When it comes out that vowed religious have committed a crime and brought scandal to themselves, their order and the Catholic Church, not only do community members at issue need healing, but the relationships within the community do, as well. Issues can even become a call for renewal and commitment to the value of religious life for the whole community.

This story appears in the Lent feature series. View the full series.

The Lenten season is as much about repentance as it is about renewal. It is more about light than darkness, about lightening our load and reprioritizing our lives. Lent is about being real. And perhaps, that is exactly where we need to be.

This story appears in the Bishop Mulakkal trial feature series. View the full series.

As the Vatican grapples to devise stronger protocols and responses following a historic summit focused on clergy sex abuse of minors, five nuns in India complain of church repression for their support of a former superior general who was allegedly raped by a bishop.

by Valarie Lee James

Contributor

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Give kids paper and crayons, and they will give you their hearts. At Tucson's Casa Alitas, a Catholic Community Services short-term shelter for immigrant families released from detention, kid's artwork covers the largest wall in the house. Guileless and profound, art by immigrant children puts the border rhetoric of adults to shame.