Archive
Holistic Resilience: Why Some Spiritual Exemplars Question Suffering as a Path to Resilience
When CRCC’s “Spiritual Exemplars Project” team was invited to present about “resilience,” it was easy to think of many examples within our sample of 100+ spiritually engaged humanitarians who had endured and …
Jenifer Colpas Fernández: Young Colombian activist brings light to the displaced communities
This article was originally published on Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. CARTAGENA, Colombia (RNS) — In Isla de León, an hour’s drive through traffic-choked streets …
Sister Teresa Forcades: Meet a Catholic Nun Who Smashes the ‘Pro-life’ Patriarchy
This article was originally published on Smashboard, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. “All women should have the ‘morning-after’ pill in their purses”. It’s a compelling statement, especially since …
Why They Cross the Mediterranean: Italy’s ‘Guardian Angel of Refugees’ in Conversation with a Survivor of the 2013 Lampedusa Shipwreck
For nearly 20 years, Eritrean Catholic Priest Mussie Zerai has fielded thousands of distress calls from refugees and migrants on shipwrecked vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. “I’ve heard the voices. I’ve heard …
Father Mussie Zerai: The Migrant Priest
Father Mussie Zerai (born in Asmara, 1975) is an Eritrean Roman Catholic priest and refugees’ rights advocate. Referred to as “the migrant priest,” “guardian angel of the refugees,” and “refugees’ first responder,” …
Teresa Forcades: A Catholic Nun who Complicates the Abortion Conversation
This article was originally published by The Independent, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. It’s time to reimagine the debate around abortion. We are trapped in the tyranny of …
Sister Agatha Chikelue: Committed to Building Peace in Nigeria
This article was originally published by Global Sisters Report, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. When she was an infant, Agatha Chikelue became gravely ill. Her parents took her to …
Sister Teresa Forcades: A Catholic Nun Who Rejects the Pro-Choice/Pro-Life Binary
This article was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Catholic nun and medical doctor Teresa Forcades says women should make their own abortion …
Tom Catena: Choosing Joy Over Happiness
This article was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. GIDEL, Sudan — The media is filled with articles on how to achieve happiness, including in …
Taizé: A Musical Monastic Community, Formed in Response to a Global Crisis, Faces New Ones
This article was originally published by America Magazine, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. “Iedere nacht verlang ik naar u, o God” (My spirit yearns for you in the …
Carmen Santiago Alonso: In Oaxaca, Indigenous Farmers Mourn Catholic Activist
This article was originally published by Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. OAXACA, Mexico (RNS) — At Carmen Santiago Alonso’s funeral on Feb. 7, the …
Neris Gonzalez: ‘My Dreams Will Never Be the Same’
This story was originally published by Harvard Divinity Bulletin, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. NERIS GONZALEZ WAS WATCHING the news when the grainy video of George Floyd appeared. She sat …
Sister Dianna Ortiz: A Tribute to a Survivor of Torture Who Became a Voice for Victims
This radio documentary was originally published by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast …
Religion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation and Diversity in the Global City
Religion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation and Diversity in the Global City Edited by Richard Flory and Diane Winston (Routledge, 2021) Why has Los Angeles been a hotspot for religious activism, …
Voices of Women and People of Color Must Be Part of Catholic Social Teaching Discussion
This article was originally published in the National Catholic Reporter. In a recent essay, Francis X. Rocca of the Wall Street Journal argued that Catholic social teaching presents a framework for uniting America, noting …
Sister Mary Catherine Redmond: Connection, Compassion and Care in a Bronx COVID-19 Ward
This article was originally published in Global Sisters Report, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. NEW YORK — In the first three months of the pandemic, Sr. Mary Catherine Redmond …
Rev. Anand Mathew: A Catholic Priest Takes on Interfaith Fight Against COVID-19 in India
This article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. VARANASI, India — Wearing a lilac tunic with a coarse cotton towel around his neck, …
Sister Mary Scullion: Fighting to End Homelessness in Philadelphia
This article was originally published in Global Sisters Report, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. PHILADELPHIA — On a recent late summer afternoon, Mercy Sr. Mary Scullion found herself, as she …
It Takes a Community and Resources to Become an Exemplar
I had the chance to meet with two exceptional women for the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s global project on engaged spirituality: Makvala Margoshvili and Marie Stella Kouak. They were …
Marie-Stella Kouak: The Togolese Nun Caring for AIDS Patients Amid COVID-19
This article was originally published in The Guardian, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Dapaong is a buzzing, multi-religious city, 13 miles south of Togo’s border with Burkina Faso and …