Sisters work to improve the lives of people all over the world.
From education and healthcare to justice and ministry, read the work of women religious as we celebrate
National Vocation Awareness week.
Education
A single scholarship educated 400 children in a Kenyan slum
"That was in 1997. When the sisters visited her home, 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) away from the school, and determined that Odero truly needed financial support to continue studying, they decided to waive her school fees. But the sisters could not have guessed the impact of educating that one student." Read the full story here
Healthcare
Q & A with Sr. Eileen McKenzie, providing holistic health care the Franciscan way
"Sr. Eileen McKenzie first found herself drawn to biology and studying life in high school. 'It's tending to this miracle of the human body and spirit,' she said. She went to nursing school and worked as a nurse in California before sensing a call to religious life and becoming a Lay Mission Helper. As a Lay Mission Helper, she spent three and a half years in Cameroon, learning about different cultural aspects of health care and how family, relationships and beliefs can play a role." Read the full story here
Environmental justice
Electronic waste: Informal economy supports thousands in Ghana slum
" 'You can make harsh judgments about these people, but when you get into the families and see their struggles just to get to the very basics of survival, you start to understand,' said Sr. Eileen McGrath, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary who acts as an informal social worker in Old Fadama to encourage parents to pursue educational opportunities for their children. 'They don't need pity. They need schools.' " Read the full story here
Justice
America's prisons: 'Throwaway people' and the sisters who care for them
"Providence Sr. Joan Campbell was a prison chaplain in Washington and northern California for 40 years. In those four decades, she became the first female president of the American Catholic Correctional Chaplains Association and, in that capacity, went to the Vatican to discuss mass incarceration with Pope John Paul II.
But for all of that, it's a story from Campbell's chaplaincy internship that most sticks with her."
Read the full story here
Migration
On the streets of Sicily, global sisters accompany African migrants
"Almost every mid-morning, the sisters head to the local mensa — soup kitchen — to visit with African migrants living in Agrigento. 'Being with these people gives me a real picture, I think more than what I read on the internet or in the newspaper, of the personal story and the sufferings they have gone through in their own country,' says Bara, a Sister of Mercy of the Holy Cross from India."
Read the full story here
Learn more about the sisters behind the work
Stay updated with the growth, challenges, and works of younger sisters with our Horizons blog. Click here to read more.
Explore the works of young women volunteering in ministries of Catholic sisters with our Notes from the Field series. Click here to read more.
Columns from sisters, about sisters
- Formation stories: Four women chart different paths to becoming sisters
- Share the many 'Yeses' of religious life
- Rooted and grounded in love