"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. . . ."

Through the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation co-director Sr. Christine Stephens has been empowering people for 30 years to take on government and private interests to preserve their rights and keep their communities together, served and strong. In an Austin neighborhood, her impact on one organizer lead to the creation of a new activist, whose work saved the homes of 173 low-income renters.

"And he will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples . . . ."

Language and immigration - Religion influences how people view immigration in the United States, and Catholic priests are more likely than ministers of other Christian faiths to discuss the issue from the pulpit.

Over 200 school girls abducted together Nigeria. Theirs are the haunting faces of modern female slavery. I’ve asked, “Can we end sex-trafficking, sex slavery?” I had my first answer from a man from the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services: Not unless the demand by men ends, and that will not happen.

GSR Today - This week Global Sisters Report featured a story about Maryknoll Sister Helene O’Sullivan’s work with women in Cambodia who have been trafficked, empowering them through education. We may think that it doesn’t happen where we live.

The Irish government is finalizing the parameters of a judicial inquiry into church-run state-funded mother and baby homes. The inquiry comes amid increased disquiet about some of the reporting of the original story of St. Mary's Home in Tuam, run by the Bon Secours congregation of nuns.

GSR Today - Kate Kelly claims that Mormon women should have more input in church governance through ordination. Historically, that church teaches women have opportunities for leadership and service in other ways and the priesthood is exclusively for men to hold. It sounds familiar.

More than 52,000 minors traveling alone and 39,000 families have been picked up this fiscal year by U.S. agents at the Mexican border. The number of children traveling alone has doubled over a year ago and is more than seven times the number that was typical annually through 2011. For the past two months, volunteers acting on their own have been meeting immigrants at the bus station, providing food and helping the disoriented families navigate bus travel. As the numbers escalated, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley opened two assistance centers.

" . . . I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I . . . ."