by Sophia Park
Contributor
Can we really say that sisters have lost their sign in the world just because they do not wear habits? And if so, is there also a sign of not wearing habits, of their invisibility? What, then, is the sign of this invisible but strong presence of women religious?
by GSR Staff
"The only gift is a portion of thyself."
by Marcelline Manga
Contributor
We are far from achieving the original Catholic mission in Cameroon, which was to encourage religious congregations to open enough schools and clinics to serve the needs of indigenous peoples. But the expansion strategy for social change and sustained development, nurtured by women religious in Cameroon, is an essential tool to reach the vulnerable segment of the population.
GSR Today - Christians are being attacked in more countries as Boko Haram grows, spreading from its base in Nigeria; clergy use Twitter to point out all lives matter; and snow is not as dramatic and dangerous as media in the United States "blows" it up to be.
Sabbaticals provide a necessary respite and boost for exhausted sisters, but many sisters are reluctant to take time off, even if they do acknowledge they are worn down. A spiritual renewal center in Uganda is trying to help sisters and superiors understand that working until burnout can do more harm than good.
by GSR Staff
" . . . the movements of most of the people who live in cities have lost their connection with the earth . . . ."
Marcelline Manga is a journalist and Cameroonian sister of Oeuvre de Saint Paul, (the Work of Saint Paul) of Fribourg, Switzerland. She has worked for 10 years for the communication service in the Archdiocese of Yaounde, Cameroon, and has written for the diocesan newspaper, Horizon. She also broadcasts documentaries for Cameroon national television station CRTV and Sunday Catholic shows on CRTV-Radio.
GSR Today - What does the Super Bowl have to do with women religious? Guaranteed there will be more than a few sisters among fans gathered around TVs on Sunday. But one in particular will be enjoying the game all the way to the bank.
by Colleen Gibson
Columnist
In 2010, I moved to Philadelphia to serve as a full-time volunteer, leaving a full-time job behind to serve as a parish outreach minister in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The tree in front of our volunteer house was a point of reference. It was a marker, rising above the row homes and trash-strewn streets of the neighborhood. As it came into focus, it guided others to us, while also serving as a sign of what had been and a signal of what could be.
Review - Women's ministerial vocations have differed throughout the centuries, but they have existed in every era and in every locale. Benedictine Sr. Laura Swan, former prioress of St. Placid Priory in the state of Washington, adds to her prodigious body of work with this comprehensive investigation into the lives of thousands of celibate women who lived outside the cloister as Beguines.
