Soli Salgado

Women and men religious gathered in late 2019 to learn about the Amazon synod from one of the 10 women allowed to participate, Sr. Daniela Cannavina, and to discuss environmental issues for their Latin American and Caribbean region and how they could see themselves as pilgrims in a process that is at once intercultural, intercongregational and itinerant.

While Christmas is a celebration of God becoming incarnate through the birth of Jesus Christ, theologians consider God's first act of incarnation to be the birth of the cosmos, inspiring some religious communities to incorporate a cosmic dimension to their seasonal reflections and celebrations. 

Carrying the weight of suffering experienced by persons who are trafficked can cause sleepless nights, heartache and burnout, but how women religious recharge and care for themselves is what allows them to persevere in challenging ministries.

Dignity for workers is the goal of the Dolores Sopeña Center in Chile. The center trains people in specific trades and teaches them how to turn their skills into a business.

Days before the synod on the Amazon is to convene Oct. 6 in Rome, Catholic women called attention to an omission they say bears insulting implications and stifles the potential of the church.

Women religious brought to the Talitha Kum gathering their strategies, struggles and successes. GSR heard from sisters on the ground, working against human trafficking on six continents.

During their first gathering, delegates from 48 countries shared best practices; they celebrated trafficking survivors they had helped, and the expansion of their network; and they established three new priorities.

Sisters must reframe the narrative around trafficking, Australian Sr. Angela Reed told delegates of women religious from 48 countries in a Sept. 23 panel. 

More than 2,000 women religious are members of Talitha Kum, with 43 national networks doing work in 77 countries. The worldwide issue of human trafficking brought together 86 women religious serving as delegates from 48 countries, Sept. 21-27.

A weekslong e-course on community showed Katie Gordon that a hunger for authentic community transcended her millennial peers, affecting a spectrum of generations. Gordon and Benedictine Sr. Linda Romey led the course and spoke with GSR about what they learned.