Thomas Scaria

Sr. Maria Nirmalini, unanimously elected president of Conference of Religious in India, plans to encourage sisters to realize their strengths and assert their dignity as God's chosen women.

Although the end of Sri Lanka's civil war brought some relief, suspicion and tension remain between Sinhalese and Tamil communities. Bridging the gap between the hearts needed much [more] effort than political willpower.

Salvatorian nuns have built houses in various parts of Sri Lanka for more than 200 families in need, especially households with single parents, widows and victims of the island nation's 1983-2009 civil war.

Catholic nuns are rejoicing in the success of an historic yearlong protest by India's farmers against federal reforms that deregulated crop prices and opened fields to corporate interests.

At a center near a war-devastated region in Sri Lanka, Salvatorian nuns care for children who are war orphans and victims of sexual exploitation. They help the children cope with trauma from the civil war that ended in 2009.

The Kerala High Court on Sept. 18 gave special permission to Sr. Jofi Joseph and other members of a farmers group after they complained about the menace from the boars.

Sr. Theresa Crasta of the Sisters of Maria Bambina shares her experiences of working with special needs children in Afghanistan as well as her rescue from the war-stricken country after the Taliban captured Kabul.

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany launched the Bethany Lay Associates in 2009 in order to encourage lay collaboration. As of this year, the congregation's centennial, the lay associates now outnumber the sisters.

Founded in India in 1870, the Apostolic Carmel sisters started a century and a half of their devotion to educate girls in India at a time when very few girls were provided any formal education.

The sisters had planned a variety of programs for their sesquicentennial in May. But after Sri Lanka's Easter bombings, the congregation limited the celebrations, saving the money for scholarships for affected children.