"Our long-term presence aims to bring the love of God to them through education, health care, ministry, livelihood support and cultural preservation," Sr. Mary Ter Lynh Ho said.
Mudzi-wa-Moyo, founded by the Sisters of Charity of Sts. Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa, currently cares for 60 girls in Chirundu, Zambia, by meeting their essential needs for shelter, food and clothing.
The nuns manage an 80-bed facility that prioritizes the local Indigenous Garo population, giving advanced medical care to avoid long-distance travel and economic hardship. The facility is usually fully occupied.
In accepting her dual appointment as head of the Vatican's missionary network and as adjunct secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, Sr. Mary Teresa Barron said it was clear the church prioritized lived missionary experience over theological acumen.
As global aid declines, Catholic sisters offer a powerful lesson in sustainable development: Lasting change is built on trust, local leadership, and the people who remain long after funding ends.
Horizons - "There are stories that don't seek the spotlight," writes Sr. Rocío García Villegas. "They just need someone who has the courage to stop, look at them and not walk right past them."
At the Karuna Speech and Hearing school in southwestern India, Daughters of our Lady of Mercy create bonds with students and parents that "are forever."
Pope Leo XIV named Irish Sr. Mary Teresa Barron to lead the Vatican's global network of missionary societies, making her the first woman to hold the post.
Nearly half of Zimbabwe's youth are out of school. Behind that statistic are individuals, each one a fig tree someone was ready to give up on. But I keep working the soil even when the tree shows no obvious signs of life.
