The Diocese of Little Rock announced Wednesday that six Catholic nuns in Hot Springs have been excommunicated for heresy.
Reverend Monsignor Gaston Hebert says the excommunication is the result of the sisters knowingly and deliberately embracing the doctrine of the Army of Mary.

Monsignor Hebert told the press Wednesday he'd met with all six women a week ago, asking for them to reconsider and return to the Catholic faith. After meeting with the six again Tuesday night, the decision for automatic excommunication was made.

As part of the excommunication, Our Lady of Charity and Refuge is no longer viewed as a Catholic institution.

(Rev. Msgr. Gaston Hebert, Diocesan Administrator) “They will no longer have any religious services--Catholic services on the property."

Eight nuns live at the Good Shepherd Monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge in Hot Springs—however two of the nuns do not embrace what the church calls heretical teachings.
 
(Hebert) “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic. We might have difficulty at times, but it's our desire and our prayer that these nuns will return to full communion with the Church. That's what we want, that's what we pray for."

These women are associated with St. Michael’s Catholic Child Care in Hot Springs.

The Army of Mary is a movement out of Canada, which the Roman Catholic Church considers heresy.