Pope Francis on April 26 dramatically expanded participation in the Vatican's upcoming Synod of Bishops to include lay men and women, for the first time granting them a right to be appointed as full voting members.
Pope Francis has significantly increased the Vatican's female workforce, including in high-ranking positions, but women face continued resistance from the all-male Catholic hierarchy to access leadership positions in the church, according to Vatican statistics and independent surveys released March 8.
The umbrella group of Catholic religious orders in France is demanding church authorities assume responsibility for horrific evidence of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse in L'Arche.
Benedictine Sr. Mary Lou Kownacki, a major force behind the ministries and outreach that shaped the Benedictines of Erie, Pennsylvania, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, died Jan. 6 at age 81.
The looming death of our religious communities may be the heart of sisters' fear of losing their home. Is that why some of us hang on with desperate hope of reviving the former number of vocations?
The question this column purports to answer is a clear one: Will religious life rise again? Yes? But is it sensible in this day and age to even think of such a thing?
Presentation Sr. Mary Dennis Lentsch died Aug. 13, two years after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Lentsch spent months in jails and prisons for crossing lines and hopping fences to protest war and nuclear weapons.
