Gender-based violence was the focus of many of this year's sessions at the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women, showing the extent to which the problem remains persistent, serious and endemic.
Catholic priests and nuns joined hundreds of activists demanding to stop a geothermal project on the predominantly Catholic Flores island in Indonesia, saying the project violates villagers' land rights and damages the environment.
"The women religious in India have faced gender discrimination and sexual abuses that have caused mental health challenges for many, driving some to suicide," said Sr. Molly Mathew, who coordinates the program to revise formation curricula.
Missionary Sister of the Queen of Apostles Ajita Mathew Vettikuzhakunnela started a farming company in September 2023, owned and governed by rural women in northern India.
Sisters are participating in the church's campaign: "Yes to life, no to mining," calling for the restoration of a law against metal mining in El Salvador.
Four vowed religious women are helping others to discern, offering opportunities for prayer and reflection through the House of Discernment in Pittsburgh, which also provides a unique form of intentional community.
"He is loved by many, many, many people": From Buenos Aires to Mexico City, Latin Americans expressed closeness to the Argentine pope as he battles double pneumonia for the second week in a hospital room in Rome.
"Malnutrition, rickets and malaria are the three biggest health challenges we face here," says Sr. Juliana Ekwoanya, who works at the clinic run by Hope for the Village Child Foundation, a local nonprofit in Kaduna.
