Women in the Church

A Catholic diocese and nuns are working to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth and the number of children who die young, and a hospital administrator said it does not take expensive technology.

May 10, 2022 Hosted by Jessica Keating, M.Div..​ Erika Bachiochi, J.D. (Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center), Charles Camosy (Associate Professor of Theology, Fordham University), Kathleen Domingo (Executive Director, California Catholic Conference) and​ ​Gloria Purvis (Consultant, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty. Pastoral Fellow, McGrath Institute for Church Life.) discuss "A Post-Roe World? The Future of Abortion and Motherhood in America." This presentation was a special edition of the, "Conversations That Matter: The Crossroads of Science and Human Dignity" spring series sponsored by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. The series was held virtually from February 17 - May 9, 2022. For more information, visit https://mcgrath.nd.edu/conversations.

Having a member over 100 years old is not unusual today for orders of Catholic women religious, but many orders do not have the specialized knowledge or resources to ensure an accurate diagnosis and the best possible plan of care for sisters experiencing dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment, several sisters said.

After a group of Discalced Carmelites in Northern Argentina sued their archbishop and a Vatican envoy for “gender violence,” the country’s other Carmelites sent a letter to the president of the bishops’ conference saying that ecclesial communion is “a priority.”

In an address to the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), Pope Francis invites women religious to reflect on St Peter and Mary Magdalene in order to put themselves at the service of others, and encourages them to make their own synodal journey.

Pope Francis releases a message for the 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations on the theme “Called to Build the Human Family,” and encourages every person in the Church to give the very best of themselves “in this great divine plan!”

The International Union of Superiors General prepares to holds its 22nd plenary assembly on 2-6 May in Rome, and presents its work to reporters at the Holy See Press Office.

Conflict is brewing in a northern archdiocese of Argentina, where a group of cloistered nuns have made a formal allegation against the bishop for “gender violence”; at the same time, the Vatican has warned the nuns against promoting an alleged Marian apparition.

The 22nd Assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) is expected to meet in Rome from 2 to 6 May. The issues discussed at the gathering will be illustrated on Friday at a press conference in the Vatican

One Indian religious sister serving in western Ukraine says Russian soldiers are “butchering” innocent civilians in areas of the country they have invaded.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, interim Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, conveys a letter addressed to Pope Francis by a group of women trapped in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol crying out for help.

International charity Aid to the Church in Need has announced its approval of a special emergency relief package benefiting Latin Rite nuns in the Ukrainian archdiocese of Lviv, who have opened their doors to refugees fleeing war.

The Thouret Foundation of the Sisters of Charity celebrates ten years of service to the poorest in the peripheries of the world, giving hope to people.

Both Burkinabe and American ecclesial authorities have offered prayers and called for the safe release of American Sister Suellen Tennyson, 83, who was abducted by armed gunmen at her convent earlier this week.