~ by Carol Zimmermann, Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Leadership Conference of women Religious and the National Black Sisters Conference issued a joint statement on May 5 on the importance of ensuring that all people enjoy the right to vote “regardless of their race, zip code, economic status or party affiliation.”
“As women of faith and faithful Americans, we believe that all people have the right and obligation to participate fully in our democracy,” the sisters’ statement said, adding that they “strongly oppose all attempts to restrict that participation by limiting the sacred right to vote.”
The national sisters’ organizations also endorsed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Action Day on May 8, a national event supporting voter rights.
LCWR, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, is an umbrella group of more than 1,300 members representing more than 40,000 Catholic sisters. The National Black Sisters Conference based in Washington, is a group of more than 150 Black Catholic women religious and associates.
Referring to current voting restriction measures being considered and adopted in some states, the sisters said the right to vote is “under attack once again.” They also said the United States has a “long racist history when it comes to voting,” citing the literacy tests and grandfather clauses that were part of Jim Crow laws used to suppress voting.
“Our brothers and sisters struggled, some gave their lives, to secure the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” the women religious said, adding that: “It falls to us to continue their work.
They said Pope Francis’ encyclical “Evangelii Guadium” reminds them “that our vocation as Catholic sisters is inherently political” realizing that not only are they called to participate in public life but that their faith urges them to change the world.
“We cannot remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice,” the sisters said.
Outlining what they plan to do, the statement said they would “call out elected officials, at every level, who continue to introduce measures that would return us to the era of ‘Jim Crow.’” Conversely, they said, they would “support legislation that will ensure all people can exercise their precious right to vote.” To read more please click here
A second offering of the Gift of Mission vocation awareness program was presented this winter to a group of high school junior girls by an intercongregational team of sister religious. This time, the workshop was held at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Chestnut Hill, PA. The day offers a means of learning more about vocational calling and religious life. Interactive sessions and opportunities for prayer and meditation highlight the day. The Missionary Sisters play an active part in the planning and presentation of the day.