The question my students struggle with is, what is an authentic identity of the church today? I believe that the only way the church can be relevant is if it embraces the model of a penitent.
Women Religious
Posted inFaith, News
Wisconsin religious sisters install solar panels near motherhouse
The community of 50 sisters now draws 50% of their convent’s electrical power from the sun.
Posted inArts & Culture, Vantage Point
1966: What ‘The Trouble With Angels’ gets wrong about nuns and convents
It is frighteningly easy to get nuns all wrong on the screen.
Posted inArts & Culture, Vantage Point
From 1945: ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’ is a gift to religious sisters
I’ve always wanted to give something to the sisters, and wish I had been able to give “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Sister Helen Prejean’s life on death row
Lest the reader assume that Sister Prejean’s work against the death penalty, is the sum total of her story, she spends the final pages of her afterword calling out the places where she sees continued injustices, particularly in the treatment of women and L.G.B.T. people in the church.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Catholic nuns to Trump: stop using ‘divisive and polarizing rhetoric’
“We implore you to never use language that disrespects, dehumanizes or demonizes others,” delegates at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious annual assembly wrote in a letter to be sent to President Trump.
Posted inFaith, Last Take
Religious orders owning slaves isn’t new—black Catholics have emphasized this history for years
Black Catholics have been at the forefront of the push to get the Vatican to confront the church’s racist past and present.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The radical Benedictine sister who fought for Catalan independence
The tumult in Catalonia continues. Many Catalans wonder what the future holds for their community. Among them is a rabble-rousing Benedictine nun, Sister Teresa Forcades, one of the most recognizable voices within Catalonia’s independence movement.
Posted inFaith, News Analysis
More women have been appointed to the Roman Curia. Could this signal new leadership opportunities?
“We have to admit that things move very slowly in the church,” Sharon Holland, I.H.M., told America, “But this is a piece of really good news.”
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Why I gave up my job at NASA to become a nun
I have learned that belief is not unique to those who consider themselves religious.