Erie Benedictine Sister Marian Wehler and her coworker at Catholic Rural Ministries, Sister Tina Gieger, RSM, were among those honored as Outstanding Individuals at the Venango County Human Services awards dinner on April 16 at the Cross Creek Resort in Titusville, Pennsylvania. “We were nominated by Rev. Randy Powell, a Baptist minister, and Eva Palmer of Mustard Seed Ministries. It is an honor for us to collaborate with them as we work to serve families in need in Venango County,” said Sister Marian. The two sisters collaborate with many social service agencies in their Catholic Rural Ministries work. Pictured are, front row, Marian Wehler, OSB, Tina Geiger, RSM, Kathy Stephens, Mary Ellen Hynes and back row, Nancy Fischer, SSJ, Rev. Randy Powell, and Eva Palmer.

Listen to Sisters Kath Horan, Jacqueline Sanchez-Small, Val Luckey, Pat Lupo (behind candles), Rosanne Lindal-Hynes, Pat Witulski, Veronica Mirage (seated), Dianne Sabol (in ray of sunlight) offer a contemporary lamentation scripted and directed by Sister Margaret Ann Pilewski. Sister Peggy blends lines from the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus that appear on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and lines from Scripture in this interpretive reading that breaks open the suffering of the immigrant and our call as Christians and as U.S. citizens to respond to this suffering. Listen here.

The office of Erie Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister released this statement on the death of Pope Francis:

When Pope Francis first appeared on the papal balcony wearing a simple white cassock, his own brown shoes, eschewing the red cape with white fur trimming, I was surprised. Then when he asked the crowd for their blessing before he gave them his own, I knew we were on the brink of something radically different from the papal visuals of the past.

Sister Anne McCarthy and Oblate Cindy Liotta speak about the Good Friday Peace Pilgrimage in this Erie News Now story.

Join Benedictines for Peace on Friday, April 18 at 11 a.m. for the 45th annual Good Friday Pilgrimage for Peace, praying the Stations of the Cross as we process through the streets of downtown Erie. This year's theme is "The Way of the Cross: The Way of the Migrant." Following the 9:00 a.m. Tenebrae service, a bus will leave Mount Saint Benedict Monastery at 10:30 a.m. and the first station will be prayed at 11 a.m. at St. Peter Cathedral, 10th and Sassafras Streets in Erie. A bus will be available for those who need to ride all or part of the walk and it will return to 10th and Sassafras at the end of the pilgrimage for those parked at the Cathedral. It will then go to Mount Saint Benedict for the 3:00 p.m. Good Friday service. A simple soup lunch will be served at the monastery for those who return to the monastery after the pilgrimage.

Listen to an interview with Betsy Roeback Monsalve, St. Benedict Academy Class of 1966. Betsy's mom was Class of 1936. Betsy shares stories and insights of the sisters who shaped her life.

Pope Francis has declared 2025 a Jubilee Year with the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.” For Benedict, our entire life is a pilgrimage of hope, one where we are to “run while we have the light of life” towards our heavenly home. Benedict and Pope Francis are there to guide us on our way and we’re grateful, that you are with us on this pilgrimage.

Many Benedictine sisters and oblates were among the hundreds of people who gathered on Saturday, April 5, to participate in the national Hands Off! Rally. Benedictines for Peace was a sponsor and coordinator Sister Anne McCarthy addressed the rally goers and led them in singing the mantra Peace, Salaam, Shalom. Read more in the Erie Times News report. Sign up to receive communications from Benedictines for Peace.