Nancy Hughes Moyer may not have the connections like Cardinal Gregory who presented on October 3rd. Instead, she has connections of a different kind.

Nancy is in the trenches every day, in real time ... working to make connections for vets and others who need help here in Chicago and throughout Illinois. The daily decisions and challenges are constant but so too are Nancy's rooted values in her faith.

It all began when Wilton Daniel Gregory, a fifth grade student at St. Carthage grade school, informed his parish priest that he wanted to be a priest. Told by the priest that he was not even a Catholic, young Wilton Gregory responded with a question that began a amost amazing journey: "Then what do I have to do?

He became a Catholic. He went to the seminary for 12 years. He made a stop as a deacon in Park Ridge. He was ordained a priest. He served in Glenview. He then lived in Rome earning his doctoral degree. Upon his return, he was a professor at the seminary from which he was ordained. He was ordained a bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago. A few years after that, he became Bishop of Belleville, Illinois. He was elected by his brother bishops to be President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was called to serve as Archbishop of Atlanta, Georgia, and then Washington, D.C. until Pope Francis elevated Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory to the College of Cardinals, the highest rank in the Catholic Church, after the Pope.

Not a bad journey for a kid from the Englewood community on the South Side of Chicago!

Sr. Helen Prejean got into her ministry against the death penalty almost by accident in her early forties, with a decision to write to a prisoner on death row. She credits "Sneaky Jesus" for this idea, which changed her life. Her 1993 book, Dead Man Walking, made into a movie, brought her onto the national stage.

Today Sister Prejean is still the most prominent voice against the death penalty in the U.S. She urged Popes John Paul II and Francis to change church teaching to oppose capital punishment in any circumstance, which finally happened in 2018.

This doesn't mean, however, that the battle is winding down. The governor of Prejean's home state Louisianna, has ended a 15-year pause on executions. The new administration in Washington has pledged to ramp up the death penalty. Because more than 60 pharmaceutical companies refuse to supply drugs for use in executions, states are turning to firing squads, electrocution, and use of nitrogen gas to suffocate prisoners. Race still plays a huge role in who is sentenced to death.

So there's plenty of work to be done. "Have to do it," says Sr. Helen Prejean. "Can't not do it."

Press Under Pressure Traditional media faces adversity on all sides. Younger generations have turned to social media and podcasts, often one-sided, where misinformation can run wild. Everyone feels bombarded, our heads spinning. Given these realities, can America's media still be a force for truth in this fractured time?

Hermene Hartman, with her decades as a pioneer in Chicago media, will look for signs of hope in a rapidly changing media landscape.

On the home front: Habitat for Humanity confronts Chicago's housing crisis

Chicago's severe housing deficit is undermining our city's vitality. Join us as Jennifer Parks shares the history of Habitat and how the impact of current projects in three Chicago neighborhoods are playing a small but critical role in righting this wrong.

When Jahmal Cole began volunteering at the Cook County Jail in 2013, he quickly realized many of its youngest occupants had never once been out of their neighborhoods.

This observation would prove to be an important catalyst in establishing My Block, My Hood, My City.

Today, you can find Jahmal Cole and his team providing opportunities for teens to step outside their comfort zone to explore new communities, cultures, and cuisines. They also work within communities to show how service, empathy, and collaboration can make a difference not only on their own block but in the city of Chicago.

Lester Munson - The Menace of Sports Gambling

Jack Shea: The Challenge of Christmas - Unwrapping Our Spiritual Gifts

Two of Chicago's most prominent journalists take us through the resulats of the election and what it means for our democracy.

Hope at the Border: What the Church looks like when it's at its best