UNITED STATES
Bloomberg
By Mary Johnson Jan 23, 2012
The Vatican recently finished an exhaustive, three-year inquest, the kind it reserves for its gravest problems. The subject: “American apostolic women religious,” commonly known as nuns.
Almost 400 religious institutions throughout the U.S. were studied as part of this “apostolic visitation,” and a final, confidential report on the nuns’ activities was submitted to the Vatican in December.
Why investigate nuns? Because, Vatican officials said, they were concerned for the sisters’ welfare. But as a former nun — I left the convent in 1997 after 20 years as a sister in New York, Rome, Washington and Winnipeg, Canada — I know what the church leaders won’t publicly admit: American nuns frighten them.
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