Sr. Alison McCrary, a community lawyer in New Orleans who corresponds with inmates on death row, explains how her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience help her fully serve others in a world that values money, sex and power.
Religious Life
Sr. Monica & Sr. María José | Beyond the Habit
Sr. Monica Nobl, a Peruvian archaeologist, and Sr. María José Correa, a world-class pole-vaulter representing Chile, never anticipated becoming nuns until they met the Sisters of the Servants of the Plan of God, a new order of women religious who give their lives to evangelization, service and solidarity with the poor.
300 Years of Sister History (in 5 Minutes) | Beyond the Habit
The late, legendary journalist Cokie Roberts explains how Catholic nuns and sisters built up some of the first schools and largest healthcare systems in the United States after their arrival in 1727.
#BeyondtheHabit: The Power of Sisterhood
America Media and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate are highlighting six young women religious working all over the country in a variety of ministries and religious orders.
What 19th-century German anti-Catholicism can teach us about our own church
Despite the long and illustrious history of the Catholic Church in Germany, in the late 19th century Catholics became the great Other to modernizing, secularizing forces.
Franciscans’ Denver meeting first phase of making six provinces into one
Revitalization of Franciscan life and ministry in America is the goal of this multiyear process of restructuring that began in 2012 with discussions by the friars of the six provinces.
Dominicans elect first Asian master general
Members of the Dominican general chapter elected 51-year-old Father Gerard Francisco Timoner to be the master general of the worldwide religious order.
The hopes and challenges of priestly celibacy today
For celibate priests, there are three specific and essential elements of formation for sustaining their commitment: They need a meaningful reason for celibacy, they need skills for celibate living, and they need a supportive community.
Why the Catholic Church needs two different kinds of priesthood
In the wake of an important document on the priesthood, two members of religious congregations offer a few reflections in conversation with the document on another kind of priesthood that is exercised in the church—the priesthood that is lived within religious or consecrated life.
When your boyfriend decides to become a priest
This is a story about two people who fell in love with each other and gave that love back to God in surrender.
