(RNS) It takes a strong backbone for a woman to stand up to the men at the Vatican when you’ve been publicly reprimanded by some of its most powerful men. But an umbrella group of American nuns, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, is doing just that in calling the recent Vatican indictment against them “unsubstantiated” and “flawed.” By Mary Johnson.

(RNS) Leaders representing most of the nation‚'s 57,000 Catholic nuns on Friday (June 1) said a Vatican crackdown on their group was based on "unsubstantiated" allegations, and caused "scandal and pain'' in the church. By David Gibson.

(RNS) Now it turns out that conservative U.S. churchmen living in Rome, including disgraced former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, were key players in pushing the Vatican crackdown on U.S. nuns. By David Gibson.

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Vatican on Wednesday announced a crackdown on the organization representing most nuns and sisters in the U.S. following an investigation that said religious sisters weren't toeing the line on women's ordination, same-sex marriage and other issues. By David Gibson.