U.S. Catholics are being encouraged to get to know local religious communities, as a new study offers insight into the potential impact of vocational programs, Catholic schools, and encouragement in discerning.

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The Catholic sisters trying to combat Ebola in Sierra Leone continue to be courageous in the face of the current adversity and work in circumstances that would defeat most people.

Simone Smith, originally from the Blue Mountains, is now known as Sr Mary Michael of the Cross after making her first profession of vows on September 14 in Hobart. Sr Mary Michael of the Cross is one of five women in a new community of religious sisters called the Sisters of the Immaculata, which Archbishop Julian Porteous has made a public association of Christ's faithful within the Archdiocese of Hobart.

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As founders of an institute studying reproductive healthcare, Thomas and Susan Hilgers have seen the benefits that natural family planning can offer in the realms of health, sexuality and human relationships.

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Catholics of all ages from around Sydney are expected to participate in this year's 40 Hours for Vocations at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd, Homebush. Now in its fouth year of what has become an annual tradition, the prayer-filled weekend involves 40 Hours of Adoration to pray for all men and women discerning vocations to marriage, the priesthood or religious life.

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“Do you want to be a priest” isn’t just a question that was asked because I was woman studying theology. I think it comes from a deeper place, I think people are genuinely curious why the Catholic Church teaches that the priesthood is reserved to men. And let’s be honest, some people aren’t just curious about it, they are angry about it.

In an effort to help lay Catholics gain a deeper understanding of religious life, priests, brothers and women religious intend to open their convents, monasteries, abbeys and religious houses to the public one day next February.

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The Sydney-based community of the Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia of Nashville are delighted at Holy Father Pope Francis' appointment of Bishop Anthony Fisher OP as the ninth Archbishop of Sydney.

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An Albanian Catholic priest shared his story of encountering persecution for his faith by the country's repressive state atheism, noting how he waited decades before his dream to be ordained was fulfilled.

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As William Carmona lay gravely ill in a San Antonio hospital bed, he repeatedly questioned his classmates from nearby Assumption Seminary: "Where is Bishop Choby?" "When will he get here?" And finally: "How many more hours until he ordains me?"

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