On Thursday, LCWR members voted to pass a resolution in favor of member congregations transitioning to renewable energy sources. “We feel that the congregations of Catholic sisters in the United States – which are 55,000 people – have a good deal of experience with education and social change on may fronts,” said Claire McGowan, a Dominican Sister of Peace from Bardstown, Kentucky.

GSR Today - Today concludes the Leadership Conference of Women Religious annual assmbly. A new leader has been elected, and Sr. Elizabeth Johnson is receiving her leadership award. Global Sisters Report is in Nashville filing stories as news happens. You can see a list of all the latest news together by going to the LCWR 2014 series tag on NCRonline.org or to GSR's LCWR Assembly 2014 one.

The Vatican and women religious are caught up in a tension with historical, sociological and ecclesiastical roots, but a solution could be found, Sr. Elizabeth Johnson said. The Fordham University theologian praised the sisters for their commitment to "meaningful, honest dialogue" and urged them to stay the course. Johnson was honored Friday with the Outstanding Leadership Award by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest group of women religious leaders in the nation, representing about 80 percent of the 51,600 sisters in the United States. Read her full speech here.

The largest leadership organization for U.S. women religious on Thursday called on Pope Francis to repudiate the doctrine of discovery, a 15th-century policy justifying violence against indigenous peoples. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, made up of Catholic women religious who are leaders of their orders in the United States, represents about 80 percent of the 51,600 women religious in the United States. Nearly 800 of the group's 1,400 members have gathered here for their four-day annual conference.

The gathering of nearly 800 religious sisters here drew one protester Thursday. Bob Hoatson, president of advocacy organization Road to Recovery, based in Livingston, N.J., stood outside the convention center where the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is holding its four-day assembly holding a sign that said, "Nuns abuse kids too."

The nation’s largest group of religious sisters welcomed a new leader and said goodbye to another on Friday. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious held its transfer of leadership Friday afternoon, installing St. Joseph Sr. Marcia Allen as president-elect. Update: LCWR has posted links to all the major speeches here.

The identity of women religious has changed dramatically in the last 50 years, the nation's largest group of sisters heard Thursday, but that change has occurred because they implemented the directives of the Second Vatican Council. Sr. Nancy Schreck, a Franciscan sister and a past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, told LCWR members at their annual assembly that Perfectae Caritatis, the Vatican II document on the adaptation and renewal of religious life, has been one of the most implemented of the council documents because women religious have followed its teachings.

GSR Today - As a journalist writing primarily about Catholic sisters, spending all day, every day with 750-plus congregational leaders has certainly been fruitful. But I would have to say that I’ve actually been in a continuous crash course on all things women religious since May, when I first joined the Global Sisters Report. One thing I quickly learned was that women religious do leadership differently than the rest of the Catholic church. It was also driven home during yesterday’s panel discussion on how leaders can discern holy mystery.

GSR Today - Arriving in Nashville yesterday to cover the Leadership Conference of Women Religious annual assembly, I was struck with a deep sense of thankfulness. The theme this year is “Holy Mystery Revealed in Our Midst,” and from the press section in the back of the ballroom — being able to see not only the stage, but the entire audience — I was keenly aware of how holy mystery plays a part in each individual life. I’m in Nashville until Friday evening, and I’ll be blogging right here at the Global Sisters Report every day and tweeting from the sessions that are open to press (search the hashtag #LCWR2014).

Three stats and a map - The Ebola outbreak that began in March is the deadliest in recorded history. As of early August, more than 900 people had died in four countries – Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria – and on August 8, the World Health Organization declared the epidemic a global emergency and an “extraordinary event.”