What's Happening

September 2, 2016, Adrian, Michigan – Fall is traditionally the season when people in the United States transition from more informal and relaxed activities of the summer to the routine of school and business. This Fall, the Adrian Dominican Sisters – through the Office of Global Mission, Justice, and Peace – will continue the serious work of advocating for justice and peace with a series of special events and campaigns from September through December. 

Sister Kathleen Nolan, OP, Director of the office, worked with the Congregation’s Justice Promoters to develop this campaign. “We recognize the overwhelming task ahead of us in a world full of turmoil, with many people and Earth suffering beyond our comprehension,” she said. “Our hope is to focus our energies and efforts where we can make an impact.” 

The series of campaigns began on September 1, declared by Pope Francis as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Resources and prayer services for this special day are available through many sources, such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

September 1 also kicked off the Season of Creation, which continues through Tuesday, October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The season is an extension of the original World Day of Prayer for Creation. 

The Pace e Bene (Peace and All Good) Campaign Nonviolence is set for Sunday, September 18 through Sunday, September 25.  The purpose of the campaign is to build a culture of peace and non-violence globally and locally. 

A special Peace Prayer at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, September 20, 2016, in Holy Rosary Chapel, will focus on International Day of Peace, observed globally on Wednesday, September 21. The Peace Prayer, in collaboration with Siena Heights University, will incorporate the themes of the International Day of Peace and Hispanic Heritage Month, Sunday, September 25, through Saturday, October 15.

A group of Adrian Dominican Sisters will participate in a special School of the Americas (SOA) gathering, from Friday, October 7, through Monday, October 10, at the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona. The SOA Watch movement was organized to put an end to the U.S. School of the Americas, which has trained military leaders from throughout Latin America. Those who have gone through the training have, in turn, used torture and violence against their own people. Traditionally held in November in Fort Benning, Georgia – site of the School of the Americas – the 2016 convergence will be held for the first time at the border in October to raise awareness of the militarization of U.S. borders.  

Finally, the Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates will participate in the December Sabbath, a project organized by Faiths United calling for the prevention of gun violence. Representatives of a variety of faiths – from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to Sikh, Buddhism, and Hinduism – offer resources and prayers for the campaign, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, December 14-18.

September 1, 2016, Adrian, Michigan — Five Adrian Dominican Sisters are attending the Jubilee International Congress on the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights: Past, Present, and Future. The Congress begins Thursday, September 1 and concludes Sunday, September 4 in Salamanca, Spain, at the Convent of San Esteban Protomártir.

Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress, was invited to facilitate one of the workshops and to draft a policy paper that will form the basis for action by Dominican chapters, provinces, and congregations worldwide. Sister Pat's paper expands on human rights to include the rights of all of creation, drawing on her experience as founding director of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence, and on Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, Laudato Sí. 

The General Council asked two of our Sisters who work with children from displaced communities to participate: Basilia De la Cruz, OP, principal of Espíritu Santo Fe y Alegría School in Baní, Dominican Republic; and Jolyn "Jules" Dungo, OP, who ministers with the indigenous Aeta people at Villa Maria, Porac, Pampanga, in the Philippines. 

Also invited to the Congress are Luisa Campos, OP, champion of human rights and founding director of Centro Antonio Montesino in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Durstyne Farnan, OP, past Justice and Peace Promoter for North America, currently ministering in peace and justice with the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

The international Congress is intended for Dominicans who work in human rights and social justice ministry, academics and scholars specializing in human rights, leaders and faculty members of Dominican universities, those who work with indigenous peoples, and experts in international law.

The historic convent is the site of the School of Salamanca, where Dominican Friar Francisco de Vitoria, informed by the experience of Dominicans such as Antonio de Montesinos and Bartolomé de las Casas, articulated the beginnings of international human rights law by challenging the harsh treatment of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Congress is intended to be part of the "Salamanca Process" initiated by the Dominican men at their last General Chapter to more closely link study and intellectual life with ministry. It will begin on Thursday evening with a keynote address by Bruno Cadoré, OP, Master of the Order.

Feature photo: Clockwise, from top left, Sisters Luisa Campos, OP, Durstyne Farnan, OP, Jolyn "Jules" Dungo, OP, and Basilia De la Cruz, OP, are all attending the Jubilee International Congress on the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights: Past, Present, and Future with Sister Pat Siemen, OP, Prioress.