1.0The Deacon's Benchhttps://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/deaconsbenchdeacon greg kandrahttps://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/deaconsbench/author/deacon-greg-kandrarich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="qJ3gsbLJTU"><a href="https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/deaconsbench/2009/01/where-are-the-nuns.html">Where are the nuns?</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/deaconsbench/2009/01/where-are-the-nuns.html/embed#?secret=qJ3gsbLJTU" width="600" height="338" title="“Where are the nuns?” — The Deacon's Bench" data-secret="qJ3gsbLJTU" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> A posting by the Catholic News Service looks at that question — and finds some intriguing theories: Statistics leave no doubt that the number of women religious has dropped sharply over the last 50 years, but there is an ongoing debate over the reasons for the decline. The question surfaced recently when L’Osservatore Romano, the…