What's Happening

May 27, 2020, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement in response to the death of George Floyd.

We are deeply troubled and distressed by the violent assault on and resulting death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. His anguished cry, “I can’t breathe,” as an officer pressed his knee into his neck, harkened back to the cries six years ago of Eric Garner, another unarmed African-American man who died in New York police custody. 

His cry brings to mind the long and growing list of African Americans who have been killed, seemingly for no reason other than being black. “Being black in America should not be a death sentence,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Our Christian faith tradition holds that we are all one people, one body; each made in the image of God. 

In his powerful videotaped sermon, “The Cross and the Lynching Tree: A Requiem for Ahmaud Arbery,” Rev. Otis Moss III speaks of racism as a virus that has infected the spirit and soul of our country. Ahmaud Arbery, a young black jogger and “a man of potential,” Rev. Moss says, “was attacked and killed by men infected with America’s most common and potent viral agent. …The death of Ahmaud Arbery is not an anomaly but a historical pattern of behavior that binds every American to an unexamined history of our nation.” 

Rev. Moss powerfully summarizes that unexamined history in his 22-minute sermon. It is a history that we Americans must acknowledge – and then set ourselves on a soul-searching course, powered by courage and love, to make real the ideals of freedom and equality on which our nation was founded. 

Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council are Sisters Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress; Frances Nadolny, OP, Administrator and General Councilor; Mary Margaret Pachucki, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Patricia Harvat, OP, and Elise D. García, OP, General Councilors

May 20, 2020, Adrian, Michigan – A talk by Adrian Dominican Congregation Prioress Patricia Siemen, OP, in June 2019 is included in a special edition of The Journal of Moral Theology. Sister Patricia offered the concluding keynote address during the inaugural meeting of “Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church: A Conference Series on Our Common Home,” held at Creighton University. The special edition marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the fifth anniversary of Laudato Si’", an encyclical by Pope Francis focusing on the importance of caring for Earth.

In her article, “In Honor of Laudato Si’: Stories of Ecological Conversion in Action,” Sister Patricia writes of the need to change the story of our relationship with creation from one of dominance to companionship and notes her own conversion as a human rights advocate to one who advocates for the inherent rights of all of creation. She goes on to write about some of the environmentally sustainable works of the Adrian Dominican Congregation: from its permaculture site to its focus on the use of green energy to power the Motherhouse Campus in Adrian.

To change the pages in Sister Patricia’s article, hover your mouse over the bottom of the page and click on the down arrow to bring you to the next page.

Feature photo: Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, enjoys the view of Ecuador during the January 2014 Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature meeting.