A rule finalizing the religious exemption to the contraceptive mandate should be "the end of a long cultural war fight" over the issue and confirm that the U.S. government "never needed nuns to give out contraceptives" to women, said the president of the Becket law firm.

The U.S. bishops will consider endorsing the sainthood cause of Sr. Thea Bowman, the granddaughter of slaves and the only African-American member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who transcended racism to leave a lasting mark on Catholic life in the United States in the late 20th century.

Benedictine sisters, discerning about their future, chose to build a monastery on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Today, the Sisters of Benet Hill Monastery combine monastic community with an active role in civic life. They advocate against human trafficking and promote education, planting Benedictine values in Colorado's second largest city.

For the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, the canonization of their foundress, also known as Mother Mary Catherine Kasper, is a confirmation of what they knew and believed. Their gratitude stemmed from the universal church recognizing God's goodness as manifested in her and sharing Kasper with the world.

NCR Preview: Last week, Sr. Carol Keehan announced her retirement as president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, effective June 30, 2019. There can be no real replacing of Sister Carol.

In the gritty depths of the strip-mining South and in a university town in the Midwest, two Catholic sisters are working to create a future in which opioid addicts have options beyond the next fix. They don't know each other — but, from the way their friends and coworkers describe them, they share one strikingly similar trait: They don't give up easy. 

Sr. Marlene Weisenbeck, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, raises awareness about human trafficking through the Task Force to Eradicate Modern Slavery, working alongside other groups. "We all have to work together because the survivors come to us through various venues."

GSR Today - After the Oct. 27 massacre of 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue, communities of Catholic women religious call for an end to hateful rhetoric and for better control of firearms.

The Missionaries of Charity congregation has agreed to resume its service of offering children for adoption. The congregation founded by St. Teresa of Kolkata, commonly known as Mother Teresa, had discontinued giving babies from their orphanages for adoption in October 2015 after disagreeing with a new federal law that allowed single and divorced woman to adopt children.

Mariposa Ministries is a collection of five women who live together under one roof with the support of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Living alongside Delphine Busch, an associate member of the Holy Names congregation, four refugees find support in a family environment after long journeys of tribulation.

Maryknoll Sr. Rosemarie Milazzo, 86, has pursued missionary work in various countries for decades.  She spoke with GSR about her most recent assignment to the Greek island of Lesbos, where she saw firsthand the conditions refugees endure in camps.

When we asked them whether sisters should be politically active, the panelists for October all answered with a resounding "yes." As one sister put it, "Attending to the vulnerable is the mission of religious life." And that is, at heart, politics.