This story appears in the Apostolic Visitation feature series. View the full series.

by Joshua J. McElwee

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jmcelwee@ncronline.org

An exclusive interview with Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Sharon Holland, president of LCWR: The woman who represents tens of thousands of U.S. Catholic sisters has said she hopes release of a report on the controversial six-year Vatican investigation of their life and work can lead to "greater forgiveness and reconciliation" between sisters and church leaders.

This story appears in the Apostolic Visitation feature series. View the full series.

by Joshua J. McElwee

News Editor

View Author Profile

jmcelwee@ncronline.org

The final report of a controversial and unprecedented six-year Vatican investigation of tens of thousands of U.S. Catholic sisters takes a roundly positive, even laudatory, tone towards their life and work but also includes several couched but barbed criticisms of them.

Dec. 16 the final two episodes of "The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns" airs on Lifetime. The back-to-back broadcast wraps up with the six young women visiting the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker in Walton, Ky., and also reveals which of them decided to enter religious life for real, not just for reality TV.

This story appears in the Iraq and Ebola feature series.

GSR Today - A digest of sisters' hard work in some of the toughest conflicts of the day. This week, Ebola's legacy is expected to last at least another nine months; sisters, who were at the forefront of this issue, continue working against trafficking; and the Dominicans in Iraq report witness of the collapse of Christianity there.

This story appears in the Apostolic Visitation feature series. View the full series.

The report of the apostolic visitation on women religious communities in the United States is expected to be released Dec. 16 at a press conference in Rome. GSR carries continuing coverage. Look for breaking news here tomorrow morning by NCR Vatican correspondent Joshua J. McElwee, and first catch up on the history and nuance of the visitation by going to our AV series page.

This story appears in the Apostolic Visitation feature series. View the full series.

Today’s release of the final report on the apostolic visitation of U.S. sisters brings to a close a six-year process that initially shocked and angered many, but also unified women religious in the United States like never before. It is one of two separate investigations involving U.S. women religious.