Justice

A cross containing dirt stained with the blood of Sister Dorothy Stang, a U.S. member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur shot down in the Amazon 20 years ago, and one of her sweaters were placed Jan. 10 on the altar of the "new martyrs of the Americas" in Rome's Basilica of St. Bartholomew.

Communities of women religious have established relationships with Native tribes whose ancestral lands the sisters currently own, and consider what land justice could look like under their care.

The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Bangladesh, and the local Catholic Church are making a difference by addressing the persistent challenge of access to safe drinking water.

"The climate crisis is not gender-neutral. Women and girls disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change, yet their voices remain largely underrepresented in climate decision-making," said Jemimah Njuki, U.N. Women's chief of women's economic empowerment.

Catholic and faith representatives will join global leaders and national delegates Nov. 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, host to the United Nations climate change conference, COP29. 

Left without shelter or access to infrastructure following severe floods, Kenyans live in vulnerable conditions in camps for displaced people, where sisters regularly minister to them.

Nestled amid rolling farmland, the Benedictine sisters of Mount St. Scholastica have taken on the likes of Google, Target and Citigroup — calling on major companies to do everything from AI oversight to measuring pesticides to respecting the rights of Indigenous people.

Amazon Frontlines is "the first organization of Indigenous and Western human rights and climate activists to receive the Prize," the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation said.