SISTERS COLLABORATE TO WELCOME JUSTICE COORDINATOR
In a new initiative, Sisters of Charity (SCIC) are pleased to collaborate with Sisters of St. Martha of PEI (CSM) to welcome Yolande Whalen as their new justice coordinator beginning April 3, 2023. SCIC are based in Greater Saint John, N.B., with some members also in the Canadian West and North. CSM of PEI are based in Charlottetown.
Yolande will spend time in both Maritime locations and engage with Sisters and Associates in person and via Zoom online conferencing. She will also participate with Sisters, Associates, and staff of other communities, while networking with groups committed to justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
“I bring with me a deep reverence for our collective home and all of creation,” says Yolande. “It is our responsibility to rise to meet the uncertainties of our time with compassion, conviction and grace.”
Yolande grew up on a self-sustaining farmstead and resides in Long Reach on New Brunswick’s Kingston Peninsula. Her background is in education in areas of communications, culture, public policy, and visual arts. She is also a certified Laudato Si’ animator.
Each congregation will offer an orientation process with Yolande, who says she welcomes the opportunity to help further and enhance the Sisters’ “legacies of faith and service”.
Development and Peace-Caritas Canada
SAINT JOHN, N.B. – Sisters Muriel Buckley (left) and Roma De Robertis (right) visited Wayne Long, MP for Saint John-Rothesay Nov. 7, 2022. They delivered a petition from Development and Peace-Caritas Canada signed by Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception and staff. It calls for federal legislation ensuring companies based in Canada and operating abroad safeguard human rights and the environment. The legislation would result in meaningful consequences for companies failing to uphold such safeguards. It would also establish a legal right for people who have been harmed to seek justice in Canadian courts. Mr. Long agreed to table the petition in the House of Commons. He also signed a D & P pledge (in photo) supporting legislation to end corporate human rights abuse and environmental damage abroad. (Photo: David Hickey)
Eliminating Systemic Racism
Listen, learn and act: Together eliminating systemic racism. A message against racism from the CRC. George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Chantel Moore, Rodney Levi and Regis Korchinski-Paquet died violent deaths in the past three months in incidents involving police. George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor were members of Black communities in the United States. Chantel Moore, Rodney Levi and Regis Korchinski-Paquet come from Indigenous and Black communities in Canada. CLICK HERE for the full message.
DIALOGUE CIRCLE EXPLORES POPE’S TEACHING ON ECOLOGY
SAINT JOHN, N.B. -
PARTNERING WITH AFRICAN GRANDMOTHERS
SAINT JOHN, N.B. – For several years, the Sisters of Charity at Saint Vincent Residence have been raising funds for a regional partnership with African grandmothers caring for grandchildren whose parents died of AIDS. Based in nearby Hampton, N.B., the Grandmother Partnership works with and offers support to Gogos, or grandmothers in Piggs Peak, Swaziland in southern Africa. In the photo, grandmothers display produce from the partnership’s Garden Project. Beginning in 2015, the Sisters welcomed two active partnership members to learn about the initiative. They formed a committee and members set out collection jars where they live. The donated funds help provide food for the children and seedlings for the garden, while contributing to birthday parties for hard-working grandmothers. Their ministry invites prayer for the partnership, grandmothers and grandchildren. For more, see www.hamptonpiggspeak.ca ( Photo~ Karen Mandy)
ACCOMPANYING NEWCOMERS
Sister Muriel Buckley (left) and Rashad Alhamwi participated Feb. 18, 2017 in a fundraising event at the Crescent Valley Resource Centre. Sister Muriel accompanies Syrian newcomers in the Saint John neighbourhood of Crescent Valley. Mrs. Alhamwi served at the event offering Syrian food and crafts to raise money for sewing machines for Syrian women in Jordan. Many were widowed during brutal war in their homeland. The women will receive training on the sewing machines, leading to employment opportunities to support their families. (SCIC photo)
Celebrating the life of Sister Angie Martz
The Council of Canadians community mourns the passing of our dear friend Sister Angie Martz. A lifelong activist, teacher and spiritual leader for many across generations in her community of Saint John, NB, Sister Angie remained active and engaged in advancing social justice until her final days.
“Angie was and will continue to be my guiding light,” said Leticia Adair, friend, member of the Saint John Chapter and former Council board member. “One of the founding members of our Chapter, Angie was always present at meetings, participating in actions and writing letters. Water rights and working on behalf of refugees was close to her heart. Her faith, firm resolve and commitment to justice, has sustained and guided us for the past 30 years. I will miss her dearly.”
At our 2009 annual general meeting held in Saint John, the Council presented Sister Angie with the Maude Barlow Founder’s Award in recognition of her tremendous contribution to the Council and of her life's work.
“Those who care for peace and justice lost a dear friend with the passing of Sister Angie,” said Maude Barlow, friend and Honorary Chair of the Council. “She touched everyone she met with her passion, humour and love. When I last visited her, she held my hand in silent prayer and I walked for days surrounded by a feeling of safety, secure in the blessing of Sister Angie. We honoured Angie several years ago with our Founder’s Award and she honoured us by accepting it. A remarkable role model of a life well lived."
As eloquently said in her obituary, “anyone who met Sister Angie knew of her passion for social justice and her care for creation. She had a wide circle of friends from all walks of life and tradition and she will be deeply missed.”
Pictured: Sister Angie Martz accepting her Founder’s Award from Maude Barlow at the Council of Canadians’ 2009 annual general meeting