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Women religious
Women Religious: Lives of mercy and justice
Nov. 20, 2009The purpose of Women Religious: Lives of mercy and justice is to draw attention to the remarkable work of women religious around the globe. You won't miss any postings to this new feature, if you sign up to receive an e-mail alert. The sign-up page is here.
Gentle persuasion in the slums of Secunderabad
Nov. 12, 2009
Salesian Sr. Margaret Yedanapalli helps a girl form her first letters at Navajeevana home in Secunderabad, India. (Photos by Paul Wilkes)
Secunderabad, Andra Pradesh, India
The yellowed photo in Sr. Crocetta Thomas' battered folder shows a tiny girl in a filthy dress, her matted hair a swirl of knots, flecked with what appears to be an errant thread or two. Swathi, then 5 years old, stares at the camera with a combination of hostility and confusion, her hands limp at her side.
Standing before me is the same girl. Swathi is now 8 years old, dressed in a crisp white school uniform, with red tie and snappy turquoise vest. She is reading -- perhaps a bit haltingly, but reading nonetheless -- in English. She looks up and grins, two pigtails sprightly erupting from clean, dark hair.
Asian women religious caught between ideals, realities
Theological education viewed as critical to the advance of Catholic women
Nov. 02, 2009
AMOR XV delegates meet with local Buddhists
Samphran, Thailand
Analysis
Asian Catholic women religious leaders find themselves entering an uncertain limbo, caught between their church's gospel teachings and lofty pro-women rhetoric, on the one hand; and limiting, social, cultural and ecclesial realities, on the other.
It seems this is a place where countless educated Catholic women throughout the world find themselves, but it is a special reality in Asia where centuries of patriarchal religious customs resistant to change clash with Catholic women who are increasingly being exposed to contemporary spirituality and feminist theological thought.
Caring for homeless children in Guatemala
Nov. 02, 2009
Hogares Santa Maria de Guadalupe (Guadalupe Homes)
Santa Apolonia, Guatemala
The country of Guatemala has long been known as the hemisphere's worst violator of human rights. The Guatemalan Bishops Conference of 1984 stated that more than 100,000 people had been killed since 1954 and that 38,000 had disappeared. An alarming number of orphaned children were left as a result of these deaths and disappearances. In a country plagued by instability, right wing violence, and corruption, and lacking the infrastructure to respond, the problems facing these orphaned children were phenomenal.
In 1985, at the invitation of the local bishop, the School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF) began their mission to help care for the many children left homeless after the long civil war. The Hogares Santa Maria de Guadalupe (HSMG) was built in response to this need. It is located in the rural Indian community of Santa Apolonia, approximately 92 kilometers from Guatemala City.
Korean women church leadership well behind wider society
Request to bishops for 30 percent women quotas on parish councils goes unanswered
Oct. 28, 2009
Sacred Heart Sister Kim Sook-hee
Sacred Heart Sister Kim Sook-hee is the executive secretary of the women’s committee of the Korean Catholic bishops’ conference. She is a member of the executive committee of AMOR XV. Tom Fox interviewed her during the AMOR XV conference held Samphran, Thailand Oct.13- 21. The following text draws on that interview and some of her recent writings.
By Sister Kim Sook-hee
Like many other Asian countries, Korea has been strongly influenced by Confucianism and its values. The social system was hierarchical and women's status was traditionally rather low.
Compassion Farm in Zambia improves lives
Oct. 28, 2009
Sisters of Mercy Compassion Farm:
Irrigation System to Improve Agriculture in Zambia
Mansa, Luapula Province, Zambia
Compassion Farm was established in 1998 by the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy. Located about eight miles from Lubwe, the farm is situated in the Lubwe-Sanfya District within the Mansa Diocese. It was initiated to establish the rural area as a better place for desperate youth to live so that they would not migrate to urban areas where they tended to get involved with criminal activity.
Tales of witness, solidarity at sisters’ meeting
Oct. 26, 2009
Conference delegates met, served food to Buddhist monks
Some 115 women religious leaders of Asia and Oceania, working in a Spirit-inspired environment of their own creating (see story), have unanimously issued a statement offering prayers and solidarity to U.S. women religious, few of whom they have ever met, but with whom they share the essentials of faith and lives committed to service.
Asia, Oceania women religious pledge radical mission shifts
Conference statement, based on biblical passage, calls them to 'move beyond'
Oct. 25, 2009
Samprhan, Thailand
A group of women religious from Asia and Oceania said they plan to make radical shifts in the way they carry out their missions of service to the church and wider world.
Their pledges came in a statement that followed a nine-day gathering here. Their words echoed the AMOR XV conference theme: “Jesus Encounters the Syro-Phoenician Woman: Women Religious of Asia-Oceania Called to Move Beyond.” AMOR stands for Meeting of Asia and Oceania Religious. The gathering was held Oct. 13-21.
Recognizing the shifts they hope to make will require much fortitude, they emphasized these changes will only come about through enriched prayer lives and through continued introspection.
During the conference the women offered their prayers and solidarity with U.S. women religious who are facing two Vatican investigations.
'Mysticism, action abundant at AMOR XV'
These women could walk out the door and be shot. These are amazing women.
Oct. 20, 2009
Sister Edna Mary MacDonald
Salesian Sister Edna Mary MacDonald is a provincial superior and served on the executive committee of AMOR XV. She came to the AMOR XV conference of women religious leaders from Asia and Oceania, held in Samphran, Thailand, Oct. 13-21, from Victoria, Australia. I interviewed her during a break on the meaning of the gathering.
What were the major developments during this AMOR meeting?
I think the shifts that we want to continue have continued. We want to develop a prophet model, meaning that we are both “rooted” and “relevant” in today’s society. “Rooted” in the sense of going back to our biblical roots, going back to the Jesus of the gospel, and enabling that message to be relevant in today’s world, in our congregations, in our church, and in society.
Asia, Oceania women religious offer support to beleaguered U.S. sisters
Statement represents a step in global women religious unity
Oct. 20, 2009
Sisters deliberate at Thailand conference (photo by Tom Fox)
SAMPHRAN, THAILAND
In a symbolic and bold move, 113 women religious leaders from 17 Asian and Oceania nations today issued a statement of solidarity with U.S. women religious who are facing two Vatican investigations.
The women began their nine-day conference Oct. 13, and as they conclude, they said they want to send a message to their sister sisters half a globe away that they are one with them in their time of difficulty.
The meeting is being held under the auspices AMOR, which is holding is 15th gathering since the loose network of women religious was organized in the early 1970s. AMOR, which stands for Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious has been holding its meeting with the theme “Jesus Encounters the Syro-Phoenician Woman: Called to Move Beyond.” The solidarity statement was viewed by many as one answer to the call.
