Catholic religious orders in Germany have set up an inquiry into sexual abuse in their monasteries and convents, following claims that abuse occurred in more than half of all monastic communities.

Through the Spirit, God gifts us with peace unlike the peace the world gives. This year the need for this kind of peace seems much more urgent to me than in the Pentecosts of years past. 

While greeting French pilgrims attending his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square May 22, Pope Francis said he was saddened to hear of the brutal murder of Daughter of Jesus Sr. Inés Nieves Sancho, a 77-year-old Spanish missionary who was killed May 20 outside her convent in Nola, Central African Republic.

At my high school reunion we weren't football stars or cheerleaders or class officers or popular couples at a dance or invisible persons on the edge of activities. No. Now we were all just same-level persons who had a similar high school experience as our common bond. In a very real way, we were now equals.

A recent Instagram post earned supermodel Gigi Hadid nearly a half a million likes, but it wasn't a photo of herself or of the latest fashion trend. It was a quote from Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister on the importance of being more broadly pro-life, not just "pro-birth."

If current trends continue, the number of associates in the United States will be greater than the number of vowed women religious. Global Sisters Report spoke to organization leaders about how programs for associates are evolving, and how closing communities deal with keeping charisms alive.

Notes From the Field: As I circuited the Stations of the Cross at our retreat center, I was gifted with the most powerful vision. On the path between the fragrant purple and white lilac bushes, a multipurpose cleaner flashed before my eyes.

From Where I Stand: The ninth step of humility has no caveats as in "keep silent unless you're angry at someone" or "unless you can get the microphone and keep it from everyone else." No, just this: Silence is the better part of communication.

Sr. Bertha Lopez was buying 55-pound sacks of rice, when the cashier asked: "Where do they want the rice? For Guatemala or for whom?"