Of late, much attention has been paid to “the role of women in the Church.” Several conferences and many articles have addressed the issue, with varying results. The problem, however, lies in the use of the singular for, as Elizabeth Janeway argued persuasively many years ago, woman is not and cannot be a role. Drawing on the work of sociologist Talcott Parsons, Janeway explained the components of a role and their significance for the question of “woman’s role.”

A corrections corporation that manages a family detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement received a child care license from the state of Texas in May, raising questions among attorneys and activists. A second company is still awaiting approval for its license.

After 40 years of starring on Broadway, Beth Fowler is beginning to experience one of the signature signs of stardom: being recognized in her local grocery store in New Jersey. Only it isn’t any of her Tony-nominated roles that are getting her facial recognition, but her recurring part as a Roman Catholic nun in “Orange is the New Black,” the megahit series on Netflix that is set to release its third season on Friday.

Three Stats and a Map - Minerals are some of the most fundamental resources on the planet and mining them has become a lucrative industry. But usually where there’s money to be had, there’s also corruption, and that’s certainly been the case in mining.

GSR Today - Global sisters report that GSR is awakening desire in them to be more effective communicators. As I traveled this past year to Nigeria, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy and Ireland, sisters excitedly affirmed how the inspiring stories they read make them proud to be part of women who share a global passion for the charism of religious life.

"The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time."

"With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. No matter where on Earth you live.”

As Pope Francis issues his encyclical on the environment this month to explore the theological responsibility of protecting the planet, women religious across the world already have been working in areas of environmental emergencies. In northwestern Zambia’s Copperbelt, four Franciscan sisters are struggling to care for an impoverished population in the area of Chililabombwe, which has been environmentally desecrated by copper mining. Here living next to the tailings dam containing waste water from the mine is an exercise in uncertainty for residents.Activists have begun documenting and studying the problems so the communities know exactly what kind of environmental risks they may be facing and how to adequately protect themselves.

GSR Today - Remaking older movies is all the rage in Hollywood these days, and it seems like a lazy way to go. There is one rumored remake I’m very interested in seeing, though, and that’s "Sister Act."

NASA is quiet about it, but the fact remains: It is looking for aliens in outer space. What's more, these days, the rest of us almost expect to see them in our own lifetime. They're out there somewhere, we figure. And if they don't find us first, we are certainly going to find them. Maybe under a rock on Mars; maybe in the water beneath the crust of Ceres. Surely somewhere. If nothing else, the odds alone demand it. Of the 200 billion to 300 billion stars in our own Milky Way and the 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies in the universe, who really believes that we are alone out here?