Carol Zimmermann

Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph, shows no signs of slowing down in her long-standing fight to end the death penalty.

Mother Mary Lange, who founded the first Black Catholic school in the United States and the first religious order for women of color, is an example of courageous resilience the church needs, say members of her order, the Oblate Sisters of Providence.

A case before the Supreme Court Nov. 1 argues that death-row chaplains should be able to pray aloud with inmates and place their hands on them in prayer during executions.

During an online panel about the death penalty Oct. 19, panelists stressed how capital punishment goes against church teaching.

Health workers at Catholic hospitals should be vaccinated because they are "serving people at a vulnerable time of sickness," Mercy Sr. Mary Haddad said. "The thought that they could infect someone is unconscionable."

At the annual assembly of the Catholic Health Association, its members were applauded for their work  and  urged to combat health disparities in this country, many of which were exposed during the pandemic.

"I feel hopeful because of the creativity we've been forced to find," said Felician Sister Desiré Findlay, a vocation outreach minister. But she also views the online chats as a stopgap until those discerning a vocation meet the sisters in person, which she said they need to do.

Since vaccines began rolling out in December, some elderly sisters have been able to get vaccinated, but not all of them. Many, who live with fellow sisters, not in assisted living or long-term care centers, are not at the top of vaccine eligibility lists. It also depends on where the sisters live and how their states are distributing available vaccinations.

Sister Norma Pimentel, a Missionary of Jesus and executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, has received numerous awards over the years for her work in Texas with migrants along the U.S.-Mexican border, and she can now add a new title to her list: one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

The National Black Sisters' Conference issued a "clarion warning" to U.S. Catholics saying church members and leaders have not done enough to speak out against the sin of racism.

In a 7-2 ruling July 8, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trump administration rules that give employers more ability to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage in their health plans.

Across the country, women religious have joined in peaceful protests against racial inequality, while others, home for health reasons amid the pandemic, are very much in spirit with the marchers.

The key to sheltering in place is having a place to go. That has been the driving force behind Mercy Sister Grace Miller's homeless ministry in Rochester, New York, long before the coronavirus pandemic. But these days, more people are knocking at her shelter's doors even though many of its outreach programs have been temporarily put on hold.

For the first time in its history, the Supreme Court announced April 13 it will conduct 10 oral arguments by teleconference in May. Among the arguments it will hear are cases involving the Little Sisters of the Poor and California Catholic schools.

The Supreme Court, much like the rest of the country, is putting some of its work on hold amid the restrictions of the COVID-19 health crisis.

The retired Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace might not be able to escape the news of the coronavirus' deadly impact on nursing homes just a few miles away from them, but they have a way to cope with it.

Mercy Sr. Mary Scullion, co-founder and executive director of Project HOME, an organization that helps the homeless in Philadelphia, was one of the many guests who attended the Feb. 4 State of the Union, which she hoped would draw attention to homelessness and inspire federal aid to alleviate it.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet said in a statement that they were safe and were remaining on site on the advice of the Los Angeles Fire Department and that firefighters and police were with them.

The Little Sisters of the Poor filed a petition with the Supreme Court Oct. 1 asking the court to once again protect them from the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act.

Women religious, and Sisters of Mercy in particular, attended several of climate protests and stood out by wearing purple "Mercy for Justice" T-shirts and carrying pre-made signs with messages: "The climate crisis is a moral issue" and "Mercy for the earth."