Amid declining numbers of U.S. sisters, many are asking what will happen to their associates once the sisters cannot lead them anymore or if the congregation no longer exists.
The path of this sociologist and addiction counselor, who is currently training as a spiritual companion of the Ignatian spiritual exercises, has been marked by the search for spiritual freedom and accompaniment to those who need to free themselves from their physical and emotional burdens and wounds.
This new stage is "inter" in the sense of honoring and integrating all members of the human community. And it is "individual" in that it requires women religious to remain themselves and let others do the same.
How do congregations cope with the changes and the decline in vocations? Sr. Dora Tupil shares her experience of the closure of houses and projects of her congregation, the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I have been thinking, reading, listening to YouTube talks and searching for connections and understandings: intergenerational, intercultural, interracial — the range of diversity in our nation and world.
A new Wisconsin order, the Franciscan Congregation of Divine Mercy, has established a mission that gently encourages visitors to connect to the Gospel by connecting them to God's creatures.
Will women religious choose to consciously move from an institutional to an interindividual level of development? Judging from their earnestness, sincerity and integrity throughout the centuries, they probably will.
Sisters say the event was an opportunity for younger sisters to see each other, to know they are not alone and that they are part of something that goes beyond congregations and borders.
