Nuns balk at Vatican inquiry

Leaders of a significant number of the nation’s Roman Catholic sisters are challenging aspects of a Vatican investigation of their communities, declining to answer questions they say are ambiguous, inappropriate and out of step with the probe’s stated purpose.

The heads of three large congregations of sisters said in interviews with the Associated Press they did not fully answer a questionnaire that was due in late November – potentially leaving large holes in a three-year study of more than 340 orders with 59,000 members.

The investigation, called an apostolic visitation, was announced as an exploration of the quality of life of Catholic sisters whose ranks are in steep decline.

But some sisters fear the Vatican aims to crack down or push them toward more traditional roles, citing questions about dissent from church teaching, manner of dress and other issues.

Sister Mary Waskowiak, president of the 4,000-member Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, said most of the roughly 28 congregational leaders she has spoken with either left some answers blank or sent copies of their constitutions, which spell out their congregations’ purpose and mission and are approved by the Vatican.

“The church has a right to call us to accountability,” said Waskowiak, who did not answer all the questions. “I acknowledge that. I still do not understand the real motivation for this. … I am concerned about a lack of transparency on the part of the Vatican congregation” that ordered the investigation.

It’s unclear how the Vatican will respond and whether orders will face consequences for not answering all the questions, said the Rev. Lawrence Jurcak, president of the Canon Law Society of America

Waskowiak, like others who agreed to speak about their concerns, emphasized that her response was not resistance but instead respectful and consistent with her community’s identity.