LCWR Statement on Recent Executive Orders

LCWR is Deeply Concerned about Executive Orders

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is deeply disturbed by many of President Trump’s recent executive orders. His misplaced priorities and denigration of the values that form the bedrock of this nation, threaten us all.

We are deeply concerned about the administration’s executive orders on immigration and refugee resettlement which serve only to threaten border communities, force our immigrant community members further into the shadows, and endanger those fleeing violence. These misguided executive orders do nothing to make anyone more secure and may well have the opposite effect.

Spending billions of dollars on an unnecessary and ineffective wall and further militarizing the border will divert funding from health, education, and social programs and will not make America safe again. In fact, such action threatens the health and well-being of border communities, the environment, and those seeking refuge in our country. President Trump’s orders, if enacted, will tear families apart, challenge our already stressed immigration courts, and deny those fleeing persecution and violence their right to asylum; all at enormous cost to our treasure and our souls.

The president’s attempt to enhance public safety in the interior by cutting federal funding to sanctuary cities and counties will have the opposite effect. It challenges local authority and threatens to destroy the hard won trust of the immigrant community. The order eviscerates prosecutorial discretion and places every undocumented person in the country in danger of immediate deportation.

Finally, we are appalled by President Trump’s order which bans residents of seven Muslim majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, suspends refugee resettlement entirely for four months, and bars resettlement of Syrian refugees indefinitely. This is unconscionable in the face of the unprecedented global refugee crisis. More than 61 million people have been displaced from their homes, more than at any time since World War II. Some 21 million are refugees; most are children who have been forced from their homes by unthinkable violence. The Trump administration has forced all of us to turn our backs on families who are literally running for their lives.

This nation has a long history of welcoming immigrants and sheltering refugees. Women religious have been blessed to be able to accompany and serve immigrant and refugee communities across this country for a very long time. Catholic sisters remain committed to welcoming refugees who come to this country after passing through the U.S. government’s already rigorous screening processes. Halting or undermining the U.S. refugee resettlement program leaves vulnerable refugees, including women and children fleeing violence, in extreme danger and diminishes us all.

We strongly object to President Trump’s attempts to limit our ability to heed God’s call to welcome the stranger (Mt. 25:35) and to care for those most in need (Mt 25:40) and we are particularly concerned about rules and regulations that deny access to refugees because of their religion, race, or nationality. It is a violation of our faith and every norm of humanity.

We vow to continue to welcome refugees and minister to immigrants. LCWR and its members will continue to press for restoration of refugee resettlement, relief for families, an end to needless deportations, and the closure of all family detention centers. We will continue to advocate for compassionate, bipartisan legislation that fixes our broken immigration system. We will continue to stand in solidarity with families, regardless of immigration status, who labor daily to provide safety and security for their children.

LCWR is an association of leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. The conference has nearly 1300 members, who represent more than 38,800 women religious in the United States. Founded in 1956, LCWR assists its members to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.

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We urge you to share the statement and publish your own statements, letters to the editor, and opinion pieces.

There are many resources that can help you craft a letter or an opinion piece. Here are just a few that you might find helpful.

• Information about how to place an op-ed or letter to the editor in the top 100+ newspapers in the United States is available from the Communications Consortium Media Center.
• Helpful hints for writing a Letter to the Editor are available from:
•  NETWORK Catholic Social Justice Lobby
•  Reclaim Democracy
• Advice on writing an OP-ED article is available from
• Smith College's News Office
• Harvard Kennedy School Communications Program

We have all been encouraged by the many people, including many women religious, who have participated in marches and vigils and protests across this country. Your promise of welcome and shouts for justice are appreciated. Thank you for your continued commitment to stand up and speak out.

 

Our members of Congress and elected leaders at every level need to be challenged to do what is right and just. We know they listen carefully to the voices of their constituents. Please stand with us as we stand with refugees and immigrants. Call your members of Congress, (202) 224-3121and tell them that you are constituent, a Catholic sister, and that you will stand with refugees and immigrants of every faith. Ask him/her to stand with you and for our American values which demand that we be an open, inclusive, welcoming community.

