Report on women Religious heals wounds

A controversial visitation into every community of Catholic nuns in the United States has ended with a reconciliatory 5,000-word report, writes Hannah Roberts.

The study into the “quality” of the life of Religious women was ordered in 2008 by Cardinal Franc Rodé, former head of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life. The brief addressed concerns that “a secular mentality” and “feminist spirit” had spread through the orders. But the report published on 16 December heaped praise upon the nuns for their active role in social justice, saying that their work “can resonate with Pope Francis’ insistence that none of us is exempt from concern for the poor”.

Cardinal Rodé’s successor, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, said the nuns were acting with “self-sacrifice” for the sake of the “spiritual, moral, educative, physical and social needs of countless people”. The report found that the Religious “had found ways to adapt … to contemporary needs”.

The tone encapsulated the change of approach to the nuns that has taken place at the Vatican since the appointment of Cardinal Braz in 2011 – a change consolidated by the election of Pope Francis in 2013. “We are putting more of an accent on going to them, not to identify mistakes or judge situations, but to listen to the sufferings, see the difficulties, listen to what they are going through,” Braz said at the press conference to launch the report.

While overwhelmingly appreciative of the nuns’ work, the report contained some muted criticism. The nuns were told to “review their spiritual practices to ensure they are in harmony with Catholic teaching”. “Caution is to be taken not to displace Christ from the centre of Creation and faith,” the report said.