In 2009, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious came under the scrutiny of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The members of LCWR lead about 80 percent of the congregations of Catholic sisters in the U.S. At the same time as the doctrinal assessment, the Vatican was separately conducting an apostolic visitation of certain congregations of women religious in the U.S.
In a newly released book, former presidents of LCWR, members of the organization's executive staff and members of a lay support group share their experiences and insights from this critical moment in their history.
On the show today:
- Annmarie Sanders, an Immaculate Heart of Mary sister and communications director for LCWR
- Betty Thompson, *a founding member of Solidarity with Sisters
Background Reading
- Global Sisters Report's Gail DeGeorge reported on the release of However Long the Night: Making Meaning in a Time of Crisis.
- A timeline of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
- Going forward: LCWR after the doctrinal assessment
- April 2015: Vatican ends controversial three-year oversight of US sisters' leaders
- NCR's Tom Fox wrote in 2012 that LCWR's response to the doctrinal assessment offers a new vision for being church.
- April 2009: The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has initiated a doctrinal investigation of the largest U.S. women’s religious leadership organization, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
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*Betty Thompson was originally listed as a co-founder of Solidarity with Sisters. She is among the organization's founding members.
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