News

November 6, 2018

The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province join with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other organizations outraged at today’s announcement, in expressing our deep sadness and disappointment that President Trump chose to discontinue protection of our 800,000 Dreamers through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

While we understand that Congress has several other tasks to attend to this session, because the window of opportunity is limited to six months, we urge Congress to take steps immediately to pass the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017. The Dreamers are integral to our society as members of our families, our neighbors, our students and friends. How can we stand by and watch them be expelled, banished to countries foreign to them? They are talented teachers in our schools, competent and compassionate caregivers in our retirement communities, our colleagues and employees. It is impossible to imagine our schools, local hotels, restaurants and businesses, our healthcare systems, armed services and first responders in emergencies without their leadership and skilled commitment.

Will we simply turn our heads in the face of another blatant decision supporting racism?

We strongly encourage all people committed to justice and respect for and love of neighbor to contact your congresspersons to urge them to ensure that the Dream Act of 2017 becomes law, write letters to editors and also join with others in prayer services and in local demonstrations in support of the 800,000 Dreamers and the Dream Act of 2017.

November 1, 2018

The Sisters of the Holy Names of the U.S.-Ontario Province stand with the caravan of immigrants and asylum seekers from Central America coming to our U.S. border. We are appalled by President Trump’s inflammatory remarks concerning these families forced from their homes by extraordinary violence from gangs, insecurity and corruption in their countries. Families cannot live in this total fear without the hope of safety or sufficient income or a peaceful life.

We ask the U.S. Congress to challenge the president to uphold the values our country has practiced for generations of welcoming immigrants and sheltering asylum seekers. It is a human right to seek asylum. The president’s comments about these immigrants are disrespectful and often not true, i.e., saying these refugees include terrorists from the Middle East and that they are invading our country.

Now the administration is sending 5,200 troops to our southern border to stop this caravan of immigrants and asylum seekers. One retired military officer has declared that the military is deployed for war, not for assisting in apprehending immigrants. Why is the U.S. Congress letting the president basically declare war on families seeking to enter the U.S. to save their lives and to live in peace?

We urge the administration to withdraw all military troops from our border and to manage refugee arrivals humanely and in a manner that respects their dignity and rights under U.S. and international law. Specifically we ask:

• Allow immigrants approaching our border to ask for protection in the U.S. and to be processed in a timely manner.
• Ensure that asylum seekers have access to legal counsel and receive a fair resolution to their claim.
• Guarantee that parents and children stay together while they seek asylum.

We must remember that the great majority of U.S. citizens’ ancestors have been immigrants. We want these current immigrants to have the same opportunity that our ancestors had.

For those of us who are Christians, we are reminded that Jesus clearly said we are to “welcome the stranger.” In today’s world, the strangers among us certainly include immigrants and refugees.

We urge all people of good will to contact your U.S. Congressional leaders to use their influence to stop our president’s current fear mongering and instead to allow immigrants and asylum seekers to cross the border and be humanely treated according to the laws of our country.

Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
U.S.-Ontario Province Leadership Team

October 12, 2018

In the spirit of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher, people joined together on her feast day to witness to the mission she set in motion 175 years ago with the founding of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

Groups of Sisters, Associates, ministry partners, alumni, students, collaborators and friends planned activities on and around the SNJM Day of Service and Justice designated by the Congregational Leadership Team on Oct. 6, ranging from quiet prayers to advocacy for the needs of society and the Earth.

In Seattle, WA, 13 Sisters and Associates gathered with members of other religious congregations, Holy Names Academy students and others to participate in an anti-human trafficking vigil held in downtown Seattle, organized each month by the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center.

Members of Holy Redeemer Parish and students at St. Mary’s Academy in Portland, OR joined 19 Sisters who volunteered to cut fabric pieces for infant clothes, blankets and bibs. Mary Murphy, a St. Mary’s alumna and Holy Redeemer parishioner, sews the pieces for Mother & Child, formerly Birthright, a nonprofit that assists women and children in need. Meanwhile, Sisters Joan Flynn and Cathy Beckley joined a rally calling for an end to the contract between a regional Oregon prison and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On the feast day, Sisters and Associates from the Yakima Mission Centre helped out at a food bank in Toppenish, WA. Every Saturday a lunch is served to people experiencing homelessness.

