October 15, 2021 - Here's a roundup of some recent news on religious life. Two pieces of synod news. First, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of women religious for the synodal process during an audience with the Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne-Antide Thouret. Among other things, he said: [...]
In this essay, Br. Ken Homan, SJ reflects on the history of American Jesuit slaveholding in light of his charism. Turning to Ignatius of Loyola's teaching on sin in the Spiritual Exercises, he examines several deflections that can come up in response to this structural sin. Urging a deeper [...]
October 7, 2021 - Here's a roundup of some recent news on religious life. The International Theological Commission, which has a long history of important religious theologians contributing to its efforts (the inaugural council in 1969, for instance, included Henri de Lubac, SJ, Yves Congar, OP, Karl Rahner, SJ, and [...]
The Hillbilly Thomists released their second studio album in January 2021. In this review, Sr. Mary Ruth O'Brien, OP, explores the album through the lens of the Dominican charism of preaching. She argues it weaves together St. Dominic's emphases on joy and penance, a depiction of the violence of the [...]
The Mosaic exhortation choose life (Deut 30:19) affirms the agency of each person in the evolution of being. We are individually and collectively invited to become protagonists as well as collaborators in charting our futures. A knowing God, a reflective me, and dialogic others, become engaged in the dynamics [...]
Pope Francis's encyclical letter Laudato Si' and the Laudato Si' Action Platform have encouraged many religious congregations to either start or continue to seriously engage with how to care for our common home. Several congregations of women religious have undertaken projects of varying complexity to enact the teaching of Laudato Si'. [...]
St. Junípero Serra, OFM continues to be controversial. A Franciscan missionary to California in the 18th century, he was responsible for setting up a series of missions across a span of California, ranging from modern-day San Diego to San Francisco. Canonized by Pope Francis in 2015, he was long-respected and [...]
September 10, 2021: Here's a roundup of some recent news on religious life: Addressing the Claretians, who are in Rome for their General Chapter, Pope Francis encouraged them to contemplate and remain intimate with the Lord for their mission to be fruitful Jesuit Br. Michael Wooters swam nearly eight miles [...]
Lindsey Weishar reflects on her experience at the GIVEN Institute's Catholic Young Women's Leadership Forum. She appreciatively notices the GIVEN Forum's emphasis on the universal call to love, but also excavates the power, possibilities, and tensions of relationships across various states of life. Click here to download a copy [...]
Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, released a letter to monastic and contemplative communities on August 28, 2021, urging them to pray for the Synod of Bishops. Card. Grech focused on three words - listening, conversion, and communion - as closely tied to contemplative life and essential for [...]