The dramatic rescue of a group of nuns and Catholic officials from war-torn Sudan last year highlights the shifting dynamics in a largely overlooked conflict, which may be the world's worst in terms of human suffering.
Just a few blocks from Rome's famous Trevi Fountain, the visitors' office is where hundreds of Americans go on Tuesday afternoons to pick up their tickets for the pope's weekly general audience on Wednesdays. They are welcomed by the Mercy Sisters of Alma, Michigan, aided by U.S. priests and seminarians studying in Rome.
Perhaps we need to withdraw from the "noise" all around us to enter the cave of silence and contemplation so as to listen to the stirrings of our heart preparing us to come back out and respond in new ways to each other and the issues that divide us.
Through programs that include counseling, crisis intervention and and other services, United Stand helps youths across roughly 50 Chicago schools manage and overcome stress, conflict and violence they encounter daily,
Shanti Rani Sisters in Bangladesh are providing space for primary and higher education girls in 17 hostels, offering educational opportunities as well as cultural and religious education.
"In the past few decades, we have handed over most of our hospitals to local dioceses or other women's congregations as part of the shift in our focus," said Sr. Lilly Joseph, head of the South India province of the Medical Mission Sisters.
In 2020, Nigeria was declared free of the wild poliovirus, but new variants of the virus remain in circulation and pose health risks to children, especially in rural areas that lack access to clean water and basic sanitation and hygiene facilities.
Sisters from three congregations in central Vietnam distributed food, warm clothing, medicine, artificial limbs and financial aid to help people overcome hardships and experience divine love.
The Zambia Association of Sisterhoods is working with Lubasi Home, a facility for vulnerable and orphaned children, to transition children from institutional care to nurturing family environments.
