News | Live Stream | Video Library
Contact Us | Employment | Donate
October 4, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, and on behalf of all Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates, the Leadership Council of the Adrian Dominican Congregation issued the following statement.
Our hearts ache as we see apocalyptic images of the devastation left by Hurricane Helene, which took the lives of more than 200 people across six states. More than half of the victims were in North Carolina, including the county surrounding Asheville, a city that to many “seemed like a refuge from some of the worries that come with a warming planet,” according to the New York Times.
We pray for those who lost their lives and for their grieving loved ones, for the hundreds of persons still missing, and for the tens of thousands whose homes or livelihoods were destroyed and are struggling to recover. We also pray in gratitude for all the local, state, and federal emergency workers, members of the National Guard and the many nonprofit organizations and faith-based institutions that are reaching out to provide needed assistance – along with the many Samaritan neighbors selflessly helping others across ravaged neighborhoods.
As we all focus on offering urgently needed support, along with prayer, let us also take time in this national election season to carefully examine the positions on climate change of political leaders seeking office in state legislatures, gubernatorial races, the U.S. Congress, and the White House. As air and ocean temperatures rise due to human-induced global warming, supercharged hurricanes and tropical storms are causing unprecedented ocean surges and rainfalls. “This has the fingerprints of climate change on it,” said North Carolina’s state climatologist Kathie Dello on the effects of Hurricane Helene.
As women of faith who reverence the profound Mystery of creation – God’s gratuitous gift, our common Earth home – we call on all elected leaders and those seeking to lead us to commit to policies that will take us off the catastrophic path we are on by addressing climate change. On this Feast of St. Francis, we Dominicans join in his prayer: “First do what is necessary. Then do what is possible. And before you know it you are doing the impossible.”
Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Leadership Council include Sisters Bibiana Colasito, OP, General Councilor; Margaret Coyne, OP, Chapter Prioress; Sara Fairbanks, OP, Mission Prioress; Judith Friedel, OP, Chapter Prioress; Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation; Mary Jane Lubinski, OP, Mission Prioress; Marie Yolanda Manapsal, OP, Chapter Prioress; Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilor; Mary Priniski, OP, Chapter Prioress; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor; and Mary Soher, OP, Mission Prioress.
September 9, 2022, Adrian, Michigan – As the season begins to change from summer to autumn, Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates heard an update on the summer’s successes and challenges in the Permaculture Garden and in Motherhouse campus sustainability efforts – as well as a look ahead to the September 1-October 4, 2022, liturgical Season of Creation.
Permaculture (permanent + agriculture) is a design system that cooperates with and learns from natural systems rather than dominating them.
Jared Aslakson, Permaculture Specialist, began the August 31, 2022, in-person and live streamed presentation on a personal note, reflecting on how much he had learned in his past 3½ years of working with the Adrian Dominican Sisters.
“In my own mind and experience, I’ve learned a lot since being here, and I can say that I have become closer to the person that I wish to become,” Jared said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without being here.”
Jared spoke of the successes of the past summer, including greater yields from fruit trees; flourishing vegetable gardens; the continued development of Hügelkultur mounds, in which gardens are built on mounds made up of decaying wood and plants; the successful experiment of using controlled burns to lessen the problem of insect pests; and tours of the Permaculture Garden by Siena Heights University students, as well as the planned return of honors Siena Heights students to learn about and work on the Permaculture site.
But Jared also noted some challenges this summer, including difficulty finding and retaining a seasonal assistant; dry weather that affected the crops; a “noticeable increase in pest pressure” on the crops from wildlife such as raccoons, possums, and deer; and delays in erecting a 10-foot fence to keep the deer out.
“This was probably one of the more challenging growing seasons … but hopefully it will end on a note that says that even though it was challenging, it was worth going through and I felt like I learned a lot,” Jared said, adding that “in the long run, [challenging times] can be the times when you learn the most.”
Joel Henricks, Director of Facilities and Grounds, gave an update on campus sustainability projects. He reported that some of the material needed to begin production of the solar array in the field behind Weber Center and the solar panels on the carport of the parking lot of the Regina building has finally arrived after a year-long wait, but more is still needed. Some work is also still needed on the six electric vehicle charging stations set up in the parking lot for future use, he said.
Joel also reported on another sustainability project, restoration of a pond, which has attracted a great deal of wildlife: frogs, deer, geese, ducks, dragonflies, and native plantings. Hopes are ultimately to stock the pond with fish, he said.
Another sustainability effort is to continue planting trees to replace those that were removed for the solar array field and others that had died. “The good news is that I’m never in a shortage of people wanting trees planted,” Joel said. “There are constantly donors who would like to buy a tree in memory of someone, so we’re working with [the Development Office] to replace trees as we’re having to have them removed.”
Sister Corinne Sanders, OP, Director of the Office of Sustainability, focused on the campus celebration of the Season of Creation, a global, ecumenical celebration of creation and a reminder of the need to take care of Earth and its inhabitants.
Sister Corinne noted the beauty of creation, but also its struggles. “We are in a time of great urgency as we can see where destruction has happened,” she said. “We hear the cry of the Earth and we’re asked to hear the cry of those who are poor. … I think we can see that every action we’re taking on this campus … is really one way to address that cry of the Earth.”
But she also noted that the Congregation and the world still have a long way to go in addressing global climate change and other threats to our environment. “The Season of Creation was intended to help us look at that which is beautiful and to look at that which needs our response – our immediate response at this point,” she said.
Sister Corinne will formally take office on October 8, 2022, as a member of the Congregation’s General Council. She and the other members of the General Council will lead the Congregation in living out the five 2022 General Chapter Enactments, including the Sustainability Enactment that calls on the Congregation to participate in Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform. The Adrian Dominican Congregation will be among Catholic organizations worldwide who work together to meet specified sustainability goals to bring healing to Earth.
Watch the entire video below.