Catholic News Service

One month after two Catholic sisters were executed on a road in South Sudan, their killers remain unidentified, and church leaders are losing patience with an apparent lack of progress in resolving the murder.

Mother Mary Paschal of the Lamb of God was elected abbess July 29, taking on the same post that was once held by Mother Angelica, founder of both the monastery and the global Catholic communications network known as EWTN.

"Our work is going to need to really focus on helping our diocesan directors access their state funders for this and also provide whatever support we can within limits. We don't have all kinds of money," Dominican Sr. Donna Markham said.

The 46-year-old Italian is an economist and professor of economic policy, an adviser to the governing office of Vatican City State, and a consultant to the Synod of Bishops.

There are nine Sisters Servants of Mary in New Orleans, but the demands for their service far exceed their ability to care for all of those who request their presence.

Getting emergency supplies and aid into the Haiti region most impacted by the Aug. 14 earthquake will prove a major logistical challenge, said two missionary nuns who work in Haiti.

Washington's archbishop praised the Little Sisters as examples of Jesus' teaching, that "those who listen to God's word and try to live by that word are dear to the heart of Christ."

The killing of Sacred Heart Srs. Mary Daniel Abut and Regina Roba along a South Sudan highway Aug. 16 has shocked sisters and supporters throughout several African nations, Rome and the United States.

Catholic Extension has selected seven finalists for its 44th Lumen Christi Award, the highest award the Chicago-based mission organization gives to people "who radiate and reveal the light of Christ" present in the communities they serve.

Health workers at Catholic hospitals should be vaccinated because they are "serving people at a vulnerable time of sickness," Mercy Sr. Mary Haddad said. "The thought that they could infect someone is unconscionable."

Michelle Myers Berg turns heads as she walks downtown St. Paul streets in a full veil and habit, a rosary at her waist and a cross pinned just below her wimple. But she's just playing the part of a nun.

Affordable housing advocates at Catholic Charities agencies and elsewhere are working to help renters access federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds to prevent a surge in evictions tied to the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed the lawsuit to block Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's order giving troopers the ability to pull over and impound a vehicle, if needed, that is suspected of transporting migrants.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued the order after a family staying at a shelter run by Sr. Norma Pimentel's Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley went to a fast-food place after testing positive for COVID-19.

The trip to Honduras showcased some of the factors driving migration in recent years, including violence, poverty and a loss of hope in Honduras because of poor governance and corruption.

"As Catholic women religious, we see and affirm the dignity of every person," stated the letter.

"To ensure that the synodal church is not a mirage, but rather a dream to be realized, it is necessary to dream together, to pray together and to work together," Cardinal João Braz de Aviz said.

"Today, we declare that caring is the most powerful force for change, and we unite with survivors to care against trafficking," the organization said in a statement launching the campaign July 22.

Hours before a town hall with President Joe Biden at a Cincinnati Catholic university, the congregation of women religious that founded the school said the sisters were not involved in planning or hosting the event.

Ten Polish nuns have been approved for beatification as martyrs 76 years after they were killed while resisting rape and facing other atrocities by Soviet soldiers in the final months of World War II.