What's Happening

September 23, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – In response to unfounded statements against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, made during and following the September 10, 2024, presidential debate, the Leadership Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement on behalf of Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates.  

Statement of Leadership Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters 

As we enter the final weeks of a national election in a deeply divided nation, with dangerous undercurrents of violence and threats to our democracy, we are deeply troubled by hateful language in political discourse – especially when fabricated to demonize immigrants. It not only violates their inherent dignity as persons made in the image of God but also places them and countless others in peril. This mean-spirited discourse is incendiary, giving rise to bomb threats that have closed or locked down schools, hospitals and other public spaces in our neighboring state of Ohio. 

As women of faith who know and have worked with Haitians and many other migrants forced to leave beloved homes for the safety of their families, we are sickened and alarmed by the unfair, painful characterizations that endanger people already fleeing violence. In a nation gifted by the richness of our diversity, we pray for and are committed to building a beloved community.

We call on all candidates for public office, especially those seeking our nation’s highest office, to engage in civil discourse characterized by respect, decency, and basic human kindness. “In God’s hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of every human being” (Job 12:10). 

Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Leadership Council include Sisters Bibiana Colasito, OP, General Councilor; Margaret Coyne, OP, Chapter Prioress; Sara Fairbanks, OP, Mission Prioress; Judith Friedel, OP, Chapter Prioress; Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation; Mary Jane Lubinski, OP, Mission Prioress; Marie Yolanda Manapsal, OP, Chapter Prioress; Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilor; Mary Priniski, OP, Chapter Prioress; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor; and Mary Soher, OP, Mission Prioress.  

September 19, 2024, Ann Arbor, Michigan – After buying popular art from local artists in Brazil and Peru for about 30 years, Sister Barbara Cervenka, OP, and Marion “Mame” Jackson have one more task: to return the more than 750 pieces of art, primarily to the state of Bahia, Brazil. 

Sister Barbara and Mame, then professors at the University of Michigan, made annual trips to Latin America, predominantly to Brazil, to locate and purchase popular art – art created by the people – to bring back to the United States. “We put the collection together originally to open cultural doors between North and South America,” Mame said in a recent article in The Guardian. 

Through their nonprofit organization, Con/Vida: Popular Arts of the Americas, they arranged exhibits in museums throughout the United States to give voice to the artists and to popularize their work within the North American culture. One of the organization’s earliest exhibits, Bandits & Heroes, Poets & Saints, featured the popular art from Northeastern Brazil and explored the history and culture of the Black people who settled there. Through the years, Con/Vida received some of its funding through the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Ministry Trust Fund.

Once the artwork – including paintings, religious objects, and sculptures – are returned to their native land, many will be exhibited for the local people to enjoy and appreciate.

Read more about Con/Vida and its use of popular art to bridge the gap between South and North America – and efforts to return the art – in an article by Tiago Rogero in The Guardian.
 

Caption for above photo: Sister Barbara Cervenka, OP, left, and Marion “Mame” Jackson