Catholic Pontiff Pope Francis has thrown his weight behind the Holy See’s crackdown on the largest umbrella group of nuns in the United States of America.

The development “dimming hopes that a Jesuit pope whose emphasis on the poor mirrored the nuns’ own social outreach would take a different approach than his predecessor,” according to a Washington Post report.

The Vatican last year imposed an overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious after determining the sisters took positions that undermined Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith,” Washington Post said.

“Investigators praised the nuns’ humanitarian work, but accused them of ignoring critical issues, including fighting abortion,” it added.

Yesterday, the heads of the conference met with the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, who is in charge of the crackdown. It was their first meeting since Mueller was appointed in July.

In a statement, Mueller’s office said he told the sisters that he had discussed the matter recently with Francis and that the pope had “reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform.”

The conference, for its part, said the talks were “open and frank,” and noted that Mueller had informed them of Francis’ decision.

“We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the Church,” the conference said on its website.

The Vatican crackdown, according to Washington Post, unleashed a wave of popular support for the sisters, including parish vigils, protests outside the Vatican’s embassy in Washington, D.C., and a U.S. Congressional resolution commending the sisters for their service to the country.

The paper said that following Francis’ election, several sisters had expressed hope that a Jesuit pope devoted to the poor and stressing a message of mercy rather than condemnation would take a gentler approach than his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Francis has called for a more “tender” church and one that serves society’s poorest – precisely a message American sisters have stressed in their ministry in hospitals, hospices, soup kitchens and schools that serve some of the most marginalised in the US.

•Photo shows Pope Francis.

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