The Vatican orthodoxy watch dog group known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced in April its intention to overhall the largest organizations of American nuns known as the The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).

The claim was that the group was taking positions that undermine Roman Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

The crackdown has provoked reactions across the country in support of the nuns. None of the responses have been as heartfelt and forthright as this letter from Fr. Doug Koesel a parish priest serving at the Blessed Trinity Catholic Church in Cleveland, Ohio which is printed below with permission.