by Joshua J. McElwee
Pope Francis made an unscheduled visit to a U.S. community of Catholic women religious that has been fighting against an Obama administration mandate covering contraceptives in health care plans, the Vatican spokesman said late Sept. 23.
by GSR Staff
“Look! I am making something new. Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
by GSR Staff
GSR Today - The NCRonline.org site is hosting daily "Following Francis" news blogs, which are updated as reports come in. Since GSR's Sr. Jan Cebula was in D.C. with Nuns on the Bus, she has her own glimpse of the pope's reception at the White House.
The eldest of nine children, Sr. Lucía Aurora Herrerías Guerra was born in Mexico City and joined the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity in 1976. She completed theological studies in Manila at the University of St. Thomas in 1985, a doctorate in philosophy at Gregorian University of Rome in 1995, worked as a missionary in Spain, Australia, the Philippines, Mexico and Italy, and taught philosophy for many years. She was president of the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity from 2012 to 2018.
by Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans
Contributor
On his six-day swing through three East Coast cities this week, Pope Francis will be warmly welcomed by diplomats, members of Congress and princes of the church. The young and the marginalized so close to his heart and mind — homeless men and women, prisoners, students — are also prominent on his itinerary. But because the pope's stay will be short, he may not have the opportunity to spend significant time with many of the religious women whose grit and compassion power many local ministries and institutions in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. We talked to six sisters who we suggest he would do well to meet with.
by Jan Cebula
Nuns on the Bus Blog - As I write this, we are on the bus on our way to Washington, having made our last stop in Wheeling, West Virginia. During the silent time of our prayer this morning, the faces of people we have met along the way kept rolling through my mind. Next this Scripture passage was read: “Look! I am making something new. Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Is. 43:19-21) How appropriate!
The 2015 Nuns on the Bus tour concluded here Tuesday with a rally on the National Mall hours ahead of Pope Francis' arrival in the United States. On their 13-day tour, the sisters hosted 33 events in in eight states to "connect with real people — and to hear about the injustices they encounter daily," according to the Nuns on the Bus website. The theme of the fourth annual trip: "Bridge the Divides, Transform Politics." "If we can't face and bridge the divides here, where else can we expect it to be done?" asked Social Service Sr. Simone Campbell, leader of the bus tour and executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby.
by Linsa Paul
Contributor
A nun’s unforgettable train journey: Sr. Linsa Paul is a councilor of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation’s St. Paul Province, Delhi. She was in one of the two trains that derailed near Harda in central India the night of Aug. 4, killing 30 people. The trains were passing from opposite directions but derailed within moments at the same spot, where flash floods had washed away supports from underneath the tracks.
Sr. Linsa Paul is a councilor of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation’s St. Paul Province, Delhi.
GSR Today - If marginalized people aren’t allowed to bring up the sins committed against them, what is the proposed alternative? That they wait in silence until things change on their own? Until the oppressive powers that be transform themselves? Call me silly, but that sounds less than promising.
