Catholic sisters are both the center and the cutting edge of the church. Both in the United States and worldwide, women religious outnumber priests and brothers, yet they have experienced growth and decline in dramatic ways. Their ministries, particularly in education and health care, often make sisters pillars of their communities. They also work on the margins of society, putting them on the forefront of issues such as climate change and sex trafficking.
CRCC strives to understand change among sisters in local and global contexts. Doing so allows us to explore how religion is shaped by its context more broadly. In this space, we will highlight pockets of innovation and surprising stories of women religious adapting their internal structures and the work they do in the world to ensure the enduring legacy of Catholic sisters.
ArticleSister Teresa Forcades: Meet a Catholic Nun Who Smashes the ‘Pro-life’ PatriarchyThis 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, Europe, Nuns and Women Religious, Public Health, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleTeresa Forcades: A Catholic Nun who Complicates the Abortion ConversationThis 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, Gender and Sexuality, Healthcare, Nuns and Women Religious, Public Health, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleSister Agatha Chikelue: Committed to Building Peace in NigeriaThis 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Interfaith/Multifaith Movements, Nuns and Women Religious, Religious Leadership, Sub-Saharan Africa, Violence
ArticleSister Teresa Forcades: A Catholic Nun Who Rejects the Pro-Choice/Pro-Life BinaryThis 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Europe, Gender and Sexuality, Healthcare, Nuns and Women Religious, Public Health
AudioSister Dianna Ortiz: A Tribute to a Survivor of Torture Who Became a Voice for VictimsThis 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, Gender and Sexuality, Latin America, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars, Violence
ArticleSister Mary Catherine Redmond: Connection, Compassion and Care in a Bronx COVID-19 WardThis 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Healthcare, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleSister Mary Scullion: Fighting to End Homelessness in PhiladelphiaThis 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Economic Inequality, Engaged Spirituality, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars
CommentaryIt Takes a Community and Resources to Become an ExemplarI 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, Faith-Based Organizations, Muslims and Islam, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars, weforum
ArticleMarie-Stella Kouak: The Togolese Nun Caring for AIDS Patients Amid COVID-19This 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 …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Healthcare, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars, Sub-Saharan Africa
ArticleRNS: In Togo, a Catholic nun fights COVID-19 for the sake of her AIDS patientsThis article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. (RNS) — “Here, people won’t die from COVID-19 but mostly from its consequences,” said Sister …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Christians and Christianity, COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Healthcare, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars, Sub-Saharan Africa
ArticlePat Murphy and Joann Persch: Two Nuns Determined to Help Detained ImmigrantsThis radio documentary was produced 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 in your …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Christians and Christianity, Engaged Spirituality, Immigration, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars
CommentaryCountering Pessimism and Despair: An Encounter with Two Spiritual ExemplarsAs we enter 2019, two emotions seem to be dominant: political pessimism and personal anxiety. These feelings are rooted in the dysfunctions of government and economic instability, both of which are legitimate …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Genocide, Nuns and Women Religious, Religious Leadership, Spiritual Exemplars, Sub-Saharan Africa, Violence
With a little creativity, Catholic sisters’ spirit can live on in a very concrete way.
—Megan Sweas
Katy Perry’s Not the Only One Who Wants To Live in a Convent
CRCC Experts
To schedule an interview with one of our experts, please contact CRCC:
crcc@usc.edu or 213-743-1611
Tarra McNallyAssistant Director of Implementation and PracticeTarra McNally is an anthropologist specializing in evaluation and global health.
Donald E. MillerDirector of Strategic InitiativesDonald Miller focuses on global religious trends, genocides of the 20th century, and the role of religious NGOs in addressing issues of moral concern.
Megan SweasEditor and Director of CommunicationsMegan Sweas is a journalist specializing in social and economic justice issues and world religions.