Rhina Guidos

The Confederation of Latin American and Caribbean Religious (CLAR) held its fifth gathering on religious life, Nov. 22-24 in Argentina, with more than 1,000 participants.

Despite years of shortages in Cuba, and now more constant blackouts, Catholic sisters and priests are committed to remain with those suffering on the island.

Mercy Sr. Ana María Pineda received an Encuentros Award from the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs. Bishop Oscar Cantú praised Pineda, a theologian, for her contributions to the Latino church in the U.S.

As they prepare for a second Trump presidency, immigration activists at the border, including a sister lawyer, worry for the future. 

Swiss Sr. Lorena Jenal, attacked and threatened for her decades-long defense of victims of "sorcery accusation related violence," received a lifetime achievement award from Missio Aachen in Cologne, Germany.

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.

"What do you do in the face of all these viruses, worse than COVID-19, that suffocate and threaten the human condition and that of the Afro-descendant people and other people?" asked Sr. María Suyapa Cacho Álvarez.

A group of pilgrims with the Ecclesial Conference on the Amazon and Discerning Deacons took part in programs and church visits in Rome at the start of the synod discussing the spiritual call many women have to be deacons in the church.

Where neither deacons or priests can be found to tend to the local population in remote regions of the world, sisters keep Catholic customs alive by carrying out a form of the diaconate.

A group of men and women gathered at a chapel near the Vatican, confidently praying that the church would restore the female diaconate Oct. 3, the day after synod participants were told it would not happen now.

Rev. Angela Nevitt Meyer of Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA joined other advocates for women's ordination in Rome, where they prayed near the site of synod on synodality.

Regardless of what the synod says about women's ministries, Catholic women in Latin America will continue serving the poor and want to maintain dialogue on the issue, says Dominican Sr. Mila Díaz Solano.

GSR is looking for women religious to participate in the 2024-25 panels for The Life and La Vida. If you are interested in writing about your experiences in religious life, we would love to hear from you.

AHLMA accompanies Latin American missionary sisters serving in the U.S., providing them with support to adapt to a new culture and society.

A California nonprofit run by a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet helped migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border find temporary respite as temperatures rose to 115 and above this summer.

The Nicaraguan government stripped the legal status of 26 Catholic congregations, the majority of them communities of women religious, whose ministries provided food and services for the elderly and poor.

Through the Sowing Seeds of Hope project, Catholic sisters from various congregations in El Salvador promote a dignified future for vulnerable and impoverished children.

In the mountainous areas of Guatemala, roughly 50 Indigenous nuns of the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist assist fellow Indigenous communities through education, spirituality and care for those most in need.

Social Service Sr. Elizabeth Lopez is as comfortable serving a bowl of soup to migrants on one side of the border as she is fighting for them in immigration court on the other.