For more than three decades, the subterranean level of Trinity United Methodist Church in Berkeley, California, is the place the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant has called home. Its simple red door at the bottom of a stairway has been the gateway to safe and secure passage into the United States for thousands of immigrants and refugees. Despite its rundown environs, Franciscan Sr. Maureen Duignan, the organization's executive director, is deeply worried the program may soon lose this space.

Rome - Sr. Sally Hodgdon said there are two nonordained religious brothers serving as full voting members of the Vatican's synod on young people, while seven sisters have nonvoting roles. "That should change."

Nuns on the Bus Blog - Sr. Ilaria Buonriposi reports from the Nuns on the Bus's visit to the office of Rep. Don Bacon and rally in Omaha, Nebraska.

In order to infiltrate the invisible world, we have to live in the present. When our ego moves from the chauffeur's seat to the traveler's seat, we become aware that the universe has a vast conspiracy to drop us at the doorstep of greater good. 

Vatican City - The two umbrella groups representing male and female religious orders are planning to present Pope Francis with a proposal to give women a larger role in future synods.

Simply Spirit - Amid growing consternation about my country and about my church, the words of St. Óscar Romero help me remember who I am and who I am called to be.

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Sr. Anna Ngo Thi Phuc provides free medical treatment to leprosy patients at a state-run hospital in south-central Vietnam. Many patients live in poverty, abandoned by relatives. Phuc visits them daily, tends to their wounds and listens to their feelings. She spoke to GSR about her ministry.

As I age and my role changes, I strive to remember that my influence remains. I may not be able to "do" what I used to do, but I can always be kind, understanding, loving and respectful of all living creatures and our hurting planet.

After six months of uncertainty, Australian Sr. Patricia Fox of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion continues to face a wall, but is pursuing her appeal to stay in the Philippines on a missionary visa.