GSR Today - It is Memorial Day in the United States, and our plastic society makes it easy to think the holiday is set aside as the start of summer, or a day for beer and barbecue or even to thank a veteran. But it’s not.

Sr. Charity Lydia Katongo Nkandu of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi loves working with children. She serves as the education coordinator for the Catholic diocese of Solwezi, an impoverished rural district in northwestern Zambia. But she also recognizes the importance of advocating for children on the world stage, not just in their own communities. Katongo has testified four times about children’s rights in front of various United Nations committees. She recently sat down with Global Sisters Report to reflect on bringing her experiences in the slums of Zambia to the echoing halls of the United Nations.

GSR Today - There are some communities of sisters who spend their days almost exclusively in quiet contemplation and prayer, but the life of a sister today is usually filled with very active service. Here’s a list of 18 ministries that sisters we have written about do. Some might surprise you.

“I am convinced that the desire for peace and fraternity planted deep in the human heart will bear fruit in concrete ways to ensure that nuclear weapons are banned once and for all, to the benefit of our common home.”

In a society where the numbers of nones are on the rise, the number of nuns is declining. I believe it is possible to view the dynamic forces behind both trends as part of the same rapidly changing landscape of religious life and shared socio-political context of increasing inequality, poverty, violence and environmental destruction. This trend and shifting landscape also apply to the wider church, especially given that the number of U.S. Catholics is also declining according to the Pew research.

I'm so thankful for the mid-April resolution of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's mandate against the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Alongside December's positive apostolic visitation report, this is a second win-win for U.S. sisters and for Pope Francis, who successfully de-escalated the troubling (not to say scandalous) situation he inherited.

Archbishop Óscar Romero was shot to death as he said Mass March 24, 1980 after he exhorted Salvadoran soldiers to disobey their superiors if they were ordered to attack innocent civilians. The Salvadoran civil war would eventually claim some 75,000 lives. More than 250,000 people are expected for Romero’s beatification ceremony on Saturday, May 23, in the Plaza of the Savior of the World in El Salvador’s capital city, San Salvador. Among them will be two Sisters of Providence, Sr. Vilma Franco and Sr. Ana Orellana-Gamero, now living in the United States who are honoring family members they lost during the brutal civil war, as well as Romero.

Being engaged with people on the margins and trying to view life from their perspective, I am often stunned at their simple faith and their contentment in life with the little they possess. At times I begin to wonder how I am different in this big city. What is it that makes my life a tangible presence, giving meaning to the way of life I was called to and the generosity with which I was supported by my family in my response? Along this journey of life, I have known one thing: Once we are open to life, so many unexpected things happen.

Three Stats and a Map - According to the U.S. Census, 41.7 million people living here self-identify as African-American – a term that is deceptively simple. For starters, Africa is a vast and diverse continent.

"The divine life is essentially creative and actualizes itself in inexhaustible abundance."