It will hopefully be a very positive message for women religious in the United States.... There were a lot of unfounded fears."
According to the Free Press, Father Rosica promised that the report will be made public online; and he expects the Vatican's communication office to formally announce next week about the Dec. 16 conference.

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