A hushed audience of more than 300 witnessed a musical tribute to the late Sister Dorothy Stang on the 10th anniversary of her murder in Brazil, Feb. 12, 2005. Gathered in the Cunningham Memorial Chapel of Notre Dame de Namur University for a concert version of Evan Mack’s 2011 opera “Angel of the Amazon,” they hear Dorothy (mezzo soprano Caitlin Mathes) in an anguished cry, “How can I raise the poor from the dust if they see me as a hand of the wicked?”

When Nuns Rule - Global Sisters Report introduces a new blogger for our online community, Jo Piazza, author of If Nuns Ruled the World. She is working on a second volume about sisters, focusing on Africa, and will share her stories in progress every other week. She welcomes your input, too. The first story is about Sr. Mary Owens,  IBVM, who has become a force in advocating on behalf of HIV orphans in Kenya.

"None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims."

The prophet Joel proclaimed that the young would see visions and the old would dream dreams. What happens when the dreams and the visions seem to be at odds? This is where congregations call upon consultants in organizational change. Our consultants for this and the previous Chapter have been most helpful in offering ways of proceeding.

GSR Today - Every killing of a nun is beyond description, but when there appears to be little or no resolve to bring their killers to justice, the wound stays particularly fresh. To date, no one has been brought to justice for the murder of Srs. Barbara Ann Muttra, Shirley Kolmer, Kathleen McGuire, Agnes Mueller and Mary Joel Kolmer

After helping farmers last summer to develop climate-resilient livelihood options in central Vietnam’s Thua Thien Hue province, an area that is particularly vulnerable to effects of extreme weather, local nuns have taken another major step in providing health care to people who have fallen victim to diseases flourishing in new weather conditions.

I was a teen who deeply desired to please God. I remember praying for guidance regarding my attraction to a certain boy. As I prayed, I heard a very intense answer. Like a song stuck in my head on repeat, over and over I heard, “Be a nun.” I tried to ignore this phrase, but it only got louder. I knew it was coming from a very deep, very true part of me.

GSR Today - We’ve all had days where we wanted to just go back to bed and start the day again. Check out what happened in England a few days ago. Now there’s a man in serious need of a do-over.

The first center in the United States dedicated to the study of consecrated life opened Thursday with a symposium on hope and the changing nature of religious life. Missionaries of the Precious Blood Fr. Robert Schreiter, Vatican II professor of theology at Catholic Theological Union, said the school’s Center for the Study of Consecrated Life is launching at the perfect time, because religious institutions are in a period of massive realignment, with severe contraction in some parts of the world and rapid expansion in others.