Support the BRIDGE ACT to Protect DACA students

The BRIDGE (Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy) Act, S.128/H.R. 496, was recently introduced in Congress as a bipartisan effort to sustain the temporary relief from deportation and employment eligibility offered to youth through the Department of Homeland Security's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Under the BRIDGE Act, young people who came to the United States as children would maintain their eligibility to work and live in the U.S. without the fear of deportation and family separation so long as they meet certain requirements, such as showing a commitment to education or honorable service in our military and having no history of serious crime.

There are more than 750,000 young people who have received and benefitted from DACA. These youth entered the U.S. as children and know America as their only home. They are contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities, and leaders in our parishes and communities. As Catholics, we have long supported DACA youth and their families as we believe in protecting the dignity of every human being, especially that of our children. 

Ask your Senators and Representative to support and co-sponsor the BRIDGE ACT by sending the following message:   

Dear Senator/Representative, 

As a Catholic I write to express my strong support for the "Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy (BRIDGE) Act," S.128/H.R. 496. The BRIDGE Act protects the dignity of DACA-eligible youth by ensuring that these individuals, who were brought to the United States as children and are contributing so much to our nation, can continue to live their lives free of the anxiety that they could be deported at any time to a country they do not know and separated from their families.

I urge you to:
•  Support and co-sponsor the BRIDGE Act (S.128/H.R. 496); and
•  Continue to work towards larger legislative reform of our immigration laws. 
The Catholic community stands with you in support of the BRIDGE Act and vows to work with you to reform our immigration system in a humane and common-sense manner.

TAKE ACTION NOW

CCVI Sisters and Ministries Participate in Sex Trafficking Awareness Day

Sr. Barbara Neist SSND and Miriam Bannon

In 2016 the MO State Legislature voted to officially make January a month of Human Trafficking Awareness and Action to correspond with the national month against trafficking.  January 25, 2017 marked the second annual Sex Trafficking Awareness Day at the state capital in Jefferson City, MO.

L to R, Jennifer Reyes Lay, Miriam Bannon,
and Sr. Laura McGowen CCVI

Present at the event, sharing educational and prayer resources, were members of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and their ministry in Jefferson City, El Puente.  Those present included Jennifer Reyes Lay, Assistant Director of the Congregational JPIC Office, Sr. Laura Magowen CCVI, Miriam Bannon (CCVI pre novice), and Sr. Barbara Neist SSND, collaborator with El Puente.

About a dozen organizations from across Missouri were present sharing information about the services they provide to victims of trafficking.  There was also a brief legislative review session where we learned about pending bills in the MO Senate related to sex trafficking.  Those bills include:

• Senate Bill #68 which would require posting an informative poster about human trafficking including the phone number for the national human trafficking hotline in all high risk areas such as transportation hubs, motels, and medical facilities.  
• Senate Bill #289 which would protect tenant's rights who break a lease if they are a victims of sexual assault or trafficking and are in fear that their abuser or trafficker has found out where they live.  
• Senate Bill #341 which would increase the penalty for those caught trafficking minors from a class A misdemeanor to a class E or D felony depending on the age of the child.  

We encourage all those who live in Missouri to contact your state senators and representatives to support these bills. 

Sen. Jamilah Nasheed reviewing the pending legislation

Senator Jamilah Nasheed is the sponsor and/or co-sponsor of all of the above bills, and was the organizer for the Sex Trafficking Awareness Day.  She has made this a key issue of focus during her time in the MO State Senate and we are grateful for her leadership and hard work to protect victims of sex trafficking and to help prevent it from happening in the future.  

The day concluded with a press conference with Sen. Nasheed as well as two survivors of sex trafficking sharing their stories.  It was a powerful day of advocacy for sex trafficking victims, and we were left energized by the news of a new human trafficking task force, headed by the MO Attorney General, to more systemically and strategically combat human trafficking in Missouri.  

