Chris Herlinger

Chris Herlinger

Chris Herlinger is New York and international correspondent to Global Sisters Report and also writes on humanitarian, international and cultural issues for NCR. He covers the work of Catholic sisters at the United Nations, and in the last decade has reported from Ukraine, Poland, Bosnia, Croatia, South Sudan, Haiti, Lebanon, Italy, Ghana, Uganda and El Salvador, among other locales. Chris has won numerous awards from the Associated Church Press, the Religion Communicators Council and the Religion News Association. The Catholic Media Association named Chris one of its 2024 Writers of the Year. He is the author of five books on humanitarian themes, most recently Solidarity and Mercy: The Power of Christian Humanitarian Efforts in Ukraine, published by Morehouse. 

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More than 1,200 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo received healthy meals through Rise Against Hunger’s partnership with Salesian Missions. (Courtesy of Salesian Missions)

Monday Starter: Amidst violence in the world, UISG calls for global day of prayer

And Salesian sisters mark two international dates established by the United Nations — International Youth Day on Aug. 12 and World Humanitarian Day on Aug. 19.

A sister in habit is seen among those holding a vigil against nuclear weapons on the pier alongside the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey on Nov. 11, 1983. (NCR photo/Peter Wingert)

80 years after Hiroshima, anti-nuclear activists are still fighting for progress

"We don't have a national peace movement as it relates to nuclear weapons… It just went off people's radar," said Sr. Carol Gilbert, a prominent anti-nuclear activist.

Diné elder and adviser to the delegation, Pat McCabe, center, and Providence Sr. Barbara Battista grab hands in celebration and solidarity at the gathering, held July 18-20, in defense of Oak Flat in southeastern Arizona's Tonto National Forest. (Courtesy of Steve Pavey)

Sisters support defense of Apache sacred site, 'religious freedom for Native Americans'

Activists are fighting a copper mine planned for a site sacred to Apache people. "Religious freedom for Christians looks one way right now, and religious freedom for Native Americans another," said a Loretto Community co-member.

Daughter of Wisdom Sr. Jean Quinn speaks Feb. 10, 2020, at an opening session of the United Nations' Commission on Social Development meeting on homelessness. Quinn is the executive director of UNANIMA International, a U.N.-based coalition of Catholic congregations focused on concerns of women, children, migrants and the environment. (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)

UNANIMA, prominent sister-led coalition at United Nations, to end its ministry

UNANIMA, a coalition of sister congregations at the United Nations that championed causes such as homelessness, anti-trafficking and women's health, will close by the end of the year.

Sr. Jane Wakahiu, associate vice president of program operations and head of the Catholic Sisters Initiative at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Gail DeGeorge, and Sr. Joyce Meyer, co-founder of Global Sisters Report, at the LCWR Assembly in 2023 (Courtesy of Gail DeGeorge)

Q&A with Gail DeGeorge: GSR's outgoing editor emerita on lessons covering sisters

In a farewell interview, former GSR editor Gail DeGeorge reflects on what media gets wrong about sisters, trends in religious life, and how sisters influenced her spirituality.

nuns pray

Monday Starter: Salesian Sisters leader appointed to Vatican dicastery

Plus, the Thai government honors Sr. Marie-Agenes Suwanna Buasap for her work against trafficking, and Catholic Extension nominates sisters for its Lumen Christi award.

U.S. Marines stand guard as demonstrators protest against the United States joining with Israel in attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, at a federal building in Los Angeles, Calif., June 22. (OSV News/Reuters/David Swanson)

'War is never the answer': Sisters urge nonviolent solution after US attacks Iran

They call the June 21 bombing immoral and illegal, saying it would do nothing to achieve peace between the U.S. and Iran and between Israel and Iran.

(GSR graphic/Olivia Bardo; photo sources, from left: CNS/Paul Haring, CNS/Vatican Media, CNS file, OSV News/Reuters/Yara Nardi)

Q&A with 2 sister theologians on Francis' theological legacy: Part 2

Theologians Sr. Maeve Heaney and Sr. Maria Cimperman discuss the continuities between Pope Francis and his predecessors, his relationship with liberation theology, and their hopes for Pope Leo XIV.

