What's Happening

August 6, 2017, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement on the third anniversary of the flight of Iraqi Dominican Sisters and their neighbors from ISIS.

Three years ago today, our Iraqi Dominican Sisters and their neighbors in the towns and villages of the Nineveh Plain fled their homes and livelihoods with little more than the clothes on their backs in the wake of a brutal ISIS attack. For three years, tens of thousands of men, women, and children have been living in tents, trailers, and refugee camps in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq with few resources, great uncertainty and fear. Now, as ISIS is being repelled and vanquished from their hometowns and villages, rubble and ruin is what remains.

As we strain to put ourselves in their situation, we cry out in lamentation. Please join us in taking time to reflect on the events that have led to this heartache. We have family in Iraq. 

If you wish to assist the Congregation’s ministerial efforts in support of our Iraqi Dominican Sisters and their work to aid the displaced people of Iraq, please consider making a contribution through the “1000 Cranes for Iraq” project. 

November 25, 2015, Adrian, Michigan – Are you looking for a meaningful and non-commercial Christmas gift for a loved one who cares about peace and justice? One suggestion is to adopt a crane and receive a painted crane – or a photo of a crane – created by one of our Adrian Dominican artists.

The cranes can be viewed and purchased online at www.1000cranesforiraq.org. They are available for a $100 donation, which will support the refugee relief efforts of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Mosul, Iraq. The website was established on August 6, 2015, on the one-year anniversary of the flight of the Dominican Sisters of Iraq, their families, and other Christian and minority Iraqis in response to the imminent threat of attack by ISIS.

Since January, Sister Barbara Cervenka, OP, has been creating one oil painting per day depicting a folded crane; she intends to paint 1,000 folded cranes. Sister Janet Wright has created water color paintings of actual cranes, and Sister Sue Schreiber has taken photographs of people with the folded cranes. 

The project centers on the legend made famous by a Japanese girl exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Years later, Sadako Sasaki died of leukemia at age 12 before she could fulfill her wish of folding 1000 cranes in prayer for health and world peace. Her classmates finished the project.

To date, nearly 145 cranes have been purchased. The project has spawned a great deal of creativity, as well as support and concern for the Iraqi refugees. The cranes have been purchased in memory or in honor of loved ones; for organizations such as parishes, Bible study groups, and Adrian Dominican Mission Councils; and in recognition of weddings and other special events.

To make a donation and select your crane, visit the 1,000 Cranes for Iraq website.