On NCRonline.org - U.S. women religious leaders face an uncertain future as they gather Aug. 12-16 in Nashville, Tenn., for their annual assembly. More than 800 elected congregational leaders will discuss how they plan to react to continued charges of infidelity leveled by the church's top enforcer of orthodoxy, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as to the congregation's plans to take over the organization after the assembly. The gathering will be the third consecutive Leadership Conference of Women Religious assembly in which church infighting overshadows the business of the conference.

Like the founders of religious congregations in the United States, the women entering today in their 20s, 30s and 40s are characterized by faith and courage. Women currently entering religious life are brave risk-takers, since almost nothing in our culture encourages their choice. 

When the road is too shoddy for a truck, sisters hop on their motorcycle to bring healthcare to remote areas in Nigeria.

GSR Today - The experiences of those most affected by how our system and society are set up to run are often discounted and ignored. People at the margins have been left out, left behind. Have become invisible.

For everything that I thought I knew, I knew that Thomas Merton had something to teach me. And despite everything he said that went over my head, what I did comprehend spoke to my heart. It spoke of a God who knew me, who wanted me to be my true self, and who was already working within me. As I grew, Merton came with me; he gave me language for the journey I was on, and as the inklings of a religious vocation stirred within me, he was there as a companion, an old friend on the way.       

GSR Today - The Dominican Sisters of Hope in Ossining, N.Y., are taking a victory lap for leading the charge to get their town to allow backyard beekeeping. The high-profile case brings attention to the sisters’ life work on behalf of the environment. They are strong and vocal advocates for “going green” in the workplace, energy efficient cars, recycling and growing your own food.

More than 100 religious leaders and activists were arrested July 31 in a White House protest aimed at halting deportations and aiding immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The direct action sponsored by Church World Service and Casa de Maryland, an immigration advocacy group, brought leaders from New England to Hawaii to the nation’s capital, including Sister of Mercy Eileen Campbell.

A Catholic sister has added her voice to those protesting Detroit’s aggressive campaign to shut off water to thousands of households in arrears on their water bills. For Sister of Mercy Mary Ellen Howard, the fight here is elemental. “Water is life,” she said, “when you shut off water, you shut off life.” Howard, a Detroit native, was one of 10 religious leaders and community activists arrested July 10 while blockading the entrance to Homrich Wrecking Inc., a private company contracted by the city to do residential shut-offs.

GSR Today - The United Nations marked the first World Day Against Trafficking in Persons July 30 "to raise awareness of this issue among the general public, policy-makers and civil society. The World Day provides an opportunity for the world to act to end this crime and show solidarity with its victims."