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December 22, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, on behalf of Sisters and Associates, issued a statement today supporting Pope Francis’s call for an end to war. Below is the statement.

As women of faith who await the coming of the Prince of Peace with the promise of new life for our whole Earth community, our hearts are heavy with the growing ache of so many lives lost in the madness of war in the Holy Land, Ukraine, Sudan, and other places around the world. We see a piercing truth in circulating images of Joseph and Mary in the Holy Land huddled around a pile of rubble where the infant Jesus lies, no crib for a bed, with bombed-out shelters collapsing behind him.

“War is always a defeat,” Pope Francis said. “Stop! Stop!”

We join the Pope in calling for an end to war. We pray for the wellbeing of all the infants, children, and young people who are lying on piles of rubble in wars around the world that are ravaging their innocent lives and destroying their futures. May the coming of the One who taught us to love one another as we are so loved swathe our common home in God’s loving peace and goodwill.

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Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council are Sisters Elise D. García, OP, Prioress; Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, and Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilors; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor.

October 20, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – Halfway around the world from the war and turmoil in Israel and Gaza, Adrian Dominican Sisters and representatives of Siena Heights University gathered on October 17, 2023, for a Rosary prayer service for the suffering people of the Holy Land.

The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued a statement that morning, supporting the call for prayer from the churches in Jerusalem and Pope Francis and inviting the public to this time of prayer.

“Any time there is the kind of war and division and conflict that exists in the world right now in such stark terms in the Middle East, it calls on all of us people of faith to prayer,” Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, said during an interview with WTOL-TV News, based in Toledo, Ohio. 

“We all live busy lives, and our students, our faculty, our administration – we’ve got many things going on,” said Douglas Palmer, PhD, President of Siena Heights University. “But I think every time we call a pause and reflect in prayer, I think that has power.”  

Watch the coverage by WTOL.