Local bishops must now receive express prior approval from Rome before recognising new communities of men and women religious.

The restaurant opened in Shoreditch as part of Channel 5's ‘Bad Habits, Holy Orders’ series

Sister Frances Ridler said the programme was an 'honest portrayal' of religious life and would be 'good for the Church'

Jesuits and Paulist Fathers are among the few orders who say they can pay off loans once entrants have been ordained

Doctors are unable to explain why a nun's brain fully invaded with Alzheimer's kept functioning at a high level

The Reformation may have caused women's religious roles to be set back centuries

She never had any children, but as a dormitory mistress she lavished her maternal gifts on us

Despite the pleas of her mother - and quite a few marriage proposals - Elizabeth refused to abandon her vocation