Logo for "Descent Into Light,"a limited-series audio documentary created by two sisters focusing on the abuse of adults in spiritual settings. (Courtesy of Sisters of the Little Way)
Two sisters have produced a limited-series audio documentary focusing on the abuse of adults in spiritual settings.
The series, "Descent Into Light," is created by two Sisters of the Little Way and will be released Oct. 1.
The series, co-created by Srs. Theresa Aletheia Noble and Danielle Victoria Lussier, focuses on stories "often left untold — stories of adults harmed within religious settings, including everything from sexual abuse to the broader reality of spiritual abuse," according to the announcement of the series.
The two sisters have publicly shared their own experiences of grooming by a trusted spiritual director. The announcement said the two "draw on their experiences as survivors to illustrate the broader picture of how adult abuse unfolds in spiritual settings, focusing specifically on the setting of the Catholic Church."
"Adult abuse in spiritual settings has remained largely in the shadows," Lussier said in the announcement. "By shedding more light on these experiences, we hope to spark understanding, discussion, and ultimately reform and renewal."
In addition to narrative storytelling about abuse cases, episodes will also feature analysis from theologians, psychologists and advocates.
"We created Descent Into Light because we believe we can do better," Noble said. "Our hope is not naïve — it's forged in suffering, rooted in faith, and grounded in the belief that renewal is possible."
Descent Into Light will be available on all major podcast platforms and at sistersofthelittleway.com.
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Indian sisters seek to engage young people in fight against human trafficking
Catholic sisters in India hope to engage young people as ambassadors in the fight against human trafficking.
That was a key takeaway from a two-day annual meeting of the Indian unit of the Asian Movement of Women Religious against Human Trafficking held Sept. 13-14 at Atma Darshan, a Mumbai center for spiritual and psychological counseling managed by the Society of Divine Word.
Some 200 congregations from 22 Indian states are members of the organization, which is part of the global Talitha Kum alliance against trafficking founded by the Union of Superior Generals.
Asian Movement of Women Religious against Human Trafficking has trained more than 200 sisters for anti-trafficking ministries.
As many as 33 sisters from 27 congregations working in 15 Indian states attended the event that addressed the theme "I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full," Ekta Stephen of the news site Matters India reported Sept. 15.
Participants decided to introduce youth ambassadors in order to spread awareness about human trafficking in various regions of India, the report said. The convening also stressed building youth leadership and recognizing youth as vital partners in spreading the organization's mission. Approximately 68% of India's 1.4 billion people are in the age group of 15-35.
Though examples of modern-day slavery are common globally, human trafficking is among the most significant human rights issues in India, the Matters India report said. An estimated 8 million people are reportedly trapped in some form of human trafficking in the country.
During the meeting, Good Shepherd Sr. Meera Mathew, president of Asian Movement of Women Religious against Human Trafficking, stressed the need for clear communication between national and regional teams, transparency in fund use and unity in mission.
"We continue to rise in solidarity for justice and human dignity," Mathew said.
Asian Movement of Women Religious against Human Trafficking was founded in 2009 by Sr. Jyoti Pinto, who was then Bethany superior general. She brought together more than 70 women congregations working in 22 states with the vision of "a society free from every form of enslavement."
The organization's work includes awareness programs, prevention, rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration and advocacy. "We continue to rise in solidarity for justice and human dignity," Mathew added.
Protesters flank an entrance road at a temporary migrant detention center nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Fla., July 1, the day U.S. President Donald Trump visited the facility. (OSV News/Reuters/Octavio Jones)
Network condemns Supreme Court immigration order
The sister-founded Catholic social justice lobby Network has condemned a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that "pauses" a lower court ruling preventing the Department of Homeland Security from targeting people for arrest without reasonable suspicion of their immigration status.
The order issued Sept. 8 puts the lower court ruling, involving raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in Los Angeles, on hold while appeals by the Trump administration continue. The government argues that the lower court decision stymies its law enforcement efforts.
Washington-based Network called the order "unjust, dangerous, and shocking."
In a Sept. 9 statement, Laurie Carafone, Network's executive director, said that in issuing the order, the Supreme Court "surrendered our most basic constitutional rights against unlawful search to President Trump's corrupt mass deportation machine."
Network, she said, "condemns this unjust and dangerous decision that fails to protect the most basic constitutional rights of all who call this country home. Racial profiling is morally repugnant and a serious denial of a person's inherent dignity."
Carafone said the decision will "only encourage the government to continue allowing masked federal agents to round up thousands of individuals. It is especially shocking because often the people being detained don't even know who these masked persons are, because agents refuse to provide their names or identity and wear clothes that do not identify them as ICE."
She said ICE's actions evoke "other countries' military dictatorships in which people are 'disappeared.' These actions — and court's decisions that support them — are the opposite of the Gospel values."
Network and other "faithful allies," she said, "will continue to work for an immigration system that honors and protects the dignity of all people, without exception."
