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.

In makeshift refugee camps where Iraqi Christians shelter in Erbil, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena are trying to make life work. They have become the visible church for a deeply spiritual people who have lost everything, according to Dominican Sr. Arlene Flaherty. Flaherty visited the camps last month as part of a three-woman delegation of U.S. Dominicans, evidence of a transnational relationship forged almost two decades ago in the aftermath during the Gulf War.

"Compassion is the basis of morality."

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite."

GSR Today - It was a pleasure to be with the women religious superiors at the USIG headquarters. Women religious get it. The women religious superiors who gather and work in Rome, heading their orders “get it” in droves, as much or more than any others in the church.
Includes video commentary from superiors who were at the Feb. 2 presentation.

Three Stats and a Map - It’s been nearly a month since two masked gunmen killed 12 people and injured 11 in the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical paper. Because Charlie Hebdo is known for its cartoons poking fun at Islam (among other things), the attack immediately sparked an international discussion about civil rights, namely free speech and freedom of religion.

Mercy Sr. Mary Schmuck works in parish social ministry, which focuses on her archdiocese's charitable outreach, faithful citizenship, and global solidarity. "So many people do not seem to know our precious treasure of Catholic social teaching, and some disagree with parts when they learn of it. We seem to have bought into a thesis that morality is only a personal or interpersonal matter; business knows best for all the rest."