Jesuit pope offers hope to targeted nuns
Newly elected Pope Francis I appears on the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on March 13, 2013 in Vatican City. Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pontiff and will lead the world's 1.2 billion …
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Posted: 03/22/2013
VATICAN CITY - The election of a Jesuit pope devoted to the poor has brought a glimmer of hope to American nuns who have been the subject of a Vatican crackdown, according to interviews with several groups. The nuns were accused of having focused too much on social justice at the expense of other church issues such as abortion.
The 2012 Vatican crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest umbrella group for U.S. nuns, unleashed a wave of popular support for the sisters, including parish vigils and protests outside the Vatican embassy in Washington.
In an interview with The Associated Press this week, U.S. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the head of the U.S. bishops' conference, said he expected Pope Francis would bring "freshness" and understanding to the debate, given Francis' own experience as a Jesuit familiar with the problems of life in religious orders.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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