For 'sacred' women in the sex trade, Mexican sisters offer a healing space

Sex workers in their skin-tight dresses and high heels leaning on the green sidewalk barriers are a common sight along Circunvalación, one of the main thoroughfares through La Merced. (GSR photo/Tracy Barnett)

In Mexico City's La Merced district, the Oblate Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer and helpers, wearing the blue vest of Casa Madre Antonia, walk the streets to offer a hand and encouragement to women in prostitution.

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A nun takes children to the holy land, or cemetery, at Thai Xuan Parish in Xuan Loc Diocese to pray for the souls after Mass. (Photo courtesy of Mary Nguyen Lan)

Vietnamese Catholics' prayers for deceased a duty and act of charity

When we pray for the souls of the dead, those who are in purgatory always remember us on earth and intercede before God for us.

Flowers and a sign that says "In loving memory"

All Thoma asks of me is to remember

Sunrise

We see the church with new eyes

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Sex workers in their skin-tight dresses and high heels leaning on the green sidewalk barriers are a common sight along Circunvalación, one of the main thoroughfares through La Merced. (GSR photo/Tracy Barnett)

For 'sacred' women in the sex trade, Mexican sisters offer a healing space

In Mexico City's La Merced district, the Oblate Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer and helpers, wearing the blue vest of Casa Madre Antonia, walk the streets to offer a hand and encouragement to women in prostitution.

Sr. Eucharia Madueke

Nigerian nuns raise awareness on rape, violence against women

Nigerian sisters and their communities are raising awareness about violence against women and child abuse and spreading their prevention mechanisms among young people in Nigeria.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Anne Munley, standing, associate director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' Emerging Life Initiative, facilitates a discussion in Dallas during the summer series of Collaborative Leadership Hubs. (Courtesy of LCWR)

Q & A with Sr. Anne Munley, discerning the future of religious life for LCWR

GSR talks to Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Anne Munley, associate director for LCWR's Emerging Future Initiative, about updates on the process, including five Collaborative Leadership Hubs held across the U.S. in 2022.

A "Climate Clock" is seen with the Maldives delegation during the closing plenary of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 20. (Flickr/UNclimatechange)

Last-minute COP27 deal on loss and damage called 'a real breakthrough'

Catholic groups welcomed the historic deal reached at the United Nations climate summit to establish a "loss and damage" fund for vulnerable countries, even while negotiations fell short in other areas, they said.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Monday Starter: International gathering will address reforming care for abandoned children

Pope meets artist whose work reveals how God touches brokenness

Mercy Education marks 5 years of spreading sisters' charism in 55 schools

Arts & Media

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Haejin Shim Fujimura presents Pope Francis with a 15th century kintsugi bowl by on Nov. 8. (Courtesy of Haejin Shim Fujimura)

Pope meets artist whose work reveals how God touches brokenness

An ancient Japanese art form repairs broken vessels with gold, not hiding the damage. The tradition illustrates Pope Francis' call to "to go to the margins" because they are also places of possibility.

Cello (Unsplash/Ira Selendripity)

Finding ministry in the music

From A Nun's Life podcasts - Alice Ann O’Neill was a professional cellist when she began discerning with the Sisters of Charity. Discover how she is living out a dual vocation.

A female moose grazes for water plants in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. (Wikimedia Commons/Tony Hisgett)

Both poetry and spirituality challenge us to see God in all things

Because I am a person of faith, I seek to understand who God is. However, theology can say only so much, as it is rational — and reason has its limits. We also need the intuition of poets to express what reason cannot.

Sr. Thea Bowman of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in an undated photo (Courtesy of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration)
Arts and Media, News

Documentary on the life of Sr. Thea Bowman premieres this weekend

A new hourlong documentary, "Going Home Like a Shooting Star: Thea Bowman's Journey to Sainthood," on the Black Franciscan and candidate for sainthood, will begin airing on ABC stations across the U.S. on Oct. 2.

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Q&A

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Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Anne Munley, standing, associate director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' Emerging Life Initiative, facilitates a discussion in Dallas during the summer series of Collaborative Leadership Hubs. (Courtesy of LCWR)

Q & A with Sr. Anne Munley, discerning the future of religious life for LCWR

GSR talks to Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Anne Munley, associate director for LCWR's Emerging Future Initiative, about updates on the process, including five Collaborative Leadership Hubs held across the U.S. in 2022.

Sr. Gabriela Ramírez of the Guadalupan Missionaries of the Holy Spirit poses for a photo with men of the Mayan community in Birmingham, Alabama (Courtesy of Gabriela Ramírez)

Q & A with Sr. Gabriela Ramírez, walking with the Mayan community in Alabama

For the past 19 years, Sr. Gabriela Ramírez has had a special, personal ministry with the Indigenous Mayan communities that come from San Sebastián de Huehuetenango, Guatemala, and have settled in Alabama.

Bejoy D'Cruze and Dora D'Rozario inaugurate prayer house and residence.

Q & A with Dora D'Rozario on being one of 11 consecrated virgins in Bangladesh

Dora D'Rozario, a 63-year-old consecrated virgin in Bangladesh, helped create a prayer house and residence at Padrikanda in Golla Parish in Dhaka so consecrated virgins in the country can spend time together.

An elderly white woman in a black nun's habit and glasses poses with an older white man in a light blue shirt and gray suit jacket

Q & A with Robert Ellsberg, who wrote about his friendship with Sr. Wendy Beckett

The book includes three years' worth of emailed letters back and forth on such subjects as saints, holiness, beauty, suffering and prayer.

GSR in the Classroom

Youth in a classroom raising their hands to answer questions

The project shines light on the mission and ministry of Catholic women religious around the world.

Each lesson connects articles about sisters or columns written by sisters to the good news found in scripture and church teaching. Action ideas and compelling prayer bring new learning alive. Teacher guides provide vital context and engaging activities to launch group discussions.