Commentary - I learned somewhere that “All spirit starts at the top.” The attribution may be apocryphal, perhaps, but in this case true, nevertheless. Tuesday, in fact, I saw the truth of that with my own eyes. Tuesday’s release of the final report on the apostolic visitation of American nuns launched in 2008 by Cardinal Franc Rodé, then prefect of the congregation for religious life, takes on a completely different tone than at its inception.

The Vatican’s report on the apostolic visitation released Tuesday was an affirmation of women religious in the United States – but was it yet another possible sign of a change in tone at the highest levels of the Catholic church? With its calls for dialogue and collaboration – and a nod toward greater decision making by women – the report follows October’s Synod on the Family, where open debate of topics that had not previously been up for discussion appeared to signal to some a sea change in how the Vatican operates.

Tuesday, the Vatican released the final report from the three-year apostolic visitation to U.S. women religious – and largely to praise. Many people, both religious and lay, celebrated the report’s conciliatory language, calling the document an olive branch and a step forward in mending the relationship between women’s congregations and the Vatican. But the sentiment wasn’t universal.

Women religious and interested watchers responded with gratitude – and a bit of caution – to the Vatican’s response to the apostolic visitation Tuesday, saying it represents both a dramatic change in tone toward sisters’ work in the United States and a path for future dialogue.

An exclusive interview with Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Sharon Holland, president of LCWR: The woman who represents tens of thousands of U.S. Catholic sisters has said she hopes release of a report on the controversial six-year Vatican investigation of their life and work can lead to "greater forgiveness and reconciliation" between sisters and church leaders.

GSR Today - Reactions on Tuesday to the final report on the apostolic visitation to U.S. sisters generally were as positive as the report itself. Following is a sampling from major media.

The final report of a controversial and unprecedented six-year Vatican investigation of tens of thousands of U.S. Catholic sisters takes a roundly positive, even laudatory, tone towards their life and work but also includes several couched but barbed criticisms of them.

"O Breath of God, breathe your energy and love into us and upon our earth. "

Dec. 16 the final two episodes of "The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns" airs on Lifetime. The back-to-back broadcast wraps up with the six young women visiting the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker in Walton, Ky., and also reveals which of them decided to enter religious life for real, not just for reality TV.

GSR Today - A digest of sisters' hard work in some of the toughest conflicts of the day. This week, Ebola's legacy is expected to last at least another nine months; sisters, who were at the forefront of this issue, continue working against trafficking; and the Dominicans in Iraq report witness of the collapse of Christianity there.