Public Statements

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is grateful that the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Court’s ruling safeguards the right of 700,000 DACA recipients to live and work in the country that is their home. This is an enormous victory for the immigrant youth who have led the challenge to the Trump administration’s attempt to end the program that has protected our colleagues, students, neighbors, and friends from the threat of deportation.

The recent mass shootings in our country impel us to once again beg all citizens and all elected leaders to end the rampant rage and division that have overpowered the nation and too often result in mass, indiscriminate violence. We are a nation that promises a life free from fear, and yet we seem unable to stop the epidemic of hate that has overwhelmed us. As we have been carrying in our own hearts the pain being endured by families who have lost loved ones and those wounded through gun violence, we bring in as well those impacted by these latest attacks.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is deeply troubled by President Trump’s continued denigration of those fleeing untenable situations in their home countries. These are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers who have been forced from their homes by unimaginable violence and insecurity; runaway corruption; and droughts and floods linked to climate change. These are women and girls fleeing intolerable situations of domestic violence. These are young men and women who have no access to quality education and no hope of economic opportunity.

The US Department of Homeland Security’s proposed changes to the public charge regulation are yet another attempt by President Trump to restrict immigration and punish immigrant families. The new regulation would force parents to make impossible choices between the well-being of their families and the prospect of future citizenship.

[Silver Spring, MD] The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is deeply troubled by the release of the Trump Administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule. The proposed rule would significantly weaken the Clean Power Plan (CPP) which sought to speed the closure of coal-burning plants and the conversion to clean energy in order to reduce carbon pollution, mitigate climate change, and protect the health and welfare of all people, especially the most vulnerable.

On July 27, the Associated Press released an article o

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is deeply concerned about the growing repression and state-sanctioned violence in Nicaragua. Citizens’ voices have been silenced and their peaceful protests violently suppressed. We have seen citizens abducted, tortured, and killed. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, reported that over a two-month period from mid-April to mid-June at least 178 people were killed, the vast majority at the hands of police forces and armed pro-government groups, and at least an additional 1,500 were wounded.

The Leadership Conference of Woman Religious is deeply troubled by the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of President Donald J. Trump v. State of Hawaii that challenged the legality of the Trump Administration’s third attempt at a Muslim ban. The court’s flawed ruling adds to the climate of fear and anti-Muslim sentiment in this country and threatens the values upon which our national community is built. 

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious strongly denounces the cruel decision by the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 200,000 Salvadorans. El Salvador is the fourth country whose citizens have been stripped of their right to protection by President Trump’s administration. Rescinding TPS from human beings under continuing threat of violence of all types is inconsistent with the values and traditions of this nation and with our belief in the dignity of all persons.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is deeply troubled by the continued actions of President Trump’s administration which denigrate our immigrant neighbors and threaten our communities. We reject the rhetoric of fear and the policy of division. We choose instead to embrace a dream for America that is filled with hope for a nation united in service of the common good.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is deeply disappointed by the Trump administration’s decision to abandon the Clean Power Plan (CPP) which sought to reduce carbon pollution and mitigate climate change, limits which are essential to the health and welfare of all people, especially the most vulnerable.

[Silver Spring, MD] The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) shares the disappointment of millions of people across the country who had hoped and prayed that President Trump would continue the protection offered Dreamers by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA is a common sense path to stability for families, communities, and local economies and a reaffirmation of American values. Ending DACA will cause irreparable harm to families and communities and force 800,000 of our young people back into the shadows.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious condemns racism in all its harmful forms whether the violent acts of the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and White Supremacist groups or the daily acts of hate and discrimination that diminish us all.

We grieve with the citizens of Charlottesville and all people of goodwill. We mourn with all who have lost loved ones, with all who live in fear, with all whose dignity is threatened by hate and violence. We lament the racism that continues to afflict our communities and threaten the values that we hold dear.

This week, while tensions between the governments of the United States and the People’s Republic of Korea quickly escalated, approximately 650 members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious meeting in Orlando, FL issued a public statement imploring President Donald J. Trump to engage in dialogue and negotiation.

A PDF copy of the final report of the Vatican's Congregation for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on the apostolic visitation of US women religious may be found below, as well as the text of the remarks made during the press conference.

LCWR's response to the report is also available here.

These are links to interviews recorded prior to the December 16 press conference:

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious rejoices with Catholics throughout the world as we anticipate the canonizations of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.

Both men are outstanding examples of selfless devotion to the Gospel and tireless labor to make the Catholic Church a beacon of hope and light for a world in need of both.

Today the Leadership Conference of Women Religious sent a letter to all 435 members of the House of Representatives urging them to take up immigration reform— now!  We are asking that the house pass legislation that honors the values upon which our nation was built; includes a reasonable roadmap to citizenship; prioritizes family unity; protects the rights of all; promotes the integration of new Americans; and addresses the poverty and violence that force migrants from their homes. See below for a copy of the letter.