You can read local coverage of the event here: http://themissouritimes.com/37511/nasheed-hosts-rally-human-trafficking/ 

Resignificación de los consejos Evangélicos desde Laudato SI

Una invitación a despertar los anhelos del corazón, a la creatividad, a la audacia; y al mismo tiempo es invitación a tocar lo esencial, la raíz, aquello que les da fundamento, solidez, y sentido profundo a los consejos evangélicos que intentamos vivir en el cada día de nuestro seguimiento de Jesús. 

Atreverse a una resignificación de los consejos evangélicos es apasionante, ya que es hermoso ponerse a discernir lo que hoy el Espíritu y el mundo nos piden. Nuestro querido Papa Francisco nos hace ya la invitación con ocasión del Año de la VC: 
“Espero que toda forma de vida consagrada se pregunte sobre lo que Dios y la humanidad de hoy piden”.

Después de leer la Laudato Si (LS), ciertamente se amplía la visión, se redimensionan los consejos evangélicos. La resignificación parte de una mirada contemplativa de la persona de Jesús, nuestro Señor, quien ha sido y siempre será nuestro horizonte inspirador.

Resignificar es una palabra que nos pone en búsqueda. Es darle un nuevo significado a lo que ya vivimos y necesita ser releído de acuerdo al hoy, a sus urgencias, a nuestro contexto. Se trata de desempolvar lo más genuino de lo que ya vivimos, redescubrir su profundidad, redimensionarla y dar un paso hacia adelante.

Uno de los clamores que con más fuerza estamos escuchando como VC es el de abrirnos al tema de la ecología integral: “Enfatizar y abrirse al tema de la Ecología integral desde una conversión que permita el reconocimiento de la sacralidad de lo creado y la inter- dependencia mutua entre todas las criaturas, para que, por medio de nuestra praxis del cuidado de la casa común, los más débiles, tanto humanos como otros seres, se amparen y vivan plenamente”.

Es por eso por lo que esta sencilla reflexión quiere hacer un intento de resignificación de nuestra VC a la luz de la hermosa y confrontadora encíclica de LS, sin querer forzar demasiado el texto, se tomarán algunos elementos que ayudarán a hacer esta reflexión.

Hay varios caminos para hacer la resignificación, pero el hacerlo desde esta dimensión ecológica no es un simple camino más, sino que es algo que se impone por el hecho de que la VC se encarna en cada etapa de la historia que le toca vivir, y el actual momento histórico está marcado fuertemente por este clamor ecológico. No tomar en cuenta esta mediación sería correr el riesgo de una VC “a-histórica”, muy lejana a los profundos clamores de la humanidad y de la tierra, a los clamores de nuestra Casa Común.

Por: Hna. Mercedes L. Casas Sánchez, F.Sp.S

Leer más: http://clar.org/assets/articulo.pdf 

Publicación original en la Revista de la Conferencia Latinoamericana de Religiosas y Religiosos (CLAR).

Laudato Si’ Reflection Resource On Care for Our Common Home:

LaudatoSiReflectionResource-2017 

– Scripture quotes coordinate with 2017 Scripture readings, but they are useful at any time of any year.

– Suggestions for pertinent videos and hymns that enhance the experience.

– Devoting the first of five sessions to the Introduction establishes a solid foundation for accepting the full document.

– Practical weekly action suggestions lead to lasting commitments.

Scripture quotes from the appropriate Sunday are explored in the light of various Earth concerns: Water, Air, Soil, all of Earth’s species and ecosystems.  As people of faith, we want to respond not only to Jesus’ suffering and death, but also to the suffering and death within creation, where God lives and acts, and we are part of a united whole: our home.

Whatever the aspect of creation being highlighted, participants reflect on excerpts from each Sunday’s Scripture readings in the light of our place in the Universe Story and the presence of the divine within it from the beginning — and within us, as we respond to the threats to Earth’s gifts.  Meetings include silence, prayer, input, discussion, action suggestions, and socializing.

