It’s impossible to know exactly how many women entered religious life with an unrequited or latent desire for priestly ministry. But if the current number of Womenpriests who used to be sisters is any indication, it was more than a few. There’s no hard data on the issue, but insiders at Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an international organization that has ordained about 103 women and married men since 2002, estimate that more than half of the women they’ve ordained were once Catholic sisters. 

The nationwide campaign for 10 million signatures to pass a bill that will abolish the pork barrel system kicked off here today with a rally in Luneta Park co-organized with the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP). The campaign is part of an effort needed to enact a law drafted through "people's initiative" that would prohibit all forms of pork-barrel budgeting, explained Benedictine Sr. Mary John Mananzan, co-convener of Abolish Pork Movement civil society group.

by Susan Rose Francois

NCR Contributor

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Regular readers of the Global Sisters Report know that Catholic Sisters worldwide are increasingly involved in efforts against human trafficking. While the general public is gradually becoming more aware of the uncomfortable reality that millions of women, men and children are forced to work or compelled to participate in commercial sexual activity through force, fraud or coercion, sisters have faced the social sin of human trafficking head on for years.

This story appears in the Sisters Making Mainstream Headlines feature series. View the full series.

GSR Today - Does anyone else think that women religious should be issued superhero capes with their habits? Certainly Nicholas Kristof does after writing in the The New York Times over the weekend that nuns just might trump Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. But you and I both know that sisters doing super things is just par for the course, as we see once again this week.

by Pauline Chakkalakal

Contributor

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Jesus of Nazareth remains the model and inspiration for true theological discourse. Despite his Jewish upbringing, he transcended the narrow boundaries of Judaism reaching out to others outside of his own culture. By way of illustration, we cite Jesus’ prophetic stand and all-embracing mission

Daughter of St. Paul Pauline Chakkalakal, who holds a Ph.D. in Biblical theology, is a member of various Indian and international biblical and theological associations.