TORONTO - Having survived five years of investigation, interrogation and suspicion as past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the United States, Sr. Carol Zinn of the Sisters of St. Joseph is calling for more open, honest and heartfelt dialogue across the divides within the Church.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican approved new statutes and bylaws for the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious, ending a seven-year process of investigating the group and engaging in dialogue with its officers to ensure greater harmony with church teaching.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican ended a six-year inquiry into U.S. nuns with a report designed to bury their differences and celebrate their contribution to the Catholic Church.

Catholic nuns in the United States have been thumbing their nose at RomeöÏÓãÊÓƵapp demands to toe the doctrinal line and they need to obey or face serious consequences, the VaticanöÏÓãÊÓƵapp enforcer of orthodoxy said in a surprisingly tough talk to women representing most American sisters.

VATICAN CITY - Two days after the head of the Vatican office overseeing religious life said he had not been consulted by the Vatican's doctrinal office about a controversial investigation of American nuns, the two bodies affirmed their "common commitment" to reform of the U.S.-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious.