On Dec. 16, the Vatican will release the final report from its investigation of American women religious in 2010. Since the investigation, or apostolic visitation, was announced in 2009, it has been met with indignation from many U.S. Catholics. But while this specific visitation remains controversial, apostolic visitations in and of themselves are not uncommon. In fact, some scholars and theologians point to the New Testament and St. Paul’s visits to Asia Minor as their mode. In the Middle Ages, papal representatives routinely made visits to Catholics throughout Christendom.

On Oct. 8, VonDerrit Myers, who is African American, was shot and killed in the Shaw Neighborhood by a white off-duty St. Louis police officer, who was working security detail that evening for a private company employed by a residents’ association. His death and the subsequent protests eerily similar to the actions following the police shooting of Michael Brown in August in Ferguson, Mo., galvanized Shaw in unprecedented ways.

"O Sacred Presence, awaken in us an awareness of your abiding love."

GSR Today - One of the most basic – and effective – tools in modern medicine is also one of the most low-tech: Charting. But when it comes to treating Ebola, even something as simple as writing down medical treatment, symptoms and medicines is complicated, says the International Rescue Committee.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - Dec. 8 is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Ever wonder why people enshrine statues of Mary with bathtubs in the yard?

Sr. Mary Nguyen Thi Loan, from the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Vinh based in Nghe An Province in northern Vietnam, became the country’s oldest nun to take vows at the age of 83. She was among 52 nuns of the congregation taking first vows in early September. Sr. Loan endured decades of intense suffering caused by communist government policies against practicing religion, and she is widely admired for bravely defending her convent against the government’s confiscation.

"O Compassionate God, open our hearts and minds to prepare us for your son's coming."

GSR Today - What a strange mix of headlines we have this week, from the serious to the seriously disturbed, from people robbing women religious in real life to TV nuns smacking kids for giggles. But I’m not laughing.

News that the report of the Vatican’s Apostolic Visitation to U.S. women religious will be released Dec. 16 was seen Thursday by most observers as good news. The visitation, one of two separate investigations of U.S. women religious launched by different Vatican offices in recent years, when it was announced in 2009 sparked protest from both the women and lay people throughout the country who said it was based on unfair and unfounded judgments about the women's lives.
Related - U.S. sisters' apostolic visitation report to be released Dec. 16

One of the first questions people asked me, repeatedly, when I revealed the surprising news that I was making the radical choice to live a life of poverty, celibacy and obedience as a Catholic sister, was some variation on this theme: "Do you have to wear one of those things on your head?" I will be honest. This was annoying, frustrating, and sad.