While greeting French pilgrims attending his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square May 22, Pope Francis said he was saddened to hear of the brutal murder of Daughter of Jesus Sr. Inés Nieves Sancho, a 77-year-old Spanish missionary who was killed May 20 outside her convent in Nola, Central African Republic.

At my high school reunion we weren't football stars or cheerleaders or class officers or popular couples at a dance or invisible persons on the edge of activities. No. Now we were all just same-level persons who had a similar high school experience as our common bond. In a very real way, we were now equals.

A recent Instagram post earned supermodel Gigi Hadid nearly a half a million likes, but it wasn't a photo of herself or of the latest fashion trend. It was a quote from Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister on the importance of being more broadly pro-life, not just "pro-birth."

If current trends continue, the number of associates in the United States will be greater than the number of vowed women religious. Global Sisters Report spoke to organization leaders about how programs for associates are evolving, and how closing communities deal with keeping charisms alive.

Notes From the Field: As I circuited the Stations of the Cross at our retreat center, I was gifted with the most powerful vision. On the path between the fragrant purple and white lilac bushes, a multipurpose cleaner flashed before my eyes.

From Where I Stand: The ninth step of humility has no caveats as in "keep silent unless you're angry at someone" or "unless you can get the microphone and keep it from everyone else." No, just this: Silence is the better part of communication.

Sr. Bertha Lopez was buying 55-pound sacks of rice, when the cashier asked: "Where do they want the rice? For Guatemala or for whom?"

When a suicide bomber hit a Central Reserve Police Force bus in February, India received the news with shock and horror. Our response was one of shame.  

Sr. Samantha Kuruppuarachchi is the only Catholic nun who was directly affected by the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka. She lost her sister, Wales Indira Kuruppuarachchi, and her sister's husband, Sanath Rohan Fernando, in the April 21 blasts at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, and her community has given her a year's leave of absence to help care for her niece and two nephews.

When Catholic Charities asked the Felician congregation if it would be possible to use their convent to house asylum-seekers, the sisters and a small army of volunteers worked tirelessly to feed, clothe and shelter 50 weary guests.