You may or may not be familiar with the story of St. Josephine Bakhita, a modern saint who died in 1947. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000, and her story has become increasingly significant to the contemporary Catholic church, particularly in its efforts against human trafficking. At the request of women religious, the Vatican has declared her feast day, Sunday Feb. 8, 2015, as the first international day for prayer and reflection on human trafficking.

GSR Today - Apparently a journalist giving up a thriving career to become a woman religious is a headline-making story. The news likes to report on itself.

GSR Today - “We live in the best of times,” Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa (White Sister) Carmen Sammut told some 70 international women religious superiors. “This is God’s time for us. It is the space where all that has gone before us culminates, and all that is in front of us starts showing promise.” 

GSR Today - At a gathering here today of leadership members of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), several spoke of the torturous conditions in which their communities live out their missions. Women religious in the Middle East and in parts of Africa are particularly susceptible to violence and political upheaval.

GSR Today - Catholic sisters from around the world, facing new opportunities, are gathering at a conference center in a small town outside of Rome in an effort to add new vitality to their missions by advancing the activities and visibility of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG). They are feeling the back winds of new technologies and a new pontificate.

Because I had two really great great-aunts, I always enjoyed working with "the elderly" in my nursing career and thereafter. I admired their kindly wisdom and secretly envied such steady patience in the face of adversity. So I was intrigued to learn about a retired nurse's creative at-home spiritual companioning outreach to seniors.

On Feb. 8, the Vatican will join sisters around the world for an International Day of Prayer Against Human Trafficking. Sr. Encarnación Perez, a Comboni Sister from Spain who celebrated her 30th year in Kenya three weeks ago, works with sisters across all 25 dioceses in Kenya to raise awareness about trafficking. Every diocese has a sister dedicated to justice and peace work, and Perez motivates them to recognize trafficking and to try to stop it altogether.

The Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province have reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging nearly a dozen women religious from the order abused children on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. The Ursuline settlement includes payment of $4.45 million to 232 plaintiffs. The Ursulines will file for bankruptcy and sell property and assets.

See for Yourself - Recently I attended a lecture on the topic of inclusiveness in healthcare in the United States. Among the speaker’s points were references to immigration – that people coming to the emergency room won’t say where they live for fear of being picked up; and the speaker also referenced racial issues – that past discriminatory treatment still creates fear.

GSR Today - Wrenching poverty, conflict and injustice. These are the conditions of the over 9 million  people of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was there in January for the meeting Confederation of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (COMSAM) and to visit sisters to find new contacts for Global Sisters Report in the DRC.