Sister Mary Hughes of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) spoke at a National Press Club luncheon about the LCWR's changing relations with the Vatican.
In April, the Vatican informed LCWR about alterations the organization will be required to implement. The notice was made at the end of a four-year assessment and detailed the need to remedy perceived conflicts associated with the group's activities and projects. The Vatican expressed the need for reform to guarantee LCWR's commitment to Church teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women's ordination and homosexuality.
LCWR, the largest group for Roman Catholic nuns in the United States, met this month to decide how the organization should respond to a recent Vatican call for reform. Sister Hughes presented her group's position to reporters and took questions following her speech.
Sister Mary is the immediate past president of LCWR, which represents about 80 percent of the country's 57,000 Catholic sisters.