What's Happening

April 21, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – The rights and needs of members of the LGBTQ+ community have received a great deal of discussion over the past few years. Socorro Sevilla, a fully licensed clinical social worker, will address the topic Understanding Gender from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at the Weber Retreat and Conference Center Auditorium.

“This is such an important issue because as we move forward trying to build relationships, we have to give space for voices that have been muted or silenced in this country,” said Kevin Hofmann, Director of the Office of Racial Diversity and Cultural Inclusion for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, who organized the event. “Mother Teresa said we belong to each other. For us, that means we have a responsibility to make sure others’ voices are welcome among us and heard.”

Socorro is the owner and operator of Hilltop Counseling in Adrian and the Founder and President of The M Society, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote the wellbeing of Lenawee County’s LGBTQIA+ community. 

Understanding Gender is free and is open to the public. It is also live streamed at adriandominicans.org/Live-Stream for those who wish to participate virtually.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.
 

March 30, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, on behalf of the Sisters and Associates, released the following statement affirming the Vatican’s repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, which was used to justify the oppression of colonial powers over indigenous peoples.

We Adrian Dominican Sisters wholeheartedly affirm the step taken by the Vatican to repudiate the “Doctrine of Discovery,” a doctrine based on 15th century papal bulls created and used by colonial powers to justify their oppression of indigenous peoples and seizure of lands. It is a step that indigenous people around the globe have long pressed for and that we too joined in support.

The Vatican statement acknowledges that the papal bulls did not “reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples” and that it is “only just to recognize these errors, acknowledge the terrible effects of the assimilation policies and the pain experienced by indigenous peoples, and ask for pardon.” 

The statement goes on to say, “Furthermore, Pope Francis has urged: ‘Never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others.’”

We are deeply grateful to Pope Francis for his humble, open-hearted listening to our indigenous sisters and brothers; for honestly naming the Church’s errors; and for clearly calling us forward as human persons, all made in God’s image, never again “to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others.”

Members of the Adrian Dominican General Council are: Sisters Elise D. García, OP, Prioress; Janice Brown, OP, and Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, General Councilors; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor.