Singing Nun Stuns Judges on Italy's The Voice

Sister Cristina Scuccia performs a version of Alicia Keys' song No One on Italy's The Voice. The nun, from Sicily, impresses the judges who unanimously opt to keep her in the TV talent competition. She has been quoted as saying she hopes to gain renown in her country which may lead to her meeting the Pope

Islamist Rebels Hold Nuns Hostage in Syria

Islamist fighters in Syria are believed to be holding a group of nuns hostage. Abducted from an Orthodox Monastery near Damascus they have reportedly been moved to the rebel-controlled town of Yabroud. The Pope has called for prayers for the kidnapped women, amid demands from clerics and religious organizations to release them. RT's Middle East correspondent Paula Slier is following the story.

Pope Francis Urges Nuns Not to Be 'Old Maids'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pope Francis urged a gathering of hundreds of nuns in the Vatican on Wednesday not to be "spinsters" or "old maids" but to act like "mothers" to the faithful.

The Argentinian Pope said that despite their vows of chastity, nuns in the Roman Catholic Church still had a maternal role to play.

"The ordained woman is a mother, she must be a mother and not an old maid! You are mothers, like the figures of Mary and the Mother Church," he told 800 nuns, who represented women's religious orders from more than 70 countries.

He spoke in Italian, using the word "zitella", which means old maid or spinster.

"Forgive me if I talk like this but this maternity of consecrated life, this fruitfulness is important!

"Be mothers, like the images of the Mother Mary and the Mother Church ... you are icons of Mary and of the Church." Read on and comment » | Nick Squires, Rome | Wednesday, May 08, 2013

THE WASHINGTON POST: Pope Francis to nuns: Don’t be old maids » | Melinda Henneberger | Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Leader of ‘Radical’ US Nuns Rejects Vatican Criticism

BBC: The leader of a group of US nuns the Vatican accuses of flouting Church teaching has rejected the claims.

"I've no idea what they're talking about," Sister Simone Campbell, head of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, told the BBC.

"Our role is to live the gospel with those who live on the margins of society. That's all we do."

On Wednesday the Vatican announced a crackdown on US nuns long considered too liberal by the church hierarchy.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a highly critical report that accused US nuns of engaging in "corporate dissent" and of ignoring, or worse, challenging the church's teachings on abortion, homosexuality and an all-male priesthood. (+ video) » | Jane Little | BBC News, Washington | Saturday, April 21, 2012

Nuns Accuse Banks in $5m Lawsuit
THE TELEGRAPH: Germany's Deutsche Bank and US investment bank Morgan Stanley are facing a $5m lawsuit led by a group of Irish nuns.

No banker is likely to risk describing what they do as "God's work", but they might hope at least not to get on the wrong side of His earthly followers.

Unlucky then for Germany's Deutsche Bank and US investment bank Morgan Stanley, who are facing a $5m (£3.2m) lawsuit led by a group of Irish nuns.

The Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, the Holy Faith Sisters and the Irish Veterinary Benevolent Fund are among a group of 88 Irish individuals suing the two banks.

The nuns allege the two banks profited at their expense by failing to redeem an investment linked to the debt of German financial group Dresdner Bank and in so doing cost them millions of pounds. >>> Harry Wilson, Financial Services Correspondent | Wednesday, August 11, 2010

No Greater Love
THE TIMES: Can a documentary about a group of nuns living in virtual silence really speak to a modern audience?

I suspect that many people, Catholic or not, would form instinctive ideas about a group of women who spend the vast proportion of their days in silence, rarely venture outside of their monastery walls, and who have made vows of poverty, chastity and obedience before God.

As No Greater Love begins we are led into the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Notting Hill, which houses these devout women and clarifies their lifestyle from the outset.

Consequently my immediate expectations assumed a story of naïve, well-meaning and dedicated nuns whom I would respect and admire, but whose narrative might prove slightly tedious after half an hour. >>> Madeleine Teahan* | Wednesday, May 19, 2010

*Madeleine Teahan, 23, is Roman Catholic and a parliamentary researcher

Finding the World’s Most Beatiful Nuns
Audrey Hepburn plays Sister Luke in The Nun’s Story (1959)
MAIL Online: An Italian priest wants nuns across the world to flaunt it in the name of beauty.

Reverend Antonio Rungi, of Mondragone, near Naples, has come up with a novel way of enticing young people back to the church.

He has organised a beauty contest open only to nuns, to give them more visibility within the Catholic church, and to fight the stereotype that they are old and dour.

It would run online at first, but Reverend Rungi is hopeful that it will one day take off in the real world alongside the all-singing and all-dancing Miss Italia competition.

He said it would give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and image. 'Miss Sister 2008': Web Vote to Find World's Most Beautiful Nuns >>> | August 25, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy)

Numbers of Nuns and Monks Decline by 10%
Photo of Audrey Hepburn as Sister Luke in ‘The Nun’s Story’ (1959) courtesy of Google Images
BBC: The Vatican has reported a further dramatic fall in the number of Roman Catholic monks and nuns worldwide.

Newly published statistics showed that the number of men and women belonging to religious orders fell by 10% to just under a million between 2005 and 2006.

During the pontificate of the late Pope John Paul II, the number of Catholic nuns worldwide declined by a quarter.

The downward trend accelerated despite a steady increase in the membership of the Catholic Church to more than 1.1bn.

However, correspondents say even this failed to keep pace with the overall increase in world population.

Dramatic fall

On the back page of its official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican published on Monday new statistics revealing that between 2005 and 2006 the number "members of the consecrated life" fell by just under 10%.

The number of members, predominantly women, some engaged only in constant prayer, others working as teachers, health workers and missionaries, fell 94,790 to 945,210. Catholic nuns and monks decline >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)