Catholic News Service

Pope Francis commended the beatification of Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti, a 60-year-old member of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross who was brutally murdered on June 6, 2000 in northern Italy.

The life and lessons of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American saint, are coming to video as part of a monthly series exploring her spiritual legacy.

The Poor Clares, a cloistered community of religious women located in Travelers Rest, and the Trappist monks of Our Lady of Mepkin Abbey in Monks Corner, have made significant changes to the way they support their missions over the past year.

Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of Sr. Agustina Rivas Lopez, a member of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, who was killed by guerrillas in Peru in 1990.

Launched on Mother Seton's feast day, Jan. 4, the shrine's live virtual tours have been a streaming success — so much so that shrine officials intend to make the virtual tours a permanent option for those who want to learn about America's first native-born saint.

Handing out clothes, food and sometimes just providing a friendly ear, the sisters put into action one of the main missions of LCWR: "to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today's world."

"The best way to understand what is happening at the border is to come and see, you know?" Sr. Norma Pimentel told a Georgetown panel — "actually see the face of a child, a mother hurting and suffering for their babies."

Sr. Francis Dominici Piscatella, a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, New York, celebrated her 108th birthday April 20. She entered religious life 90 years ago.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Teresa of Ávila as a doctor of the church, Francis said her "audacity, creativity and excellence as a reformer are the fruit of the interior presence of the Lord."

Leaders from dozens of religious orders dedicated to providing health care services and residential homes for elderly and disabled people reaffirmed their commitment to continue serving the most vulnerable as the global pandemic continues.

On a sunny afternoon, the Rev. Gideon Oyabugbe, a minister at a local Baptist church, walked into St. Vincent's Centre for Inclusive Education to pick up James, his 8-year-old son, who is autistic.

A $20 million loan from the U.S. international development bank will allow a program started by the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States to expand social-impact investing in enterprises operated by the Catholic Church in Africa.

Sr. Ann Kendrick might not be able to dunk a basketball, but she made it on the Magic Vision screen at Amway Arena in Orlando when she was honored by the Orlando Magic Association for her advocacy for farmworkers.

"It is a great sufferance to see suddenly empty all this beautiful paradise," said Sr. Telesphora Pavlou.

Pope Francis has named Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli undersecretary for faith and development at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

In February 2020, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan embarked on a trip to Cuba at the invitation of the island-nation's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, causing a sensation in Havana.

"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.

Less than a month after he recognized the "heroic virtues" of three Italian women religious who died caring for Ebola patients in Congo, Pope Francis did the same for three others who also contracted the disease and died in 1995.

"She was fully human like all of us," said Rob Judge, executive director of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. "It gives people great hope and great faith."

A Minnesota Dominican sisters' congregation has long given credit to St. Joseph for a late-night firewood delivery during the harsh winter of 1868.