Cardinal Timothy Dolan: Love and Gratitude for the Sisters

Our take: New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan reaches out to Catholic nuns, saying: "If the Sisters can survive the battlefields of the Civil War, they'll survive the dramatic changes of the last five decades, and the current examination by Rome."

The episode that most dramatically motivated Americans, who grew-up with only negative perceptions about these ignorant, dirty, backward, superstitious Catholics was ... the heroic charity of Catholic nuns on the battlefields of the Civil War, selflessly tending to the wounded and dying, both blue and gray.

But the concern is real: the Holy See loves the Sisters so much they want them as strong, faithful, and influential as possible, and legitimately worries about features threatening their very identity as "daughters of the Church," to borrow Elizabeth Ann Setons favorite description of her sisters.

Read more about Catholic Sisters on The Gospel in the Digital Age.