In the Mid-Atlantic region, members of the congregation gathered to pray and write letters to legislators. Six members shared a prayer and read from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ encyclical before heading for the Long Branch tributary to the Anacostia River to work on cleaning up the water before it flows into the Chesapeake Bay.

Sisters, Associates and students at Holy Names schools in the Bay Area joined forces for several service projects as well as community-building activities. Holy Names University students played Blessed Marie Rose trivia and wrote cards to retired Sisters in the South Bay. On Oct. 5, students, alumni, staff and volunteers at HNU including Sisters Carol Nicklas and Carol Sellman worked alongside Holy Names High School students to clean up the area around Lake Merritt where the first Holy Names Sisters lived when they arrived in California 150 years ago.

Holy Names High School celebrated Rose Week, with a special Mass on Oct. 3 that included an invitation for students to write their prayer intentions and place them in bowl to be taken to the altar. A celebration was held after Mass with a birthday cake for Blessed Marie Rose.

Sisters in an assisted living center in Campbell, CA celebrated Blessed Marie Rose’s feast day with a prayer service created by Sister Aileen Carissimi. And on the other side of the country, in Albany, NY, a group of Holy Names Sisters, Associates and friends gathered in the former provincial administration building on Oct. 6 to celebrate with prayer and lunch.

Sister Kay Burton decided to honor Blessed Marie Rose by joining a community group in cleaning trash and mowing the grounds of the Jonestown City Park in Jonestown, MS. The Holy Names Sisters have deep ties with the people in the area, where Holy Names health and education ministries date back to the 1980s.

July 9, 2018

June 1, 2018

The Sisters of the Holy Names of the U.S.-Ontario Province strongly disagree with the new policy of the Trump Administration that tears children away from their parents who are seeking asylum on the southern U.S. border. Asylum seekers from Central America travel a long distance from their home countries at considerable risk because they want to live in peace, without fear of gangs abducting their children and senseless killings of innocent people, oftentimes by the military in their own countries.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said, “We don’t want to separate families, but we don’t want families to come to the border illegally and attempt to enter this country improperly.” However, the United States for many years has managed to provide asylum hearings to parents without dividing families. The Trump Administration has created a crisis for unaccompanied children by taking more than 700 minors from their parents between October 2017 and mid-April. The new administration policy is to not let any asylum seekers into the country on our border with Mexico. We find it extremely inhumane that families fleeing to our country for asylum are being cruelly wrenched apart once they cross our border.

There are also reports that between 1,000 and 1,500 unaccompanied children who made the hazardous journey to the U.S. without their parents cannot be accounted for by government agencies that have responsibility for them.

What has happened to our moral compass as a country, and what has happened to the family values that the White House supposedly upholds? It might be a good time to remind this administration and all U.S. Christians that Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do also to me.”

We strongly urge President Trump and all members of Congress to stop the inhumane policy of forcing apart children and their parents as families seek asylum with our country.

U.S.-Ontario Province Leadership Team
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary

February 26, 2018

The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary support the actions of those who seek reasonable regulations on firearms following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It is morally wrong to remain silent and inactive in the presence of mortal danger to schoolchildren and those who care for them.

We extend our heartfelt prayers to those who will never cease to mourn the loss of those 17 precious lives, and we agree with those who cry out that prayers are not enough. We affirm the call by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for a ban on assault weapons. The USCCB states, “We must respond. Violence – in our homes, our schools and streets, our nation and world – is destroying the lives, dignity and hopes of millions of our sisters and brothers.”

Throughout our religious community’s 175-year history, we have been committed to loving and educating students. We remain committed to the mission of our foundress to support the full development of the human person. This cannot happen when the realistic fear of a mass shooting pollutes the atmosphere of every classroom.

We repeat our call for lawmakers to enact legislation that will end the constant threat of gun violence in the United States. We stand in solidarity with the Parkland students and their allies who reject the idea that existing gun laws are acceptable. We join their demand for immediate action to make society safer for all, especially for children and youth, by reducing minors’ access to guns and banning assault weapons.

February 2, 2018

For more than 50 years, Sister Catherine Ferguson has been serving as a Holy Names Sister throughout the world. During her career, Sister Catherine, who has served in SNJM leadership, also taught high school in both Oregon and Washington, researched Christian base communities in Latin America, received her doctoral degree in International Studies and founded and coordinated UNANIMA International, an NGO doing advocacy at the United Nations.

