Statistically, I am one of the nearly 100,000 Catholic religious women spread over 244 congregations in India. I am also considered a youth since I am under 35 years old. Young nuns make up about 60 percent of the total number of religious women in the country. So, I represent categories such as Christian, Catholic, missionary, women, religious and youth. And each category poses its own unique challenges. As Christians are facing increasing attacks these days, I am made to be conscious of my minority status in India. Christians form only 2.18 percent of the country’s 1.27 billion people. Catholics are just 1.5 percent.

Holy Cross Sr. Joan Marie Steadman finds herself in a unique position: As the executive director of an organization, she must implement decisions, sometimes quickly. But Steadman is the executive director of an organization known for its contemplative, collaborative – and time consuming – process for making decisions. As of Jan. 1, Steadman is the executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The  feast of the Annunciation marks the beginning of Jesus' earthly sojourn. On Palm Sunday, we commence a weeklong journey remembering Jesus' passion, death and resurrection. And truly, as Sr. Helen Brancato's painting (above) eloquently reminds us, "it was the women who stayed." Yet Jesus' female disciples are all but invisible to most Christians. Often no more painfully so than during Holy Week, when preachers commonly emphasize that Jesus was "abandoned by everyone." Everyone, that is, but the women, whose presence must have meant a great deal to Jesus, if to no one else.

It was striking to hear the first 2014 Christmas songs rehearsed by the church choir of the Bamenda parish in Cameroon during the month of November. I immediately found myself chiming in – and then grateful that my few weeks in Cameroon would include the opening of the celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life. As I reflected and prayed about Pope Francis’ invitation to women and men religious “to wake up the world,” little did I realize that the “world” would be waking me up.

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Women and children fleeing horrific violence in Central America remain caught in the wheels of the American legal system, advocates say, despite a February court order that the government take their cases seriously. More than 1,000 families are still in detention, mainly in Karnes and Dilley, Texas, where advocates say they are traumatized and depressed as their cases languish in the immigration court system. Advocates also continue to work with the thousands of other asylum seekers who are released until their court dates, providing legal and logistical support.
March 30: Faith leaders call for end to 'harsh policy' of detaining immigrant families on NCRonline.org

From A Nun's Life podcasts - In this Random Nun Clip, we take a question from a listener who asks, "I am still trying to find out what God wants me to do. I pray with the rosary, but I find no answer. What should I do?"

Three Stats and a Map - It may sound surprising, but in the latest four-year poll by World Values Survey, results show that some men and women have lenient views on the subject of whether or not it is ever justified or permissible for a man to use physical violence against his wife.