Dr. Maggie Flanagan, MD, director of the Nun Study at UT Health San Antonio, recently received a $100,000 Rising STARs award from the University of Texas Board of Regents to advance research relating to Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. This is exciting news for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who have had a particular connection to this work...Read more

In response to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, School Sisters of Notre Dame are working toward a better future for our Earth in many large and small ways. Here are just a handful: In Sierra Leone, Sister Sarah Tanjo and Sister Vera Owoh are engaging their students in ecological education and action inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’. At...Read more

See the complete SSND Guide to Laudato Si’ Commitment...Read more

by Sister Limeteze Pierre-Gilles “…some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold” (Matthew 13:8) Recently this hopeful scripture passage came to life for me in a new way. Sister Cathy Bonfield, a teacher at Saint Martha Catholic School in Sarasota, Florida, and Tammi Peters, the school counselor, invited me to their school for...Read more

The SSND Guide to Laudato Si’ Commitment focus for January 15-March 3 is Ecological Education. The following is a short prayer and a sample list of ways to work toward that goal: God of All, You teach us how to live so that others may simply live. Through our words and actions may we inspire others to do the same. Suggested Actions:...Read more

by Sister Bridget Waldorf, SSND Photographs, books, dolls, videos, artifacts from around the world and more, were all part of my School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) exhibit at Cristo Rey Dallas (CRD) College Prep School (an affiliated ministry of the SSND Central Pacific Province) for three days in October, including Foundation Day. Sometimes I’m not sure where my ideas come...Read more

Laudato Si’ and Community Resilience & Empowerment By Sister Judith Herold Goal 7 of Laudato Si’—Community Resilience & Empowerment—emphasizes community involvement and action aimed at caring for our common home. It asks each of us to organize and activate our communities to work toward solutions to the ecological crisis we all face. This goal reminds us that, although our responsibilities...Read more

By Sister Mary Heather MacKinnon The Season of Creation – What is it and how did it begin? The Season of Creation is a theological and liturgical time designated to celebrate our human relationship with all of creation. It is now a global and ecumenical movement that began in 1989 when Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I declared September 1 as a...Read more

By Sister Helen Galadima The Laudato Si’ Action Platform, Goal One: Cry of the Earth holds a special place in the lives of the School Sisters of Notre Dame Province of Africa and the entire congregation. We become a Laudato Si’ congregation the moment we commit ourselves to the seven-year goals of Laudato Si’. In Laudato Si’, the concept of...Read more

By Sister Kathy Schmittgens “The Response to the Cry of the Poor is a call to promote eco-justice, aware that we are called to defend human life from conception to death, and all forms of life on Earth. Actions could include projects to promote solidarity, with special attention given to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, refugees, migrants, and children...Read more