Argentine Dominican Sr. María Lucía Caram Padilla is seen with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, in Madrid Nov. 18, 2025. Zelenskyy presented Caram with the Order of Princess Olga, III class, for her efforts in providing humanitarian aid and support since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At right is Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean supporter of the nun's humanitarian work. (OSV News/Courtesy of the Office of the President of Ukraine)
by Rhina Guidos
During his early June trip to Spain, Pope Leo XIV is expected to bless ambulances and other equipment to help war victims in Ukraine who have received help from Sr. María Lucía Caram Padilla, a Dominican nun in the Catalonia region. The pope is scheduled to visit Barcelona June 10, where the equipment that will be sent out is located.
Caram has for years advocated for a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian civilians. She regularly raises money for equipment and other humanitarian aid, frequently traveling to Ukraine to offer medical help for those injured.
In November 2025, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honored the nun with an award for her efforts. The equipment is said to include some 17 ambulances as well as surgical material, said the news site APD.
Muslim association condemns attack on sisters' school in Lebanon
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR, the largest U.S. Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, joined others in condemning the Israeli Defense Forces' reported May 1 destruction of a convent and school belonging to a community of Salvatorian Sisters in Yaroun, Lebanon.
Local bishops called the destruction "a deep wound in the national and human conscience." Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in the country and has denied the attack, saying agents didn't see any signage that led them to believe it was a religious building.
Vatican News reported May 8 that Christian villages in Lebanon have been razed "and emptied of their inhabitants," an effort to make sure "civilians can never return," the agency said.
Sr. Eva Chaaya walks outside Mar Maroun Church during the Good Friday procession in the Chiyah district of Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, April 3, 2026, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah (OSV News/Reuters/Emilie Madi)
The news service said the Council of Melkite Greek Catholic Bishops in Lebanon said, "To attack these places is to strike at human dignity itself." One of the Salvatorian sisters, identified simply as Therese, told La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana May 8 that the sisters' Yaroun convent "no longer exists" and an elderly nun lives in a house nearby that is under constant attack.
Franciscan sister honored for legacy in education
The National Catholic Educational Association honored on April 6 a Franciscan Sister of Allegany with the association's prestigious Lifetime Commitment to Catholic Education Award.
Sr. Joan Carberry, assistant principal at St. Paul Catholic School in St. Petersburg, Florida, has served in Catholic education for more than six decades.
"Those who know her describe her as a tireless advocate for the well-being and success of every child entrusted to her care," said an April 6 article by Gulf Coast Catholic.
The award pays "tribute to individuals whose careers reflect decades of devoted service to Catholic schools and communities. These honorees have shaped generations of students and educators, leaving a legacy of faith, integrity, and educational excellence," the National Catholic Educational Association says on its website.
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SIGNIS helps sisters tell their stories to media
A top Catholic media organization offered training in media and communication May 8-9 to sisters in Bangkok. SIGNIS, a global organization for Catholic media, hosted "Wisdom Calls: Sharing the Mission to the World," an initiative to help women religious in Africa, Asia and Latin America share their stories and pitch them to news organizations.
The Herald Malaysia, an online Catholic news site, said in in a May 11 publication that Peter Rachada Monthienvichienchai, SIGNIS' secretary general, said the effort is aimed at helping sisters, whose work and sacrifices are often "underrepresented or misrepresented" in mainstream media, tell their story.
They spoke about forging connections between sisters and secular media professionals, and how to carry out a mission of unity in media spaces, where there is often division. Sisters heard about newsroom practices, stories reporters pursue, and how journalists approach storytelling, the publication said.
One of the activities included teaching sisters to pitch stories about their communities in the fields of social justice, human rights, education, health, women's rights, Indigenous peoples, the environment, and religious vocation and formation, the Herald said.
