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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.
 

January 13, 2023, Rome – Pope Benedict XVI was an “accomplished pianist and scholar” who set a precedent for future popes in his surprising decision to retire from the papacy and leave it to another to lead the Catholic Church.

Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP

That’s how Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, Dominican Representative to the UN, remembered Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. She was among a group of Catholic Sisters who reflected on his contributions to the Church shortly after he died on December 31, 2022.

Sister Durstyne was quoted in a January 5, 2023, Global Sisters Report article saying she believes that Pope Benedict will be remembered “as a shy scholar who led the church for eight years,” and as a “student of the Word [who] desired to know Jesus intimately.” She noted his three-volume work on Jesus, which he wrote while in retirement.

Like many others, Sister Durstyne pointed to the importance of his decision to retire. “It paves the way for any pope in the future to do likewise,” she said. “Perhaps this is one of the additional gifts Benedict leaves the Church today.”

Read more of Sister Durstyne’s comments and the reflections of other Sisters in the Global Sisters Report article by Chris Herlinger and Dan Stockman.