Women religious are now openly discussing a subject that was once taboo — sexual harassment, abuse and rape of sisters by clergy — in congregational motherhouses and national conference offices. Slowly, an era is ending in which Catholic women religious were silent victims of sexual abuse by priests and bishops.

GSR Today - A Daughter of St. Paul sister reported in a group chat for sisters that everyone in their compound was safe but very frightened; Sudan looks at escalating violence; U.S. immigration policy separated more children than earlier reports indicated.

In the Great Lakes Region of Africa, consecrated women and men who have been exposed to the realities of sexual abuse were urged to address its horror through a wakeup call at two formation workshops. The first workshop was organized and hosted in 2017 in Goma, where sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war. As woman activist Lina Zedriga Waru says, "The body of woman is the battle field for the perpetrators."

Horizons - The first weeks of 2019 have been dreary and challenging: How can we keep momentum on a path that appears impossibly bleak and foggy? The answer for a new year is a new, prophetic hope.

GSR Today - The Congregation of Mother of Carmel Sisters are the first indigenous religious congregation for women in India, founded in Kerala in 1866 and now have nearly 7,000 members in five continents.

The study that Pope Francis commissioned on the history of women deacons is complete and on the pontiff's desk. But members of the commission aren't making any promises. 

Every day, Sr. Helen Nanzira wakes up to the sound of crying babies. Around 30 young children spend their first five years at the Nsambya Babies Home, run by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Reparatrix-Ggogonya in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The Nsambya Babies Home traces its origin back to the early days of Uganda's independence, and in the 60 years since Nsambya Baby Home opened its doors, attitudes about adoption in Uganda have dramatically changed. 

From Where I Stand: Governments go down. Churches, too, sinning as much as they save, lose their bearings. So how is it that we stand by while our institutions shrivel and our courage shrinks?

How old is too old to learn a musical instrument? That was the question I posed to the oboe master who was helping me find a used instrument to replace my beginner's rental oboe.

Notes from the Field - I ran into this experience as a Good Shepherd Volunteer in a zealous full sprint, but it did not take long to feel like I am struggling to crawl.