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October 20, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – Halfway around the world from the war and turmoil in Israel and Gaza, Adrian Dominican Sisters and representatives of Siena Heights University gathered on October 17, 2023, for a Rosary prayer service for the suffering people of the Holy Land.

The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued a statement that morning, supporting the call for prayer from the churches in Jerusalem and Pope Francis and inviting the public to this time of prayer.

“Any time there is the kind of war and division and conflict that exists in the world right now in such stark terms in the Middle East, it calls on all of us people of faith to prayer,” Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, said during an interview with WTOL-TV News, based in Toledo, Ohio. 

“We all live busy lives, and our students, our faculty, our administration – we’ve got many things going on,” said Douglas Palmer, PhD, President of Siena Heights University. “But I think every time we call a pause and reflect in prayer, I think that has power.”  

Watch the coverage by WTOL.

October 17, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued a statement today supporting the call of the churches in Jerusalem and Pope Francis for global prayer for an end to the escalating conflict in the Holy Land. Below is the statement.

Statement of the Adrian Dominican Sisters 

Today we join people of faith around the world in prayer and fasting for peace in the Holy Land, as called for by the churches of Jerusalem and echoed by Pope Francis.

More than 1,400 children, women and men were massacred in a horrific attack by Hamas last week. Israeli airstrikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip are now estimated to have killed more than 2,800 Palestinians, including children, women and men. Fighting along the northern border of Israel has escalated. The Israeli blockade of food, water and electricity in Gaza has created a humanitarian crisis for more than 2 million inhabitants of the 140 square-mile area. At least 199 Israeli children, women and men, including foreigners, are still being held hostage by Hamas. 

“Prayer is the meek and holy force to oppose the diabolical force of hatred, terrorism, and war,” Pope Francis said. Let us all join in this meek and holy force of global prayer today for a resolution to this dire and escalating conflict that restores God’s justice, love, and peace in the Holy Land and in the hearts of all the children of Abraham. 

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A Rosary Prayer for Peace, open to the public, will begin at 4:00 p.m. today in St. Catherine Chapel at the Motherhouse of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 E. Siena Heights Dr., Adrian, Michigan.

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