What's Happening

April 4, 2023, United Nations – A group of Dominican Sisters from throughout the world, while attending the 67th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 67), participated in a discussion on the “digital divide” and how women are affected by unequal access to technology. CSW 67 was held at the United Nations March 6-17, 2023.

Sister Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, a member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council and one of the Dominican Sisters invited to participate in CSW 67, told Global Sisters Report, a project of The National Catholic Reporter, that technology “has two faces with regards to women’s wellbeing: face of development and face of abuse.” She added that technology can facilitate “the development of the full potential of women” or break women when technology “ushers the culture of death into the life of women.”

Adrian Dominican Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, the UN Representative for the Dominican Sisters Conference (DSC), spoke of the importance of involving women in the field of technology, where they are often under-represented. Women need to be “in all places where decisions are made,” she told Global Sisters Report.

Sister Durstyne invited Dominican Sisters from throughout the world to attend CSW 67. These included Sister Philomena Benedict from London; Sister Venetia (Veille), of South Africa, a member of the Dominican Sisters International Coordinating Committee; Sister Rose Mai Kim Pham from Vietnam; Sister Sarudzai from Zimbabwe; and Sister Maria DeJesus from Ecuador.

In addition, seven Adrian Dominican Sisters joined Sister Durstyne at CSW 67: Sisters Judith Benkert, OP, Ellen Burkhardt, OP, Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, Judy Friedel, OP, Patricia Leonard, OP, Patricia McDonald, OP, and Kathleen Nolan, OP.

Read the entire Global Sisters Report article by Chris Herlinger.

March 30, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – When people think of “carbon footprints,” they often think of the amount of fossil fuel energy they consume through travel or the use of electricity. But Brad Frank, Director of the Office of Sustainability for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, explained the carbon footprint of an activity that people are connected to daily: eating.

Headshot of Brad Frank, Director of Sustainability

“One of the goals is just to promote awareness,” Brad said during a live streamed, February 28, 2023, presentation delivered at Weber Retreat and Conference Center. The food system in the United States accounts for about 30% of the greenhouse emissions that contribute to global warming, he said. Changing one’s diet to foods that produce less emission of carbon and methane gases would produce a more sustainable lifestyle – one encouraged through Pope Francis’ Laudato Sí Action Platform, he said. One of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ 2022 General Chapter Enactments is on sustainability and becoming a Laudato Sí Action Platform Congregation.

Brad pointed to several factors that affect the carbon footprint of foods: 
• land use change, such as the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil to create pastures for the nation’s 195 million cattle; 
• farm practices, such as the use of diesel tractors and fertilizer; and 
• transportation of food throughout the country, which consumes gasoline and other petroleum products.

Taking these factors into account, Brad reviewed typical menus from the Dominican Life Center for breakfast, dinner, and supper, noting foods with the highest carbon footprint – beef, cheese, and other animal products. 

Finally, Brad offered suggestions on how to lower one’s carbon footprint through changes in diet: 
• eating items that are lower on the food chain by basing most meals on a plant-based diet; 
• consuming foods that are locally sourced and seasonal; 
• gardening; and 
• wasting less food.

Watch the entire presentation below (presentation starts at 5:50).

 

Feature photo at top: A graph from Brad Frank's presentation showing that corn used to feed cattle accounts for 95% of all grains grown, approximately 90 million acres.