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May 2, 2022, Washington, D.C. – Pope Francis’ message of the need to reach out to people on the margins is “spiritually exhilarating” to those who work directly with people suffering from poverty and marginalization. That was the perspective of Sister Donna Markham, OP, PhD, who, as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, has dedicated her own life to reaching out to people in need.

Sister Donna Markham, OP

In an article in a recent issue of Our Sunday Visitor, Sister Donna said Pope Francis’ message was credible because of his own work with people in poverty. “His whole life in Latin America has put him face to face with people in abject poverty,” she told Our Sunday Visitor. “He knows how to engage with them.”

Sister Donna experienced the pope’s dedication to struggling people first-hand when, in September 2015, she accompanied him on a tour of agencies that serve people in poverty in New York and Washington, D.C. She was present for his visit to Catholic Charities, when he visited people who were homeless; for his address to the United Nations; and for his visit with immigrants at Queen of Angels School in Harlem. 

Read the article about Pope Francis and his concern for people suffering from poverty.

Feature photo: Pope Francis addresses dignitaries on the White House Lawn during his 2015 tour of the United States, including New York and Washington, D.C. The photo was taken by Sister Donna Markham, OP, PhD, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, who was invited to several events during the pope’s visit. Adrian Dominican Sisters File Photo

December 2, 2019, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement on COP25 Madrid Climate Talks, taking place December 2-13, 2019.

As the nations of the world gather in Madrid these next two weeks for the 25th year of climate talks (COP25), we Adrian Dominican Sisters invite you to join with us in prayer and voice, calling for concrete action by world leaders to safeguard our common home from catastrophic climate chaos. The aim of the COP25 climate talks is to concretize commitments and implement the historic Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.

In the last year, people around the globe have suffered the harsh impacts of just 1⁰C of warming over pre-industrial levels – with record wildfires, drought, flooding, and mega-storms. Scientists warn that we have only one decade remaining to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep global warming to well below 2⁰C, as called for by the Paris Agreement.

Tragically, we are still headed in the wrong direction. The latest UN climate report shows that countries “have failed to halt the rise of greenhouse gas emissions despite repeated warnings from scientists, with China and the United States, the two biggest polluters, further increasing their emissions last year,” according to the New York Times. 

Time is running out: We must change course now. 

Join us by urging your Senators to enact the House-passed International Climate Accountability Act. It would give the White House 120 days to submit a plan to Congress to achieve our U.S. Paris Agreement goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% under 2005 levels by 2025 – and to update the plan annually. 

And please join us in praying these words from the “Prayer for Our Earth” by Pope Francis: 

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty…

Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction…

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light. …