Dan Stockman

At this year's LCWR annual assembly in Atlanta, U.S. sisters focused on hope, surrender and transformation.

The recipient of LCWR's Outstanding Leadership Award, Mercy Sr. Mary Pat Garvin has touched thousands of lives through teaching and impactful formation programs.

Drawing parallels from the story of Lazarus, Jesuit Fr. James Martin delivers Thursday's keynote address before the 600 sister leaders gathered at the LCWR annual assembly.

"Illness did not take leadership from me. It reshaped it," said St. Joseph Sr. Kathy Brazda, president of LCWR, to the assembly attendants gathered in Atlanta Aug. 12-15.

"If we live our lives now as if we're connected to that bigger picture of religious life," she said, "It's going to grow into something that's helpful for the wider community for years to come."

 Sr. Simona Brambilla and Fr. James Martin will deliver keynote addresses to the group, expected to number about 900.

As congregations in the United States see their numbers declining, many are realizing the need to preserve their history.

"When a sister is in the dialogue, they listen differently," said Sr. Susan Francois,

If the U.S. Congress approves the proposed drastic cuts on Medicaid, critics say nearly 11 million people will lose their health insurance. More than 13,000 of those people could be men and women religious.

What Srs. Berta Sailer and Corita Bussanmas began as a day care 50 years ago has morphed into Operation Breakthrough, a nonprofit educating underprivileged kids of Kansas City, even after the sisters' deaths.

Hope 2025, a gathering organized by the Leadership Collaborative for Catholic sisters under the age of 65, was part retreat, part networking event and part space for connection.

When Pope Francis ordered a revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to assert "the death penalty is inadmissible," it gave the church "official teachings so we couldn't have bishops going against it," said St. Joseph Sr. Helen Prejean.

As congregations across the United States look to liquidate unused facilities or find a new way to put them to use, intercongregational living is happening more and more often.

Pope Francis made migration a priority, leaving a challenge "not to see this as an invitation we received during a particular papacy, but the depth of an inner call. Not to see it as temporal, but as universal."

Plus, the Pentecost Project at the Vatican offers journalism training courses to sisters, and the Religious Formation Conference honors Sr. Ellen Dauwer.

Associated Church Press also honored a National Catholic Reporter staff writer. Plus, the Religion Communicators Council awards a Global Sisters Report correspondent with best in class reporting.

"We are deeply grateful for his humble acceptance of his election and his willingness to serve the church and the wider world at this critical moment," wrote the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

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.

Plus, UISG plenary assembly opens May 5, and U.S. sisters take to open letters and billboards to encourage compassion and humanity in government policies.

Catholic sisters and organizations mourn his loss and hail his legacy, particularly his attention to the marginalized.