Vatican abruptly ends crackdown on U.S. nuns

In a surprise move, the Vatican on Thursday ended its seven-year-old investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the largest U.S. organization of Catholic nuns, three years ahead of schedule. In a press release, the Vatican said that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has accepted a final report on the inquiry and that "implementation of the mandate has been accomplished." The crackdown had been prompted by allegations that the LCWR was straying from church teaching, a charge the nuns denied.

The Vatican started scrutinizing the LCWR, which represents about 80 percent of the 57,000 U.S. Catholic nuns, under Pope Benedict XVI. In 2012, Benedict appointed Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain to overhaul and oversee the organization — the mandate that ended Thursday.

At that time, the Vatican accused the LCWR of "grave" doctrinal violations, including focusing on social justice and "radical feminist" issues at the expense of topics like abortion, as well as undermining Catholic doctrine on homosexuality and the priesthood. On Thursday, only minor changes to the LCWR were announced, mostly dealing with selecting speakers and award recipients, and vetting manuscripts before publication.

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Most observers saw the hand of Pope Francis in the unexpected and apparently amicable conclusion of the Vatican crackdown. "Given the current moment in the church, with Francis emphasizing mercy and not judging and trying to see the best of what people are doing, they had to find a quiet way out of this," University of New Hampshire church specialist Michele Dillon told The Associated Press. You can read the final report here.