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October 25, 2021, Livonia, Michigan – Adrian Dominican Sister Janet Stankowski, OP, was part of a panel of Catholic leaders who engaged in a dialogue with U.S. Representative Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) during an October 19, 2021, webinar on climate action. During the hour-long program, the faith leaders discussed their communities’ efforts to combat climate change and heard from Rep. Stevens about her own efforts in Congress to help pass a number of climate initiatives in the Build Back Better Bill.
“Many religious [women and men] have embraced the moral imperative to care for all of God’s creation,” said Sister Janet, co-founder of Detroit-based Voices for Earth Justice. “Climate change is, first and foremost, a moral issue for us. The human and non-human community is suffering. Tackling climate change is the right thing to do for future generations.”
Sister Nancy Jamroz, CSSF, Co-director of the Center for Catholic Studies and Interfaith Dialogue at Madonna University in Livonia, moderated the webinar, which was coordinated by Madonna University. Also on the panel were Sister Jane Herb, IHM, President of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) and President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), and Father Gilbert Sunghera, SJ, Superior of the Detroit Jesuit Community and Professor of Architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Father Gilbert provided background information on Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, which challenges Catholics and all people of good will to be active in combatting the “existential crisis of global warming.” Father Gilbert said Laudato Si’ was written to challenge all people of faith, especially Catholics. The encyclical “positions the Catholic world view with the larger global trajectory toward finding a way to save the planet,” he said.
Sister Jane noted that the IHM Sisters and other congregations in LCWR – including the Adrian Dominican Sisters – have begun to announce their commitments to participate in the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. The seven-year plan – open to Catholic organizations such as dioceses, parishes, hospitals, universities, and religious congregations – is a “tool to adopt more sustainable practices,” Sister Jane said. The webinar is a “direct link” to the seventh of the seven goals – advocacy “to encourage the development of cultures and policies that will safeguard our Earth.”
Rep. Stevens joined in the dialogue, answering questions of the panelists and members of the audience and filling them in on the work of many in the U.S. Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act. The act includes policies and programs that would help in the fight against global climate change. “It’s an incredible opportunity for us to lower carbon emissions and get to Net Zero by 2030,” she said. “This is a perfect place for the United States of America to lead and for citizens to help lead.”
As a representative from Michigan, Rep. Stevens spoke particularly of the need for components of the act that would work toward safe infrastructure, clean air, and safe drinking water – especially in light of the recent news of the water crisis in Benton Harbor, Michigan, whose population is predominantly African American.
In answer to Sister Janet’s concern about repeating the great injustice that people of color are affected disproportionately by environmental disasters and the economy, Rep. Stevens spoke of the need to learn from past mistakes. “We are reckoning with the challenges of a built environmental system” that needs to be renovated, she said. This includes replacing lead pipes and cleaning up contaminated Superfund sites such as landfills “that are disproportionately poisoning communities of color.”
Rep. Stevens said members of Congress have been working hard on legislation that would address many of those challenges. “We need a climate bill,” she said. “We experienced the worst [forest] fire season last year and this year. This is not going to be sustainable for us and we can take steps right now not to accept this as status quo.”
Rep. Stevens noted the importance not only of passing a climate bill, but also of empowering communities to work on environmental issues and working with people of faith.
“Now more than ever we need to hear more from our faith leaders and communities of faith,” she said. “I see them leading on a moral imperative, but also tap dancing in the political world.” Noting the country’s efforts to separate church and state, she said that the circles of faith and politics overlap in vital issues such as global climate change. “That’s what inspires me so much in terms of why I seek to elevate the voices of religious leaders and faith leaders in Washington.”
Asked how she responds to opposition to her efforts to address climate change, Rep. Stevens said, “When we talk about morality and we think about courage, we also have to do so with positivity, through light and love. We don’t need to be angry. We don’t need to be afraid. We need to create a vision like we did with the moon [landing] … Americans are capable of doing big things.”
