Three Stats and a Map - Data shows that inmates in U.S. federal prisons are more religious than the general U.S. population. This week's Three Stats and a Map takes a closer look at the numbers.

Notes from the Field - This is my first experience of the registration process for the sister’s kindergarten. In a bucket there are 40 pieces of paper with a stamp on it, and the rest are blank. In the sister’s compound children are crowding in to draw to see if they can attend the sister’s kindergarten.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - How can sports like open-water swimming be a form of prayer? For one, there are no distractions.

St. Joseph Sr. Stella Auricchio, 84, is Sr. Camille D'Arienzo's cousin who spent many years as high school campus minister. She now volunteers in St. Francis Xavier Elementary School and offers communion services for parishioners.

The lesson here concerns the power of true dialog, which has the potential for transforming each of the partners as they come to deeper and deeper understandings of the other. Women of the church ought, then, seek and accept opportunities for dialog related to important ecclesial issues.

Sr. Cini George has only one mission — to incense the world with positive energy. The 38-year-old sister is a member of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit. George was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 27. Later it dawned on her that cosmic energy can transform and retransform all that is in it. This realization convinced her about the need to spread positive energy throughout the world. Confined to bed since April 2013, the ever-smiling nun is working on three books, including two novels.

For those who pay attention to the United Nations, this year is shaping up to be something of a milestone, with the last half of the year in particular taking pride of place for global significance. Three major conferences — on financing for development, sustainable development goals and climate change — take place this year, and with their leadership of committees, subcommittees, forums and working groups, Catholic sisters have carved out a well-respected niche in the U.N. system.

"The way you will move into the future must be influenced by those rich gifts which you still have to offer — and must for the good of the world."

Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Sí, accents both the challenges and responsibilities we have to safeguard God’s creation. While there are many passages worthy of reflection and discussion I will concentrate on the connection he makes between climate change and poverty. A quotation in the encyclical from the Bolivian Bishops Conference resonated deeply within me: “Both everyday experience and scientific research show that the gravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest.”

In the penultimate address at this year’s Leadership Conference of Women Religious national assembly, former LCWR executive director St. Joseph Sr. Janet Mock made some of her most pointed public remarks on the Vatican’s now-concluded LCWR doctrinal assessment and mandate. The Houston assembly marked the first time the general membership had met since the Vatican’s controversial oversight of the group ended in April, and LCWR leaders had only been speaking to select media outlets in the interim, wanting to save further discussion until everyone had a chance to reflect together.