An order of women religious has been recognized for extraordinary efforts to bring Jesus Christ to those suffering the ravages of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Catholic Extension has announced seven finalists for its 2023-2024 Lumen Christi Award, and two of those named told OSV News they're both surprised and encouraged.
A native of the ancient city of Mukachevo in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia region, Sr. Teodora Kopyn arrived in the United States in 2013 to join her fellow Basilians at their Jesus, Lover of Humanity Province in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
"I stand on the shoulders of giants. ... Vocations grow; they don't just happen," said Sr. Mary Francis Bard, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family, in an April 23 reflection for the National Day of Prayer for Black Vocations.
"We've been on the journey of healing for so long, but now this healing is going to take a different dimension, which will be even richer. What many of our people have been longing for is for the universal Catholic Church to recognize the wrong that was done."
Just days before the policy was set to expire, the U.S. Supreme Court issued Dec. 27 a 5-4 ruling that Title 42 would remain in place while legal challenges to the policy play out.
