Dan Stockman

Because consecrated men and women have already largely embraced synodality, their prophetic voices can teach the universal church to follow the path the Holy Spirit is leading us, Cardinal Robert McElroy said. 

The inaugural Sisters Anti-Trafficking Awards were held Oct. 31 in London, honoring Sr. Patricia Ebegbulem from Nigeria, Sr. Seli Thomas from India, and Sr. Francoise Jiranonda from Thailand.

"I won't use the term success, but it has been fruitful. It's a new state in the experience of synodality," says one sister who was a voting member at the first session of the Vatican's multiyear synod.

Monday Starter: Several women religious congregations and organizations released a statement on Oct. 20 urging the Biden administration to publicly call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

A consortium of four sites is working to collect and preserve religious archives and eventually be linked together to provide access to the holdings of all four facilities. At risk is the history of Catholic sisters.

Panelists at the National Catholic Conference on Restorative Justice say that great strides have been made in some areas by the church to ensure widespread abuse and cover-up do not happen again, but failures continue to arise.

Mercy Sr. Mary Haddad, head of Catholic Health Association, embraced Pope Francis' Laudate Deum, calling for urgent efforts to fight the climate crisis. Also: news about Catholic sisters' anti-trafficking efforts.

¿Qué harías si tuvieras una cámara prestada, solo 20 dólares y un sueño? Eso era lo único que tenía la Hna. Rose Marie Tulacz cuando empezó a fotografiar. Lo que no sabía era que sus imágenes se convertirían en un instrumento para transformar la vida de miles de personas en África: una escuela de 1000 alumnos, un orfanato, un convento y una escuela Montessori. En esta entrevista, 'la hermana con la Nikon' cuenta cómo su pasión por la fotografía se convirtió en una misión de servicio y testimonia cómo nuestro servicio puede multiplicarse, así como lo hizo Jesús con los peces. “Quiero ser una guardiana de la fe. Muchas de las imágenes que he tomado a lo largo de los años son de lugares que ya no existen. Doy gracias por haber podido conservar algo de eso”, cuenta para GSR.

In recent decades congregations began moving investments into companies and funds that make a positive impact on the world. Now, some are even using their money to change the investing landscape itself.

¿Qué tienen en común las estrellas, las hermanas católicas y el misterio pascual? La respuesta se encuentra en la asamblea anual de la Conferencia de Liderazgo de Mujeres Religiosas (LCWR) que se celebró en Dallas,Texas, del 8 al 11 de agosto. Allí, cerca de 900 religiosas y sus invitados reflexionaron sobre el ciclo constante de creación, destrucción y renacimiento del universo, y cómo este les inspira a vivir con esperanza y alegría en medio de los cambios y desafíos, entre ellos la atomización de las congregaciones. La presidenta saliente Rebecca Gemma instó a “usar la esperanza como lente” ante el futuro. Otras líderes como Barbara Reid y Jung Eun Park abogaron por “no aferrarse a las formas” y encontrar “la esencia de la vida religiosa”.
 

Sr. Sue Ernster recently became president-elect of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents about two-thirds of the Catholic sisters in the U.S. She spoke about what excites her about this time with LCWR.

Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, says Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, the nun at the center of a dispute over allegedly broken vows, may be excommunicated, along with the rest of the nuns at her monastery.

A course in September at the headquarters of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in Rome will help women religious learn more about migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. 

Serving those desperately in need can be dangerous, exhausting and costly, Sr. Donna Markham said, but it is at those moments, "standing with holy suffering," that fear diminishes, caution drops away, and a deep connection to the sacred becomes tangible.

Discussion and questions during workshops at the annual Leadership Conference of Women Religious assembly pointed to the stark reality of a dearth of members able to serve as congregational leaders: Even congregations able to currently install leadership teams have to prepare for a future in which they may not be able to do so. 

At the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' annual assembly, president Rebecca Ann Gemma, a Dominican Sister of Springfield, Illinois, gave the presidential address, telling the sisters they should never lose hope, even with the changes taking place in religious life. 

At the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' annual assembly, attendees will examine how, from the vastness of the universe to the space within us, God creates life, even out of what appears to be destruction and death.

Sharing her dad's passion for the Jesus of the Scriptures, Sr. Maureen Geary was led to the Grand Rapids Dominicans in 1987. On Friday, she'll begin her year as president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The lawsuit was dismissed June 30 when a county court in Texas ruled the allegations from the Carmelite monastery involved church matters, not civil law issues. 

It will take generations to find healing from the boarding school system, but the process must start with restoration, said Samuel Torres of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.