(RNS) The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious comprises convents with a total of about 10,000 nuns, and you probably won't be reading about any Vatican investigation of their practices. By David Gibson.

WASHINGTON (RNS) A top leader in the group of Catholic nuns who are facing a crackdown from the Vatican says her members have no plans or desire to leave the church, or reconstitute their group beyond Vatican control. By Kevin Eckstrom.

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) The Archdiocese of New Orleans has launched a kind of halfway house where a woman considering a vocation can live while giving the matter thought and prayer, the first in the nation that gives would-be nuns the same environment as would-be priests. By Bruce Nolan.

ST. LOUIS (RNS) American nuns facing a Vatican takeover of their leadership organization on Friday (Aug. 10) rejected Rome’s plans to recast the group in a more conservative mold but declined – for now – to respond with an ultimatum that could have created an unprecedented schism between the sisters and the hierarchy. By David Gibson.

ST. LOUIS (RNS) Catholic sisters gathered at their annual assembly intensified discussions on Thursday (Aug. 9) aimed at thwarting a Vatican takeover of their group, but hanging over the meeting was an even larger, existential question: Do the nuns have a future? By David Gibson.

(RNS) Sister Pat Farrell is at the center of one of the biggest crises in the Catholic Church, representing the majority of U.S. nuns in their looming showdown with the Vatican. But this is hardly the most difficult or dramatic episode in her life. By David Gibson.

WASHINGTON (RNS) A new poll finds that Catholics who are aware of their bishops' concerns about religious liberty generally agree with them, but the all-important Catholic vote is still up for grabs on Election Day. By Lauren Markoe.

(RNS) Combining images and words from advertising, pop culture and religion, the bold graphic art of Sister Mary Corita was as deeply representative of the spirit of the 1960s as it was ubiquitous in church basements, dorm rooms and urban communes of people involved in the struggle for civil rights and the campaign to end the Vietnam War. By David E. Anderson.

WASHINGTON (RNS) A group of Catholic nuns ended its nine-state bus tour here Monday (July 2), speaking out against a Republican federal budget proposal they say favors wealthy Americans at the expense of poor families. By Chris Lisee.

More than 200 Catholics from Kansas City, Mo., wore white and held signs to honor American nuns on Tuesday, June 19. Many attendees said they were there to support and thank the sisters, who are under a Vatican crackdown. The event was organized by local residents and the nationwide organization Call to Action, a liberal lay Catholic movement. Photos by Sally Morrow/RNS.

(RNS) American nuns who are under investigation by the Vatican say last week's discussions with Rome were "difficult" and indicate that public comments by a number of U.S. bishops have not made negotiations easier. By David Gibson.

(RNS) In a blow to the Obama administration and a boon for the Catholic bishops, the influential Catholic Health Association that supported health care reform has rejected the White House’s proposals that were aimed at addressing faith-based objections to the controversial contraception mandate. By David Gibson.

(RNS) The nation's Catholic bishops have discussed issues of great import this week, from sexual abuse policies to their religious freedom campaign. But the proposal made Thursday (June 14) that they consider hiring a chief spokesperson prompted the most intense soul-searching so far. By David Gibson.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Leaders of an umbrella group that represents the majority of U.S. nuns met with top Vatican doctrinal officials on Tuesday (June 12) in an atmosphere of “openness and cordiality,” according to a Vatican statement. By Alessandro Speciale.

ST. LOUIS (RNS) The board of the nation's largest association of theologians issued a statement Thursday (June 7) in support of Sister Margaret Farley, a Yale theologian whose work in sexual ethics was publicly criticized by the Vatican earlier this week. By Tim Townsend.