Nuns not anti-gay enough


The Vatican has begun a crackdown on United States nuns it believes have focused too much on poverty and economic injustice and not enough on advocating against abortion and same-sex marriage.


The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a verdict on the nun’s group, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, The New York Times reports.


It claimed that members of the group challenged church teaching on homosexuality and promoted “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith”.


Among the assessment’s other criticisms was that US sisters publicly supported President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, which went against US bishops who opposed the reforms.


The nuns’ group claims to represent 80 percent of Catholic sisters in the US. It was formed in 1956 at the Vatican’s request.
 The Vatican has now appointed an American bishop to rein in the group.


Social justice lobby group Network executive director Sister Simone Campbell (pictured) told the NYT she was stunned by the decision.


“I would imagine that it was our health care letter that made them mad,” she said.


“We haven’t violated any teaching, we have just been raising questions and interpreting politics.”


She also suggested to BBC News that the Vatican may have difficult time ahead.

“It’s totally a top-down process and I don’t think the bishops have any idea of what they’re in for,” she said.


American nuns have been under particular scrutiny under Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy. He was in charge of the Vatican’s doctrinal office before becoming pope. 


The Vatican has also conducted a separate investigation into all women’s religious orders in the US, the results of which have not been made public