Lent 2017: I Thirst

I Thirst 2017 – 14 sides

Tengo Sed 2017 – 14 sides Please use the 2014 version.

FREE Peacebuilding Modules for Educators

Catholic Relief Services Peacebuilding work around the world

CRS’ justice and peacebuilding programs engage civil society and the public and private sectors to foster inclusion, equity and accountability. Our programs are conflict sensitive, aiming to minimize potential harm and maximize social benefits for all. They are also gender sensitive, helping to reduce inequalities between women, boys and girls at the individual, household, community, national and international levels. 

In 2015, CRS invested $31.4 million in 76 justice and peacebuilding projects in 33 countries.

CRS University Faculty Learning Commons Sessions on Peacebuilding

 This year, in partnership with the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, we developed 5 distinct academic modules on Peacebuilding, which are free and open to all:

·         What is Peacebuilding and what is Catholic about it?

·         After the Peace Accord: Transitional Justice and Reconciliation

·         Civil Society, the Church and Peace Processes

·         Inter-religious Dialogue and Action

·         Special Peacebuilding Interview Series

Chicago Death Toll Must Be Understood in Context of Shrinking Safety Net, Incarceration and War Funding

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

By Kathy Kelly, Consortium News | Op-Ed

This New Year's Eve, 750 heavy wooden crosses were distributed to a gathering of Chicagoans commemorating the victims of gun violence killed in 2016.

Rev. Michael Pfleger and the Faith Community of St. Sabina Parish had issued a call to carry crosses constructed by Greg Zanis. The crosses, uniform in size, presented the name and age and, in many cases, a facial photo of the person killed. Some who carried the crosses were relatives of the people killed. As the group assembled, several sobbed upon finding the crosses that bore the names and photos of their loved ones.

Those carrying the heavy crosses along Chicago's "Magnificent Mile" of high-end shops and restaurants knew that other arms than theirs were aching … aching with longing for loved ones who would never return.

In 2016, more people were killed in Chicago by gun violence than in New York City and Los Angeles combined. The number killed represented a 58 percent increase over the number killed in 2015.

"How could this happen?" -- was the question asked on the front page of the Chicago Tribune.

It was a year of social service program shutdowns driven by the Governor's office in Springfield. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's description of a triplet of giant evils, each insoluble in isolation from the others, helps us identify an answer to the Tribune's question. King spoke of the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism.

Training for, and the diversion of money to, wars overseas was a crisis inextricable from the race crisis at home, as were policies promoting radical wealth inequality. Representative Danny Davis, of Chicago, whose grandson was killed by gun violence in 2016, insists that "poverty was fueling the city's bloodshed, and that Chicago needed to make investments 'to revamp whole communities.'"

Poverty and racism clearly interact: Blacks and Latinos comprise 56 percent of the incarcerated population, yet only 30 percent of the US. population. A report documenting the rates of incarceration for whites, African-Americans, and Hispanics in the Illinois state prison system notes that over half of this prison population is black. For every 100,000 people in the state, 1,533 black people are imprisoned as compared to 174 white people and 282 Hispanic people.

The consequences of incarceration affect entire communities: former prisoners are restricted in terms of employment, their families are disrupted, housing becomes unstable, they become disenfranchised, and stigmas persist.

We must also consider gun violence in relation to US. militarism. Gun violence in Chicago is condemned, as it should be, and yet a message to every one of the 9,000 Chicago Public School children participating in US. military junior ROTC programs is that killing is acceptable if you are following orders. Killing of civilians by the US. military is considered regrettable but acceptable "collateral damage." These killings eliminate "high value targets."

The mere suspicion of harboring a targeted person in a home, restaurant, or mosque becomes an excuse for an airborne drone attack to execute whole families or communities. Ironically, this policy enacts an airborne version of a drive-by shooting.

Soldiers who have seen combat are less likely to praise the virtues of military life. "The myth is that the military teaches discipline," say the Chicago area Veterans for Peace, in their "education not militarization" campaign. "The reality is that the military teaches children to follow orders without question and to use the military solution to conflict resolution -- that is, death and destruction."

