From working with rural communities in Nicaragua to directing campus ministry for U.S. students in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Sr. Laura Zelten's love for God drove her to put others first and draw them closer to Jesus.
"It's happening everywhere. It can happen to anyone," Maryknoll Sr. Abby Avelino, international coordinator of Talitha Kum, said during an online panel. "Everybody has a role to play to combat human trafficking."
The Office of Development and Comprehensive Health for Religious Women in Mexico seeks to address the needs of older religious women, with medical care, geriatric equipment and psychological support.
The sexual abuse of children by Catholic sisters and nuns has been overshadowed by far more common reports of male clergy abuse. Women in religious orders have also been abuse victims — but they have been perpetrators too.
For Dearbhail McDonald, "The Last Nuns in Ireland" is both a personal and public attempt to make some kind of peace with a complicated spiritual and cultural legacy.
In a 2019 Vietnam census, the rate of child marriage among the Hmong stood at 51.5%. Through education and other support, Catholic sisters aim to encourage people in ethnic communities to wait to marry at a legal age.
Fear of the political crisis and, in particular, the targeting of the Catholic Church is driving many Nicaraguans to flee to the U.S. border in search of asylum, as panelists discussed during a March 6 event.
It is heartbreaking to see all-girls Catholic schools close, but philanthropy can help preserve them. Investing in all-girls schools, particularly those founded by women religious, is an investment in the future.