This spring, Sister Catherine will take on a new role as a board member of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby. NETWORK’s mission is to transform social and economic inequalities in the U.S. by working for just wages, quality healthcare, protecting the rights of immigrants and assuring affordable housing for all. NETWORK’s mission is grounded in Scripture, Catholic social teaching and lived realities. It seeks justice by advocating for federal policies consistent with Gospel values.

Sister Catherine and other NETWORK board members will serve on both the NETWORK advocacy board and NETWORK lobby board starting in April. In this capacity the board members ensure that NETWORK fulfills its mission and maintains a sustainable organization.

In explaining her desire to serve on the NETWORK board, Sister Catherine said, “I am excited to be connected firsthand with NETWORK and its creative and effective work of advocacy at the federal level. Remember its NUNS ON THE BUS campaign? It is so important that we ordinary citizens tell our elected representatives what we want of our government and assure that its policies and actions are truly for the common good and not just for the good of those who are wealthy. I have always wanted to be involved in advocacy at the national level.”

With her many years of experience working as an advocate on the international level, Sister Catherine is ready for the new opportunity to advocate domestically. “Right now I think NETWORK will be advocating especially for immigrants,” she said. She also identified other important issues such as affordable healthcare, creation of jobs and the development of a federal budget which responds to the needs of the country and fulfills our obligations to the international community.

Sister Catherine’s interest in advocacy is driven by the core Gospel values that motivate all Sisters of the Holy Names in their prayer and ministry. These values are succinctly expressed in the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

More information about NETWORK can be found at https://networklobby.org.

October 12, 2017

As women religious committed to Christ’s saving path of peace and mercy, we implore U.S. lawmakers to do everything in their power to stop the carnage of mass shootings that have ended so many lives and broken so many hearts. Of course, we pray for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting and their loved ones. But as we face the continued epidemic of gun violence in the U.S., we must work to find a common commitment to action as well as prayer.

Following the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Pope Francis expressed his “deepest feelings of horror and condemnation.” The Vatican’s call for meaningful change to end “such terrible and absurd violence” reflects strong Catholic social teaching on providing witness on behalf of a culture of life. Surely we can agree on the supreme value of legislation that makes our society a safer place for all.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called on Catholics and all people of good will to urge their Senators and Representative to adopt “reasonable regulations on firearms” and other measures to reduce criminal and violent activity through restorative justice. Therefore we call on Congress to reject measures that would make Americans less safe, including these proposed measures:

• The SHARE Act (H.R. 3668), which would repeal restrictions on gun silencers and make it harder to detect the source of gunfire during mass shootings.
• The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (H.R. 38), which would force states to recognize concealed carry permits issued by any other state.

We also encourage the Republican majority in both houses of Congress to sponsor a bill to outlaw the selling of “bump stocks” that make assault rifles into automatic machine-like guns capable of releasing as many as 100 bullets in nine seconds. The guns used to kill victims in Las Vegas were equipped with these legal attachments.

Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
U.S.-Ontario Province Leadership Team
Maureen Delaney, SNJM
Mary Breiling, SNJM
Guadalupe Guajardo, SNJM
Margaret Kennedy, SNJM
Mary Rita Rohde, SNJM

September 5, 2017

The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province join with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other organizations outraged at today’s announcement, in expressing our deep sadness and disappointment that President Trump chose to discontinue protection of our 800,000 Dreamers through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

While we understand that Congress has several other tasks to attend to this session, because the window of opportunity is limited to six months, we urge Congress to take steps immediately to pass the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017. The Dreamers are integral to our society as members of our families, our neighbors, our students and friends. How can we stand by and watch them be expelled, banished to countries foreign to them? They are talented teachers in our schools, competent and compassionate caregivers in our retirement communities, our colleagues and employees. It is impossible to imagine our schools, local hotels, restaurants and businesses, our healthcare systems, armed services and first responders in emergencies without their leadership and skilled commitment.

Will we simply turn our heads in the face of another blatant decision supporting racism?

We strongly encourage all people committed to justice and respect for and love of neighbor to contact your congresspersons to urge them to ensure that the Dream Act of 2017 becomes law, write letters to editors and also join with others in prayer services and in local demonstrations in support of the 800,000 Dreamers and the Dream Act of 2017.