This week’s letter comes from Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Joan Mumaw, Solidarity with South Sudan’s development director, who offers a reflection on the recent peace agreement between the rebel forces and the government and the present situation team members are facing as they work to teach and offer healthcare.

"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for our use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will look upon with praise and thanksgiving in their hearts."

These days, we often hear that there is a crisis in the vocation of women religious in the United States. We have few new members, and the average age of present members is above 70. While there are other plausible explanations, I still wonder if the crisis of religious life is in fact equivalent to the decrease in new members and, further, if so, whether vocations have really decreased.

GSR Today - Living with interruptions and changing plans is common for the sisters in the global south, often dependent on benefactors for resources to carry out their programs, but we are flexible, and there are plenty of ministries to see even when once-certain plans fall through.

Attraction to religious life is on the rise in Vietnam, where in Hue City last month, a vocation fair held by the Daughters of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Congregation drew more than 550 participants.

GSR Today - The topic of girls and education has been front and center in the news this week as the situation of the missing school girls in Nigeria continues to make headlines. There is no doubt that educating women transforms society.

Sr. Camille interviews the chief development officer at the Ukranian Catholic Education Foundation, Alex Kuzma, who says he wants the world community to stand in defense of Ukraine during this time of political upheaval.

Sr. Mary Wambui is director of a program for vulnerable children and women near Nairobi. Born in Kenya into a family of 11 children, she joined the Missionary Congregation of the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary after high school and graduated from Tangaza College. She celebrated her silver jubilee in 2008. Wambui previously worked in several parishes as a social worker, especially with women’s groups. The program she now works with grows directly out of her congregation’s mission.

From NCRonline.org - On May 9, 2013, I wrote the following headline: "For LCWR, the more the papacy changes, the more it stays the same." One year later, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sadly, has confirmed my suspicions.