President Obama had tears in his eyes in January 2016, calling for relief from record-breaking shootings and killings in the US. Yet 2016 became a record-breaking year for US. export of weapons to other countries. The US. is responsible for nearly 33 percent of worldwide weapon exports — by far the top arms exporter on the planet.

"Arms deals are a way of life in Washington," writes William Hartung. "From the president on down, significant parts of the government are intent on ensuring that American arms will flood the global market and companies like Lockheed and Boeing will live the good life. … American officials regularly act as salespeople for the arms firms. And the Pentagon is their enabler. … In its first six years, team Obama entered into agreements to sell more weaponry than any administration since World War II."

Carrying a cross along Michigan Avenue, I thought of the terrible slaughter in World War I that killed 38 million people. Elites, weapon-makers, and war profiteers drove millions of men into the trenches to fight and die in the war that was to end all wars.

Christmas Truce

In 1914, mired in mud, war-weary and miserable, troops on both sides took matters into their own hands. For a brief, yet magnificent time, they enabled the "Christmas truce." One account relates how some German troops began singing one of their carols, and British and other troops then sang a carol from their side. As voices wafted across the no-man's land, troops began calling out to one another.

"Time and again during the course of that day, the Eve of Christmas, there were wafted towards us from the trenches opposite the sounds of singing and merry-making, and occasionally the guttural tones of a German were to be heard shouting out lustily, 'A happy Christmas to you Englishmen!' Only too glad to show that the sentiments were reciprocated, back would go the response from a thick-set Clydesider, 'Same to you, Fritz, but dinna o'er eat yourself wi' they sausages!'"

"The high command on both sides took a dim view of the activities and orders were issued to stop the fraternizing with varying results. In some areas, the truce ended Christmas Day in others the following day and in others it extended into January."

Dr. King said, "Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit, and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism."

The soldiers in those trenches went out into their no-man's land and showed the world one way to end wars. They should never have had to. It was left to them to venture into the no-man's land, risking exposure to the others' fire and their generals' punishment for disobeying orders.

No matter what gang is issuing the orders to kill, whether a massive military power or a smaller group that has acquired weapons, we can all claim our right not to develop, store, sell or use weapons. We can claim our right not to kill and not to live with the memory of having killed. "Declaring eternal hostility" to the fear, greed and hate which are our real enemies seems to be our true hope. We can lay aside forever the futility of killing. We can be hopeful and determined that our resources and ingenuity are directed toward meeting human needs.

LCWR and CMSM Open Letter to President Donald Trump

SILVER SPRING (January 18, 2017). The Presidents of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) representing the elected leaders of more than 55,000 Catholic religious sisters, brothers, and priests sent a letter to President-Elect Donald Trump reminding him of the gift and responsibility of leadership.

LCWR President, Mary Pellegrino, CSJ and CMSM President, Brian Terry, SA write out of their concern for the critical needs facing the country and the world today, and the call to respond through the service of leadership.

They express deep concerns about the “fractures and divisions” that “threaten the well-being and freedom of all Americans and those who have fled in fear to our shores and borders.” They urge all of us to commit to “respectful and dignified civil discourse.”

Sister Mary and Father Brian invite President-Elect Trump and his administration to join them in promoting the “common good” and  they renew their own commitment to “actively advocate against promoting the privilege of some over the needs of others and turning away from our shores those who are in need.”

They make this commitment in the context of the Holy Father’s message for the World Day of Peace and they urge President-Elect Trump “to join us in accepting Pope Francis’ challenge to political and religious leaders to apply the Beatitudes in the exercise of our respective responsibilities. ‘It is a challenge,’ the pope writes, ‘to build up society, communities and businesses by acting as peacemakers. It is to show mercy by refusing to discard people, harm the environment, or seek to win at any cost.’”

 The letter to President-Elect Trump reads as follows:

The gift of leadership is given to American leaders by the “Right of the People.” Leadership brings with it a great joy and a great responsibility.

