Joan Chittister

A Benedictine Sister of Erie, Pennsylvania, Joan Chittister is a best-selling author and well-known international lecturer on topics of justice, peace, human rights, women's issues and contemporary spirituality in the church and in society. She presently serves as the co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the United Nations, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders, especially in the Middle East. Chittister has won 14 CPA awards for her books. Her most recent include Between the Dark and the Daylight (Random House), Two Dogs and a Parrot (Blue Bridge, 2015) and In God’s Holy Light (Franciscan Media, 2015). A biography, Joan Chittister: Her journey from certainty to faith, by NCR’s Tom Roberts, was released in 2015 by Orbis Books. Chittister is the founder and executive director of Benetvision, a resource center for contemporary spirituality in Erie.

A girl lights a candle

Where both Jacob and Hagar are signs of the will of God

Despite years of intermittent warfare between the Palestinians and Israel, we have hoped that simple decency, public morality, honest governments and personal conscience would sweep down, writes Joan Chittister. 

The back of a person on a street, holding American flags and wearing a green vest that says, "HERE TO HELP." (Unsplash/Elissa Garcia)

It's up to us. When will we figure that out?

Life, the ancients knew, all depends on our willingness to collaborate, to do the things together that are important for us all. That's something we need to remember in this time of agitation and uncertainty.

Pope Paul VI proclaims the last decrees of the Second Vatican Council, sitting on his throne before the papal altar under Bernini's bronze canopy in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Dec. 7, 1965. (AP)

Nothing really changed after Vatican II. But synodality may make a difference.

The last time the church said it was going to make changes was in 1965, but all the changes to be seen were basically meaningless ones. This time, though, the faithful themselves are part of the agenda-making process.

Women discuss the issues at the Non-Governmental Organizations Forum held in Huairou, China, Sept. 3, 1995, as part of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing. (U.N. Photo/Milton Grant)

Beijing + 25: The 1995 platform for women remains a promise-in-waiting

From Where I Stand - The 40,000 women at the U.N. Conference on Women 25 years ago in Beijing stood up and said no to invisibility. No to powerlessness. And then they said yes — and listed all the things that needed to be done.

To become humility itself

What we say, how we say it, matters

When is funny not funny?

A little less talk, a little more thought

To grow, not to fossilize

Inferiority brings freedom

It is possible to be contented

Self-revelation makes us new again

Society profits from the power of patience

Growth of soul is in relation to others

Our differences will make the difference

Saving Western civilization — again

Trump destabilizes the presidency

COP24 and moral maturity

Change will require getting at deep roots

For where you stand, stand up