Today, 16 of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the A.J.C.U. are led by lay presidents, three of whom are women. Their perspectives as lay women professionals in leadership has brought needed skills to their institutions and created opportunities to clarify their institutions’ Jesuit mission and identity.

The last year has witnessed the rise of an extraordinary international conversation around gender and power. In this watershed moment, where is the church? And how can it help?

Whether it is a move of the Holy Spirit toward greater unity or cultural appropriation on a massive scale, old school Catholic practices are in.

The next few years will be critical to whether or not Catholic higher education can bloom in the desert. If it does, it may provide a vital service to a population that represents the future of the Catholic Church in the United States.

In many corners of the church, women are not treated with equal dignity and worth. Too often, the structures of the Catholic Church show little openness to meaningful transformation. But our church’s lack of insight, and the breakdown of our own self-monitoring systems, are curable.

Christians are slowly returning to help rebuild northern Iraq, but many remain fearful of an ISIS resurgence and feel abandoned by the national government.