We serve as Presidents of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), respectively.  Together we represent the elected leaders of 38,800 Catholic Sisters and 17,000 Catholic Brothers and religious priests who live and minister throughout the United States.  As elected leaders we know and share with you both the joy and the burden of this service. 

We and the members of our communities seek to be instruments of the reconciliation our people urgently need. In our poverty of spirit, we rely on the help of God and the example of Jesus, the one who came to serve us all. Since before the founding of our nation and often during its darkest hours, Catholic Sisters, Brothers and religious priests, ourselves often immigrants, have served the needs of both civic leaders and those on the outskirts of influence. We have chosen to live with those who were sick, dying or living in poverty. Our schools, hospitals and social services helped to build, shape and humanize American society by healing, educating and serving those in need regardless of ethnicity, religion, means or circumstance. Then and now, we strive to bring healing, hope and consolation in the face of sadness and despair.

As religious leaders, we are committed to contemplative prayer which compels us to take a long, loving look at what is real, to name its truth and to respond lovingly to its call through our service and leadership. We write today from this contemplative space, immersed in the Gospel call for all of us to grow in unity, peace, dialogue, and ultimately, conversion to the Reign of God. 

We are deeply concerned by the fractures and divisions—seen so clearly during this past election season—which continue to threaten the well-being and freedom of all Americans and those who have fled in fear to our shores and borders. We remember how we struggled at our country’s very foundation as strangers and pilgrims in this land. From this humble beginning, we celebrate how the United States of America has often been a beacon of hope and unity to a broken world. We rejoice in how our diversity has been our strength. America is at its best when its people come together to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles with ingenuity and creativity even going so far as to courageously risk their lives to transform conflict into peace. 

Jesus Christ’s Gospel of Love is the charter that moves us to action. In order to be “one nation under God,” we believe we are all called to live as true ambassadors of reconciliation, in all places and all times, so “that all may be one” (John 17:21).  We believe that we need a President who transcends party politics and personal agendas in order to heal deep divisions that threaten the stability of our nation.  We strongly believe that we all need to be dedicated to respectful and dignified civil discourse with those whose positions differ from our own. 

We pledge our own efforts toward this end. 

To the extent that the new administration seeks to promote the common good through its policies, practices and people, we stand ready to collaborate. We will actively work for the preservation of the dignity of all whose home is here in America and to welcome those who come to our shores in search of safety, freedom and a life worthy of their dignity. We will also actively advocate against promoting the privilege of some over the needs of others and turning away from our shores those who are in need. Together, we have the opportunity to advocate for and build a just, merciful and humane society worthy of the dignity of all. 

We invite you to join us in our constant prayer and hope that God might act in our hearts and through our actions as leaders.  We urge you to join us in accepting Pope Francis’ challenge to political and religious leaders to apply the Beatitudes in the exercise of our respective responsibilities.  (Pope Francis, World Day of Peace Message, January 1, 2017)  “It is a challenge,” he writes, “to build up society, communities and businesses by acting as peacemakers.  It is to show mercy by refusing to discard people, harm the environment, or seek to win at any cost.”

We pledge the service of our leadership and urge you to pledge yours toward this great endeavor of building a truly good and just society. 

We congratulate you on your inauguration and assure you of our prayers as you begin your service as President of the United States.

Original article published on LCWR website

Testimonio de Vida

Si bien sister Walter Maher,CCVI es la más nueva miembro del Comité Internacional de Justicia, Paz e Integridad de la Creación (JPIC) en la Congregación, ciertamente no es para ella nuevo el trabajo por la paz y la justicia. 

Hermana de la Caridad del Verbo Encarnado por más de 50 años, actualmente es Vicepresidente de Misión y Ministerio en la Universidad del Verbo Encarnado. Ella ha estado en ese servicio desde el 2009, después de culminar su servicio en el liderazgo congregacional, y es evidente al hablar con ella que tiene una profunda pasión por el trabajo que hace: compartir e inspirar la misión CCVI en otros y otras.