Caption for feature photo at top: Participants in the panel included, clockwise from top left, Sister Jane Herb, IHM, Sister Janet Stankowski, OP, Sister Nancy Jamroz, CSSF, and Father Gilbert Sunghera, SJ.
October 18, 2021, Detroit – Sister Rosalie Esquerra, OP, was recently recognized for 48 years of dedication and commitment and for the lives she influenced for the good through her ministry at Life Directions. The Detroit-based organization – which Sister Rosalie co-founded – encourages young people in high school and beyond to work with and inspire their peers, helping them to recognize their own gifts and lead productive and happy lives.
Sister Rosalie was honored during Life Directions’ Spirit of Hope Tribute Gala.
“It’s been a wondrous journey,” she said of her ministry at Life Directions. She was one of the founders of the organization with Father John Phelps, CSsR, President and CEO; Father Alexander Steinmiller, CP; and Alexander and Judith MacDonald.
“Father John had initiated a conversation about the poor in Southeast Detroit,” Sister Rosalie recalled. “The five of us were caught up by that vision, so we initiated various programs,” including working in public schools. At the time, Sister Rosalie said, she was already involved in public schools, walking with the students through their various challenges, including local gangs.
Very early on, the co-founders began what has been their focus for much of their history: “peers inspiring peers.” Sister Rosalie, Father John, and Father Alex each began working with one high school in Detroit. “We initiated conversation groups with at least 15 students” in each school, Sister Rosalie said. “We asked teachers to send us students who are positive and have goals and students who are ambling along. The idea was peers inspiring peers.” During the first session, participants were invited to express their concerns, and the three leaders from Life Directions created modules based on those concerns.
“The impact on the schools was incredible,” Sister Rosalie recalled. Among the students who had been less purposeful, “grades went up, attendance improved, and the spirit in the school was positive.”
But, Sister Rosalie said, the focus of Life Directions was on young people in Detroit who were past the age of high school. Young adults were invited to a retreat, “Focus Life,” which helped them to see that each is a gift.
The focus during the retreat was still on “peers inspiring peers,” with groups formed of seven to nine achieving and non-achieving young adults. “They’d work in small groups and encourage and support each other,” Sister Rosalie said. “Their role was to share their journey, the journey dealing with hurts and heals, the joys and the special things that happened in their lives.”
After the retreat, Sister Rosalie said, the participants were invited to stay connected as a circle in their neighborhood. Married couples would continue to listen to, guide, encourage, and support them, she added.
In both programs, the staff of Life Directions focused on low-income neighborhoods in which gangs and gang violence were prevalent, Sister Rosalie said. “Years later, the neighborhoods are still doing well,” she said. “The impact in the neighborhood is still evident.”
The success of the program in Detroit led Life Directions to begin programs in Chicago; New Orleans; San Antonio, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Salem, Oregon. Since then, with the success of the program established in these areas, Life Directions turned its own focus solely on Detroit and Chicago, she said.
“One of the core values we hold is that you are a gift and I walk with you to help you see your gift, grow in your gift,” Sister Rosalie said, adding that seeing the gifts in others is also important. “All of us are gifts, and many times the focus that is given is on the downside of people’s lives rather than on their gift side, their caring side,” she said. “Sometimes that caring side is just a spark. By walking with people, recognizing them, encouraging them, they actual begin to value the gift they are.”
Many of the people Sister Rosalie worked with attended the gala tribute to her. “The people at the celebration were people we worked with in high school 50 years ago and people from retreats,” as well as from parish missions that Life Directions conducted, Sister Rosalie said. “It was really special to be there and see people who had met me at a retreat when they were a young person or had met me at school because of the peer motivation program.”
Many others who were influenced by Sister Rosalie could not attend the celebration because of COVID-19 restrictions. These include a group of Adrian Dominican Sisters, who created a video in tribute to Sister Rosalie. Watch the video by Sister Suzanne Schreiber, OP, and hear more about Sister Rosalie’s impact and influence.
Note: This article was updated on October 22, 2021, to include the video of the award ceremony.