Loretto & Earth
‘… I looked to Earth to teach me, to show me her ways of caring, creating, protecting and letting go.’ Jessie Rathburn CoL in her eco-autobiography Step by step for Earth In conversation with Jessie Rathburn CoL Jessie Rathburn grew…
Features
Connect with Loretto through our stories of action, conscience-raising, education, faith, history, human interest, humor, hope, justice and peace, reflection, remembrance and vision – all embracing the common good. Learn more about the Loretto Community.
Loretto Advocacy: ‘Because the Gospel Urges Us’
Loretto’s Constitutions give us the foundational words for the work of Loretto in today’s world. Article 36 is straightforward and clear: “We work for justice and act for peace because the Gospel urges us.” “Because the Gospel urges us.” It…
Spotlight Video: Wren Smith, Loretto co-member and naturalist
Wren Smith speaks with awe of the natural world. Interpretive Programs Manager at Bernheim Forest and Arboretum in Clermont, Ky., she has been intrigued by the natural world from childhood, when she determined to become a naturalist. Wren, a co-member…
Loretto: Committed to Ensuring the Common Good for All
The Fourth of July, our nation’s Independence Day, has been a federal holiday since 1941, but the custom of celebrating it goes all the way back to the American Revolution. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor…
Bringing Peace
David Edwards was a college student during the Vietnam War, planning to continue his studies in the seminary. He was thus exempt from the draft that threatened so many young men in the U.S. Soon he began to chafe under…
Introducing Tosha Phonix – EVOLVE
When the Franciscan Sisters of Mary (FSMs) introduced me to Tosha Phonix at the Pallottine Center in St. Louis, I quickly realized that she is a person with the background and fortitude needed to envision and deliver a system-wide change.…
Projects from the Heritage Center
Although the Heritage Center has been closed to the public for over a year, the center’s staff still has been moving forward with several projects. Throughout this month, a traveling Smithsonian exhibit, “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” will be at…
Micah McCabe, a Female Prophet and Tobin Award Winner
It was a beautiful day on May 19 when we gathered on the hill in front of Holy Family High School in Denver. Family, friends, administration and faculty of the high school gave testimony to the wonderful courage and leadership…
What is Emerging?
An experience that seems to have re-emerged in recent history is that of “seeing with new eyes, with eyes of the heart.” Actually, the mystics of all ages have experienced this kind of seeing but used different words to describe…
Loretto Community Supports Women’s Rights Over the Decades: From Beijing to #GenerationEquality
For many years, the Loretto Community has championed the rights of women and girls all around the world. Loretto has had a presence at all four of the United Nations global Women’s Conferences. At the Beijing gathering in September 1995,…
Renewed Life at Cedars of Peace
On May 4 around 8:15 p.m., a narrow band of straight-line wind tore through Cedars of Peace with tornado-like force. Heeding the last-minute tornado warning, JoAnn Gates and I were huddled in the crawl space of our cabin. As soon…
Loretto Circles Offer Welcoming Way To Get To Know Loretto
Circles are easily seen in pizzas and bicycle wheels, even birthday cakes! Circle images are in prose and poetry and in all kinds of other imagery. Through the years Loretto members often have quoted Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “Widening Circles”…