(GSR graphic/Olivia Bardo; Pope Francis photo from CNS/Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane)

Q&A with 2 sister theologians on Francis' theological legacy: Part 1

As theologians, Srs. Maeve Heaney and Maria Cimperman revisit Pope Francis' pastoral theology, the impact of his ecological encyclical Laudato Si', and his push for a synodal church.

Signs appealing to patriotism and American values were common during the June 14 "No Kings" demonstration in Midtown Manhattan, N.Y. (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)

Protesting Trump, US sisters hail 'No Kings' events as 'beginning of a movement'

The June 14 "No Kings" marches and rallies, held nationwide, were organized to protest the Trump administration's policies on immigration and the social safety net.

Global Sisters Report will host an online health care forum on mental wellness for sisters July 1. (GSR screenshot)

Monday Starter: GSR to host July 1 mental wellness forum for sisters

Plus, U.S. sisters give millions to Franciscan Action Network; new book highlights social activism of Canadian sisters; and sisters plan June 24 protest against U.S. budget cuts.

A photo of then student Robert Prevost from the 1978-79 student directory of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; cover of the 1980-81 CTU student directory (Courtesy of CTU)

Q&A with Sr. Dianne Bergant, Old Testament scholar who taught Pope Leo XIV

"He was an A student."

From left: Bon Secours Srs. Pat Dowling, Elaine Davia and Nancy Glynn stand beside an ad reading, "Put the Guns Down. Let Peace Begin with Us," inside a Baltimore city bus. The ad campaign runs through June on the outside and inside of city buses, and on Baltimore's subway. (Courtesy of Sisters of Bon Secours)

Monday Starter: 8 congregations launch 'Put the Guns Down' campaign in Baltimore

Also, two pilgrimages will lead to the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, as part of the shrine's yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the canonization of Seton.

Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, appears onscreen at the United Nations' General Assembly Hall during a town hall meeting with the U.N. secretary general and civil society at the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. (UN/Evan Schneider)

Catholic sisters: Exemplars of landmark Beijing Declaration

With a decade of reporting on Catholic sisters, international correspondent Chris Herlinger reflects on how sisters have long been radical models in supporting women's causes.

Graphic: Pope Leo on map

'A pope for the world': Sisters around the globe share hopes for Leo XIV's papacy

 On their wish list: an expanded role for women in the church.

Sisters hopeful synodal process of 'walking together' will continue under new pope

Pope Francis invited all Catholics to the table in deliberating the future of the church. Sisters involved in those synods believe there's no turning back — even with a new pope.

Pope Francis burns incense in front of a Marian statue after consecrating the world, and in particular Ukraine and Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a Lenten penance service in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 25, 2022. A year later, he asked Catholics worldwide to renew the consecration and pray for peace. Pope Francis, formerly Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died April 21, 2025, at age 88. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Sisters, despite complicated feelings, say Francis 'never forgot Ukraine'

No one doubted the late pope's commitment to a peaceful solution in Ukraine. But even among Ukraine's small Catholic community, some felt that Francis was not robust enough in his condemnation of Russia.

Sr. Jane Wakahiu, a member of the Institute of the Little Sisters of Saint Francis, Kenya, and associate vice president for program operations and head of Catholic Sisters for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican in January. (Courtesy of Hilton Foundation)

Sisters hope new pope will continue Francis' prophetic pastoral path

 Sisters at the United Nations and in global ministries hope the new pope will honor Francis' legacy by sharing his priorities and concern for the marginalized.

The hands of Pope Francis, holding a rosary, are seen as he lies at rest in his coffin in the chapel of his residence

Remembering Francis: 'One of the most consequential leaders of our time'

Catholics around the world expressed their sadness and non-Catholics sent their condolences upon hearing the news of Pope Francis' death at age 88 on Easter Monday.

Pope Francis with nuns

Sisters mourn Pope Francis, who uplifted women in the church

Pope Francis, who elevated the status of women, and especially women religious, within the Catholic Church more than any pontiff in history, died early April 21. He was 88.