Lisa Demler (second from left), the justice, peace, and integrity of creation director for the Central Pacific Province, holds envelopes filled with letters that were blessed and will be delivered to members of Congress. Also pictured are SSND Shalom International Coordinator Tim Dewane, Associate Mary Gunning, Nancy Dewane, Sister Mary Kay Brooks, and Sister Joan Pikiell.
SSND sisters, associates, ministry partners, and friends gathered on June 24 with individuals from religious congregations across the United States at the Sisters Speak Out Prayer and Public Witness Gathering at the U.S. Capitol. The focus of the event was to uplift Gospel values, challenge destructive policies, dispel disinformation, and embody compassion and hope.
Participants prayed for justice for immigrants facing deportation, families being separated, and those impacted by proposed federal cuts to healthcare and food assistance programs. Rooted in the belief that all people are created in the image of God, those present joined in a call for compassionate policies.
“Our Call of the 25th General Chapter states ‘We are present with people at the peripheries and collaborate together to end all forms of discrimination, inequity, and violence,'” said Sister Joan Pikiell. “My experience at this event encouraged me that School Sisters of Notre Dame are not working alone in this call. Let us pray that our legislators hear the cries of the poor and experience a change in their hearts.”
The day after the Sisters Speak Out event, some members of the group participated on behalf of SSND in the Laudato Si Pilgrimage to Congress, where volunteers took copies of the encyclical to every Catholic member of Congress, urging them to do all they can to respond to the cries of the Earth and the poor for the common good of all.
To read more about the June 24 event, visit https://www.globalsistersreport.org/social-justice/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-not-beautiful-these-catholic-sisters.
SSND Shalom International Coordinator Tim Dewane, Nancy Dewane, Central Pacific Province Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Director Lisa Demler, and Sister Mary Kay Brooks stop outside Representative Mark Messmer’s office as they deliver copies of Laudato Si’.
Sister Mary Kay Brooks lead a prayer during the event.