Dan Stockman

With fears of election-related violence in the United States increasing the leaders of six congregations of women religious in Michigan are coming together to condemn the divisiveness.

Global Sisters Report asked congregations in the United States, Canada and Ireland about their retreat centers and how they were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, its lockdowns and various restrictions.

During lockdown, sister-run retreat centers sat empty. Some centers closed permanently due to the pandemic, but experts believe it was no more than a handful. Center directors spoke about how they have made it so far.

When individual sisters or a congregation itself need healing, they often turn to the married team of Beth Lipsmeyer and Ted Dunn, licensed clinical psychologists who together form Comprehensive Consulting Services.

Maryknoll Sr. Abby Avelino will be the third international coordinator if Talitha Kum, the sister-led international network that advocates against human trafficking. 

A new hourlong documentary, "Going Home Like a Shooting Star: Thea Bowman's Journey to Sainthood," on the Black Franciscan and candidate for sainthood, will begin airing on ABC stations across the U.S. on Oct. 2.

The International Union of Superiors General has released the third and final installment in its campaign to celebrate Catholic sisters promoting justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

More than 100 nuns from 25 congregations helped at an annual three-day pilgrimage in Mariamabad, Punjab province, Pakistan. The 73rd pilgrimage linked to the feast of the Nativity of Mary was held Sept. 9-11.

Three sister-led organizations are the cohort for Sisters INSPIRE, a two-year project of the Catholic Volunteer Network that hopes to move communities from tolerance to inclusion and, ultimately, to liberation.

The Ursuline Sisters' motherhouse in Paola, Kansas, has returned to life after more than a decade of being shuttered. It is now home to Arista Recovery, a rehabilitation facility.

Sisters and congregational advocates at the United Nations are disappointed but not surprised at the breakdown of a monthlong meeting examining ways to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT.

Even in a time of diminishment, there's the opportunity for sisters to influence through advocacy. There's ministry of prayer, ministry of presence, and we have the opportunity to keep listening.

More than 150 people attended the annual gathering of the National Black Sisters' Conference, a joint meeting with three other Black Catholic groups, which ran July 23-28 at the University of Notre Dame.

"Aren't we supposed to be the good people? ... But our intent was so different than our impact." U.S. women religious look at a legacy of schools that were part of a federal policy attempting to destroy Native culture.

Monday Starter: More than 50 Sisters of Mercy, associates and co-workers joined the Poor People's Campaign June 18 march in Washington, D.C. The group's goals align with theirs, the sisters said in a statement.

Sisters, historians and archivists will gather June 26-29 at the University of Notre Dame for four days of helping historians discover and preserve sisters' records and make them part of the larger societal narrative.

Three candidates have made themselves available for election season at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. In other LCWR news, Sr. Ann Scholz will leave her position as associate director for social mission June 30.

Six months after a tornado tore through Mayfield, Kentucky, downtown is still in shambles: closed streets, dark traffic signals, shredded buildings. But the Sisters of Charity's disaster recovery team brings hope.

A convent in western Ukraine that until recently sheltered refugees has been turned into a retreat center where nuns use music therapy to console and comfort. A five-member band of trained musicians, all nuns, sings, prays and consoles people affected by depression and anxiety.

Gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc. will examine the human rights impact of selling thousands of guns per year, after 68% of the company's shareholders approved a proposal that was backed by Catholic sisters.