Soli Salgado

Sisters on the border hear the tragic stories that forced people to seek asylum in the U.S. only to be deported. Immigration proceedings are on a loop of delays or cancellations — made more dangerous by COVID-19.

The number of hungry people is soaring, and federal support of food banks may end soon. Sisters spoke to GSR about adapting ministries to increased need, fewer resources and diminished relationships.

The first woman to hold this position, Sr. Barbara Reid is the president-elect of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, elected by its board of trustees Nov. 12.

"Everybody's thinking of this election in apocalyptic terms," but whatever the results, Americans need to find an antidote to division. And politicians won't solve all problems, several sisters told GSR.

Experts and sisters share the practical and prophetic reasons for promoting issues rather than candidates.

For the many sisters who have dedicated their lives to fighting injustice, engaging in protests and activism is a form of prayer in action that helps maintain a sense of hope amidst the often-slow pace of change. Some young activists are adopting those concepts, learning from their vast experiences.

Congregations such as the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids had frequently held public vigils and protests to bring attention to issues like climate change, migration and racism before the pandemic. The voting guide is an extension of their actions.

In the spirit of Pope Francis' call to build bridges, the social justice lobby's event aimed to give participants — most of them women religious — skills to engage with loved ones with whom they may disagree.

Sr. Jane Herb's lifetime in Catholic education has provided her with an innate understanding of complex systems and big-picture thinking, one she'll now put toward the ministry of national leadership as sisters contend with restructuring communities to fit their membership. Herb, a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan, was elected president-elect of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious on June 29.

On the LCWR annual assembly's final day, women religious gathered virtually to map out their journey forward. Officers shared three initiatives to guide them, and the conference revisited its 2019-2022 resolution.

The second day of the annual assembly for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (held virtually this year) offered a type of support group under the guise of a panel.

The destinations that beckon each sister or community will determine the vessel they choose, said Sr. Jayne Helmlinger in her presidential address before a virtual audience of 1,000 sisters and guests.

Before she became an Adrian Dominican sister at age 50, Elise García already lived a life engaged in social justice issues, advocacy and nonprofits. Now at 70, she is the president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious takes its annual assembly online Aug 12-14. Sisters must preserve the in-person assembly's meditative, inspiring element as they reexamine their role in today's world.

Decades in nonviolence and anti-racism work has prepared Sr. Patricia Chappell for this tense moment in United States history, as her lifelong passions have become part of mainstream conversation in the country. Chappell, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, has long been involved in anti-racism work, helping religious communities confront the systemic racism within their congregations.

Just before a break-in triggered their bookstore's security alarm around 11 p.m. May 30, the Pauline sisters poked their heads outside their building on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, where they live on the floor above the Chicago Pauline Books and Media shop.

Women religious in the United States are responding to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests engulfing cities by affirming the Black Lives Matter movement, acknowledging their congregations' history of white supremacy and personal white privilege, and calling for peaceful and concrete action toward racial justice.

The National Day of Mourning and Lament came with the backdrop of major cities recovering from weekend riots in response to the death of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis.

When she set out to make documentary films about monastic life, Julie McElmurry knew she wanted to portray sisters differently. She wanted to "go through their front door and into their individual lives."

The National Day of Mourning and Lament, as the interfaith coalition is calling it, is an effort to "make visible that which you can't make visible, which is the depth of the loss that these individual families are feeling, and the sheer number of loss that the country is feeling," said St. Joseph of Philadelphia Sr. Carol Zinn, executive director of LCWR.