Guest Columnists

2020 was a year of monumental losses for the nation's community of women religious. Among them was the passing of 88-year-old Oblate Sister of Providence, Mary Reginald Gerdes.

Covid crisis adds to funding woes, ban on conversions and rising religious intolerance.

Our ancestors in faith were driven to “poignant prayer and song,” says Walter Brueggemann. They tasted the rawness of life and felt helplessly dislocated.  Yet, there remained one thing they could do. They could complain to God. 

On Friday Dec. 11, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in the United States. The vaccine was shipped on Sunday morning, Dec. 13 and some vaccinations began during this week.

Drug makers Pfizer Inc., BioNtechSE and Moderna Therapeutics have announced a 90%-plus rate of efficiency for vaccines effective against COVID-19. Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said that vaccinations could begin as soon as late December. Roughly one in 100 Americans are contagious with COVID-19, meaning that about 3 million Americans have active infections. In the last 10 months, COVID-19 has killed more than 250,000 people in the United States, and over 1 million people worldwide.