Born and raised Jewish, Edith Stein converted to Catholicism in 1922, later becoming a Discalced Carmelite nun who was arrested by the Gestapo and perished in Auschwitz in 1942.
This Thanksgiving, I'm especially thankful for my whole community — the women on the necrology board whose dedication and prayer continue to shape us, and the women who walk beside me now.
In late July, Mercy Sr. Pat Murphy died at age 96. Mercy Sr. JoAnn Persch — Murphy's partner in "crime" — died Nov. 14. She was 91. The impact these two Catholic sisters had on the world cannot be measured.
Plus, African religious launch newsletter, Mercy sister honored with peace award and documentary on lives of five sister congregations to premiere in December.
Why snuff out sisters' witness by reducing them to simple dates of birth, entrance into religious life, and death? A writer shares some challenges and successes she's encountered in telling their stories.
This year, some Catholic parishes chose to honor a group of people whose presumed demise is at odds with the cheerfulness of Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations: the disappeared, most of whom are poor.
In Mexico City, surrounded by strangers with costumes and painted faces in the midst of one of their most exuberant celebrations, I felt something I had missed in the United States: connection.
