In the past month, National Catholic Reporter published two articles I wrote about how the pandemic is exacerbating the terrible reality undocumented immigrants, and people experiencing food insecurity face. Read my pieces here: Pandemic exacerbates fear, challenges for undocumented immigrants Catholic ministries step in as food insecurity skyrockets across the US
I was thrilled to see my first feature for National Catholic Reporter published last Saturday, March 21! Read it here: Masses go digital with live streamed services; find out how to join My favorite paragraph reads: "This growing pandemic could, as this New Yorker article suggests, give rise to new forms of ritual and human behaviors — …
Continue reading Early Pandemic Reporting: National Catholic Reporter Feature
Fabulous travel writer Charish Badzinski invited me to be featured in her Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications series on lady travelers, published yesterday. In the interview, I wrote about working in East Africa, living in Poland, and my subsequent travels. I write about what travel ultimately taught me: to trust, and keep moving. Check out the interview …
There are few experiences that define my haphazard years living abroad more than taking a night train. 5-hour border-delays, accidentally missing my stop, waking up to discover there is someone new in my compartment, and making friends in the bar car at 2am all mark my experiences of this well-worn traveler's adventure. This past November …
I took a week-long trip to Cuba last month! It was a fantastic adventure, which I originally wrote for the fabulous travel-writer Charish Badzinski's blog, The Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications. Here's the piece in all of it's rum-soaked and diesel-fueled glory: Adventures in communism and vulnerability May, 2019 I jolted awake in the passenger seat …
The Pope & Bishops are in the news a lot this week. So let's bring it back to the survivors & outsiders. Their courage brought systemic abuse into the light. My follow-up piece to Roy Bourgeois' profile was published yesterday: Read the full piece, here: Outsiders help the church grow Here's an excerpt & main …
It's always a good day when you get to interview one of your heroes! Roy Bourgeois has devoted his life to fighting injustice, and ultimately, it got him excommunicated from the Catholic Church. It only made him more interesting. Check out my interview with Roy published on Patheos blog Sick Pilgrim!: Advocacy and Exile: Roy …
My take on why everyone should read Chris Hedges and get enough sleep at night: Chris Hedges’ prophetic voice has been profoundly influential in the way I view the world. His work aims to affirm the dignity of all living things, shine light on illusions and carry the glow of love through unimaginable terror. His …
Today, the Patheos blog Sick Pilgrim published a piece I've been working on this fall, about how much life is found while following the spirit of creativity, and letting go of institutional identity. The main theme throughout the essay is this: Losing faith in an institution is not the same as losing faith in God. I've …
I created this book with images I made from around the world for my two sweet nephews in 2017. It was a year when I worked at a high-paced immigration coalition, and was regularly answering media calls to comment on President Trump's anti-immigrant executive orders and legislative nightmares, pull together major press conferences, put spokespeople …
Sophie Vodvarka Chicago-Based Freelance Writer 