What's Happening

March 28, 2017, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s March 28, 2017, Executive Order to roll back the Clean Power Plan. 

Statement of Adrian Dominican Sisters on March 28, 2017 Executive Order

President Trump’s Executive Order rolling back the nation’s Clean Power Plan sends a dangerous signal to the rest of the world that the United States is reneging on its pledge to cut carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2025, putting the historic Paris agreement – and the wellbeing of people and planet – in jeopardy.

It will not put all coal miners to work; most mining is increasingly mechanized. It will give a green light to planet-warming carbon pollution, threatening to relegate our children to an irreversible future of extreme weather events, droughts, floods, and untold billions in costs to adapt to these harmful impacts. And it will increase threats to endangered species and vulnerable ecosystems.

As Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si, “Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us.”

True energy independence can only be secured through a clean, renewable-energy based economy. To that end, the Adrian Dominican Sisters recently made a commitment to “sacrifice to mitigate significantly our impact on climate change and ecological degradation.” The commitment was made in recognition of the “violence against Earth community that places our common home in dire jeopardy and intensifies the suffering of people on the margins, future generations and all creation.” 

January 26, 2017, Washington, DC – Sister Donna Markham, OP, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, was one of many Catholic organization leaders to speak out on behalf of immigrants. They did so in in response to President Donald Trump’s executive actions calling for the construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and to cut federal funding from sanctuary cities and states.

“Pope Francis has urged people not to close the door on migrants and refugees,” Sister Donna said in a statement. “In concert with the Holy Father, we believe we must move from attitudes of defensiveness and fear to acceptance, compassion, and encounter.” 

Read the entire Catholic News Service article, which also highlights the responses of other Catholic organizations, including Network and Pax Christi USA.

Feature photo: An 18-foot steel wall already stands at the border of the United States and Mexico at Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico.