Chris Herlinger

US congregations of women religious released statements following President-elect Donald Trump's victory, calling for hope and sharing their determination to serve the vulnerable.

In the immediate aftermath of former President Donald Trump winning a second term, sisters consider the global and local implications for immigrants, the environment, and the common good.

With their eyes on the U.S. presidential election, Catholic sisters throughout the world consider how the policies of each candidate could impact those they serve in ministry.

In excerpts from his new book, GSR reporter Chris Herlinger profiles two women displaced in the war, and Sr. Lucia Murashko, one of the Basilian sisters who continue to aid refugees in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

GSR asked two former directors of the African Sisters Education Collaborative to comment on the successes of the 25-year-old organization. 

ASEC initially brought sisters from Africa to the U.S. for training. Since its founding in 1999, the collaborative has evolved to offer scholarships, service opportunities and alumnae programs.

The African Sisters Education Collaborative, based on the campus of Marywood University, a Catholic school in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Monday Starter - More than 20 sister congregations and sister-led coalitions have joined efforts seeking federal action to curb U.S. gun and ammunition trafficking into Haiti.

Sisters join clergy and lay partners at a recent U.N. summit, hoping to bridge the gap between global and grassroots forums while emphasizing the root causes of poverty.

A new film to be shown on North American religious television channels and several streaming platforms portrays Blessed Clelia Merloni, the founder of the Sisters of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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.

Monday Starter: The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas have condemned the July 6 police shooting of an unarmed Black woman in Springfield, Illinois. 

Sisters and clergy attending meetings assessing the United Nations' sustainable development goals affirmed the progress they see in small-scale projects. However, they say the 2030 deadline is not realistic.

As the administrator of the St. Joseph's Home for Children near Zagreb, Croatia, Sr. Marija Lucija Eršek gives children safety, structure and order — things that they often do not have in their families. 

The Catholic immigration advocacy group CLINIC has condemned the Biden administration's new restrictions for asylum seekers, saying they endanger lives and could increase family separations.

Former NBA star Charles Barkley is donating $1 million to St. Mary's Academy in New Orleans, a prominent Black Catholic school founded by the Sisters of the Holy Family. Barkley was inspired by the work of two academy graduates.

Some 1 million pilgrims a year flock to Medjugorje, a Marian shrine located in a village 16 miles southwest from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Christian theology has long been based on words. But are there other ways of understanding faith? Can music be one of them? Verbum Dei Sr. Maeve Heaney explores such questions in Suspended God: Music and a Theology of Doubt.

Veteran participant Good Shepherd Sr. Winifred Doherty said it is important for sisters to take part in the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women: "We do excellent work on the ground and oftentimes innovative work."

The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security has announced a new initiative to monitor conflict from a gender perspective — a tool that could be helpful to sisters doing work in conflict areas.