Para sister Walter, "la justicia no está separada de la misión; son una misma. Justicia es mirar alrededor, saber cuáles son las necesidades concretas, y averiguar cómo puedo responder. Esa es nuestra misión”. Y es con gran alegría que comparte esta misión con estudiantes, personal, profesores y administradores de la Universidad a través de diversos programas y oportunidades de formación.

Además de la formación, otra parte muy importante del ministerio de sister Walter es facilitar la vida de oración y espiritualidad en la Universidad. Ella ve esto como la verdadera labor de la Universidad: inspirar a estudiantes, profesores y personal a través de oportunidades de oración comunitaria y celebraciones de fe, para entender el corazón de la misión e identidad de la Universidad y permitir que esa inspiración les mueva hacia adelante. También comparte los escritos y mensajes de la Iglesia Católica, reflexionando sobre las encíclicas y vinculando el tema del Año de la Misericordia a los retiros y reflexiones.

Sister Walter cree que la vida compartida en oración y celebraciones de fe pueden transformar y animar a participar, incluso a aquellas/os que no son católicos, porque se logra celebrar la comunidad. La dignidad de cada estudiante, de cada religión, es respetada y edificada en un activo consejo inter-religioso en la Universidad; "todas/os podemos unirnos, sabiendo que estamos trabajando por el bien común" explica sister Walter. ¡Qué bello ejemplo de justicia social para nuestro mundo!

Con una larga historia al servicio de la educación desde que entró en la Congregación, no es extraño que sister Walter adore su trabajo con estudiantes. Así como ella comparte su pasión por la misión y el ministerio, la pasión de las/os estudiantes por trabajar por la justicia en el mundo también la inspira. Ella está particularmente entusiasmada con un sueño que se hizo realidad el año pasado cuando la Universidad se convirtió en una universidad designada por Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Había alrededor de 30 estudiantes que asistieron a un entrenamiento de todo el día sobre CRS, y la dejó lleno de energía y compromiso con este trabajo. Algunos de los enfoques a trabajar son el cambio climático, el comercio justo y la migración.

También está inspirada por la dedicación de la facultad y el personal a la misión de la Universidad. Actualmente está trabajando con la facultad de los programas de posgrado para integrar la Doctrina Social Católica en el plan de estudios. Hay un grupo de 20 personas que se reúnen para reflexionar sobre temas de justicia social desde la perspectiva de la Doctrina Social Católica a nivel personal, comunitario, estructural y global.

Al reflexionar sobre sus muchas y variadas responsabilidades en su ministerio, sister Walter reconoce que está "por todas partes, pero el poder de la presencia es tan importante. Realmente veo mi ministerio como un ministerio de presencia. Como representante de la Congregación escucho a estudiantes, personal  y profesores.  Reconozco  lo importante que es mi presencia para ellas/os y  no tengo miedo de saltar donde sea necesario, haciendo lo que hay que hacer mientras mantengo siempre la visión más amplia de nuestra misión presente". Esto también es evidente en su política de puerta abierta. Ella siempre tiene una puerta abierta para que cualquier persona en necesidad, cualquiera puede entrar, compartir con ella, y juntas/os pueden encontrar una respuesta a cualquier problema a medida que surja.

A pesar de sus muchas responsabilidades y su agenda llena por la Universidad,  sister Walter todavía estaba dispuesta a decir sí cuando fue invitada a servir como miembro del Comité Internacional de Justicia, Paz e Integridad de la Creación. Trae con ella un corazón abierto, y muchos años de experiencia sirviendo en comunidades diversas y respondiendo a una variedad de necesidades. Ella ve esto como una manera más de seguir sirviendo a la Congregación que ella dice ha bendecido tanto su propia vida.

Gracias hermana Walter por su "Sí" de colaborar con el Comité Internacional JPIC, y por toda la pasión, amor y humildad que comparte en su ministerio con la Universidad del Verbo Encarnado. ¡Qué bendición para todas y todos los que nos beneficiamos de sus muchos dones, compartidos tan generosamente!