Rome - Two Syrian families have been easing their way into life in Italy at Casa della Speranza on quiet, shaded grounds owned by the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit. Now in their second year at the house, the Syrians' time with the sisters has "been beautiful — like one family." But ahead is the next challenging step in resettlement: finding permanent housing and work.

• Also in this series: Controversy over migration continues to upend European politics

Seeking Refuge - A new EU agreement calls for greater shared responsibility for rescuing migrants on the sea, but critics say it falls short on devising a common European policy. Meanwhile, Germany's Merkel tightens restrictions, and an Italian right-wing politician has said next year's European Parliament elections should be a referendum on migration.

"We as a church have to hear where the reality is, we have to be the ones to say, 'There's a human face and that human face always points us to Christ.' If we don't say it, who will?"

When I received my mission assignment letter for Outer Mongolia in 1998, I felt darkness had covered me. I was full of grief and anger, and I wondered, "Why Mongolia?" which was my second choice, and not Guatemala, my first choice. I had even started taking Spanish lessons in Cameroon!

In April 1968, dozens of black priests met in Detroit in April in the first meeting of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. Mercy Sister Martin de Porres Grey, the only woman to attend, orgaized a similar meeting of black sisters in August later that year in Pittsburgh, marking the founding of the National Black Sisters' Conference. 

"While getting sick was not our fault, getting well and healing together is our responsibility."

The Adorers of the Blood of Christ held a prayer service and reflection July 8 to mark the first anniversary of the opening of a chapel in a cornfield that symbolizes their opposition to the building of a natural gas pipeline on their property in Lancaster County.

Italian Sr. Elisabetta Flick heads a ministry of the International Union of Superiors General that accompanies migrants after they arrive in Sicily. Amid a changing migration climate, the sisters' pastoral work involves accompanying the migrants, who face fear and hostility as they try to integrate into Italian society.

The issue is racism, and it's not just an American problem about black and white; it's about every color in the spectrum in between. We are all created by a loving God and we come in many beautiful shades of black and brown and white.