As Pope Francis issues his encyclical on the environment this month to explore the theological responsibility of protecting the planet, women religious across the world already have been working in areas of environmental emergencies. In northwestern Zambia’s Copperbelt, four Franciscan sisters are struggling to care for an impoverished population in the area of Chililabombwe, which has been environmentally desecrated by copper mining. Here living next to the tailings dam containing waste water from the mine is an exercise in uncertainty for residents.Activists have begun documenting and studying the problems so the communities know exactly what kind of environmental risks they may be facing and how to adequately protect themselves.

GSR Today - Remaking older movies is all the rage in Hollywood these days, and it seems like a lazy way to go. There is one rumored remake I’m very interested in seeing, though, and that’s "Sister Act."

NASA is quiet about it, but the fact remains: It is looking for aliens in outer space. What's more, these days, the rest of us almost expect to see them in our own lifetime. They're out there somewhere, we figure. And if they don't find us first, we are certainly going to find them. Maybe under a rock on Mars; maybe in the water beneath the crust of Ceres. Surely somewhere. If nothing else, the odds alone demand it. Of the 200 billion to 300 billion stars in our own Milky Way and the 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies in the universe, who really believes that we are alone out here?

GSR Today - Even as government attorneys and immigration advocates negotiate a settlement on family detention for Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States – a deal is expected to be announced June 19 – there is more horrifying news from the prisons women and children are lock in.

Franciscan Sr. Callista Robinson is president of the National Black Sisters Conference, a  group of black Catholic women religious formed in 1968 to support, encourage and advocate for black Catholic sisters. Or, as the group’s website puts it, they’ve “been shouting 'Glory!  Halleluiah!' since 1968.” The group was formed at a time when, unfortunately, black sisters needed all the support and encouragement they could get – a forthcoming book shows the history of black women religious in the United States is replete with shocking examples of racism, racial segregation and marginalization, perpetuated by their white religious leaders and peers.

“An Open Letter to the Great Generation” in Global Sisters Report, struck many chords in me as a woman religious, who, along with many others, caught the “contagion” of Vatican II. The author, Sr. Teresa Maya, helped me to realize that what I considered a “normal” response in reinterpreting the Gospel for the modern world and the events of the day was really an extraordinary, miraculous, prophetic response.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees."

Notes from the Field - In May 2013, I fell in love with Central America. After my graduation from Carroll College, I had the opportunity to be immersed in the Guatemalan culture for two weeks with a group of fellow students, faculty and staff. We learned about the people and culture, volunteered and encountered the church and her people on a totally different level. The experience planted a seed of desire to deepen that experience.