See for Yourself - There was a time when we attended conferences with hundreds of participants, all seated in chairs-in-church-row fashion with everyone facing the podium. We all sat in a posture of apparent listening and paying attention. We’re still seated that way – but something has changed.

“But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. . . ."

The 11 million Cubans resemble unshod Carmelites, separated from the world yet intensely aware of it. Contemplative sisters of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, which was founded in Spain, emulate the life of Saint Teresa de Jesús , also known as St. Teresa of Avila. A Cuban congregation was founded in 1702 and has been a contemplative house of prayer ever since.

Sr. Marie Claude Naddaf, provincial leader of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd for Lebanon and Syria, is still shaken by what she witnessed visiting Irbil, Iraq. Representing the Union of the Superior Generals of women religious in Lebanon, Naddaf accompanied Catholic Near East Welfare Association on its Sept. 2-5 mission.
See also: Sister to sister: Christians in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon by Clare Nolan

True to form, woman religious in the Mideast are responding to the crisis in Iraq and focusing on the long term needs. A delegation from the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) visited Erbil September 2-5 to learn the reality of the Iraqi Christians and offer solidarity. The delegation began with heavy hearts, troubled with information about the recent displacement of at least 150,000 Christians in a just a few days, most from the Christian area of Qaraqosh.

GSR Today - This past week marks one of my favorite weeks of the year, the beginning of football season. This season more than others, however, I have also been more aware (and disappointed) of the values that have been distorted in our society by the big business football has become.

Three stats and a map - The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate recently released a preview of its upcoming special report Population Trends Among Religious Institutes of Women along with re-analysis of data from a 2012 report on never-married Catholics. The preview confirmed what most people already know about women’s religious congregations, namely that they are increasingly small and older.

Ninety-three Discalced Carmelite nuns in 24 countries have reached out of their cloistered monasteries to sing together in a virtual choir honoring St. Teresa of Avila on the 500th anniversary of her birth. This union of voices came together through the musical vision of a Carmelite Sister in Reno, Nev., and the creative imagination of a technical wizard in the Midwest. The result is two 6-minute videos of the sisters singing on a virtual stage, created by Kansas native Scott Haines.

Even before its Sept. 2 release, Jo Piazza’s book, If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission was on everyone’s lips – thanks, in part, to a glowing review from the New York Time’s Nick Kristof. The book, which started as a spinoff of Piazza’s master’s thesis on the ways women religious use social media, is the fruit of three years of reporting during which Piazza visited Catholic sisters Global Sisters Report got in touch with Piazza to discuss her book, her spiritual life and her belief that women religious are the perfect role models for young girls.

The federal government is pursuing its case against the Little Sisters of the Poor in an attempt to get the religious order to comply with newly issued interim rules regarding the Department of Health and Human Services' contraception mandate under the Affordable Care Act.