Sisters on a different mountaintop

On Jan. 30, an apostolic visitation of religious orders of women in the United States was announced. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), whose membership includes most of the sisters whose manner of life and apostolates will be explored, subsequently released a measured statement, expressing its “surprise” at the Vatican-mandated visitation. The LCWR statement also hinted vaguely at a degree of alarm, noting that the visitation’s “purposes and implications for the lives of U.S. women religious remain unclear.” Read more