Joan Chittister, OSB, was presented with the inaugural AIM (Advancing Image and Mission) Award by Communicators for Women Religious (CWR) at the organization’s annual Conference in Mesa, Arizona. The award recognizes Sister Joan’s significant contributions to advancing the image and mission of Catholic sisters through her extensive work as an international lecturer, author, and courageous advocate of justice, especially, for women, in both church and society for more than 40 years.

Sister Joan also delivered the conference keynote address, The Time is Now: A Call to Uncommon Courage, during which she defined what it means to be a prophet in today’s world and issued a challenge to combat complacency and apathy in our own lives. Rather than wait for others to solve the problems of inequality, injustice, and poverty, Sister Joan explained why it is our moral and spiritual responsibility to take action and make the world a better place for all.

Sister Joan, a Benedictine Sister of Erie, Pennsylvania, is a regular columnist for the National Catholic Reporter who has written about and spoken about both Christianity and interfaith topics, especially in the areas of peace building, equality and justice for all people. Her latest book, The Time is Now: A Call to Uncommon Courage is available now. Learn more at joanchittister.org.

Sister Joan served as prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie for 12 years, as President of the Federation of Saint Scholastica and as President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization of the leaders of Catholic religious women in the United States.

The AIM Award will be presented at future CWR Conferences to those individuals or organizations that demonstrate excellence in communication on behalf of Catholic sisters. Since CWR’s founding in 1994, the annual Conference draws 150 communicators from around the globe to share ideas, spread awareness of emerging communication trends and support one another in the ministry of communication.