The global umbrella group for the leaders of the world's Catholic women religious has created a new advisory council of five female canon lawyers to offer expertise on church law to sisters' communities worldwide.

The leaders of the world's communities of Catholic women religious were warned against accepting an "entitlement creep" that numbs them from confronting poverty and environmental destruction, at the opening session of a triennial gathering here. 

"In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world."

GSR Today: The village of Senchen is unusual in paternalistic Kenya — it is a self-sufficient community run entirely by women. But Senchen is also haunted.

In one recent example of the NGO Mining Working Group's work, the body focused on Canada, whose human rights record was up for review in 2015 by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Committee. The NGO Mining Working Group's main focus was on Canada's responsibility for abuses related to Canadian mining industry operations outside of Canada and the rights of indigenous people within the country, said Sr. Áine O'Connor, who coordinates the U.N. work of the Sisters of Mercy and the Mercy International Association.

Sustainable development goals are critical in a world of dwindling resources, where large-scale industrial mining, the extraction of minerals, metals and fuels, has deep and lasting — and often negative — effects on the communities where they operate. Catholic sisters advocate for sustainability, both on the local level and at the United Nations.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - What to do with feelings of doubt during the spiritual journey? In this Random Nun Clip, we talk with Srs. Joyce Lehman and Della Meyer about navigating doubts along the spiritual journey.

See for Yourself - For my few weekly groceries, I always use the YouScan checkout lanes. One early Saturday morning I was at YouScan when only one other customer was also doing a self-checkout.

"Raindrops magnify the smallest blessings within me. Magnify the blessings in your life!"

While racism seems to get little air time in most churches, church doctrine is crystal clear on the matter. God created human kind, female and male, in God's own image and likeness. We are all brothers and sisters, children of the same God. Each of us is granted human dignity and inalienable rights by our creator God.