Following the sudden cancellation of an April 30 court hearing between the Arlington Carmelite nuns and Fort Worth Catholic Bishop Michael Olson, lawyers representing the diocese told the Fort Worth Report that the nuns withdrew their request for a temporary restraining order without explanation.
Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David talk about media they've been consuming lately, as well as a recent Supreme Court case that might affect care for the homeless. Then Heidi interviews Sr. Elizabeth Johnson.
The apostolic visitation and doctrinal assessment were controversial, but 10 years after those tense times, sisters say their relationship with officials in Rome is radically different.
The filing includes an affidavit from Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach warning that once the association of contemplative orders the Vatican appointed to govern the sisters is in control, it can do anything it wishes, including taking the monastery.
Global Sisters Report and National Catholic Reporter have been honored by the Religion News Association for reporting in 2023, including for the GSR series "Hope Amid Turmoil: Sisters in Conflict Areas."
In disaster-prone provinces of central Vietnam, sisters help locals and farmers adjust to climate change through sustainable techniques and financial support, allowing them to adapt and stay on their land.
"We, like most congregations, believe the life force that flows through creation, through our land, through the animals, through humanity, is sacred," says Sinsinawa Dominican Sr. Julie Schwab.
The Vatican Secretariat of State sent a formal statement to the French Embassy to the Holy See reaffirming that Pope Francis had sent a top Vatican official to investigate a French religious congregation and warning that interference by a French civil court in an internal church matter could be a "serious violation" of religious freedom.