Collaborative Efforts

ADVOCATING TO END GUN VIOLENCE

The Catholic Sisters of Western Pennsylvania join Catholics and all faithful persons to continue to pray for victims and survivors of gun violence, including those affected by the 2018 mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. We also continue to pray for peace and an end to the plague of gun violence in the United States. As Catholic Sisters, God calls us to act in response to the increasing frequency of high-profile incidents of gun violence, as well as the many other incidents that don't make the news, including domestic violence and suicide. We stand with the other Catholic leaders to urge our elected leaders and those in positions of power to work together, take a comprehensive look at the causes of gun violence, and take effective action to end gun violence.

LCWR Issues Call to End Gun Violence
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Statement
A gun violence ‘plague’: Catholic leaders decry bloody weekend in US (National Catholic Reporter)

PATH TO JUSTICE

PATH to Justice is a committee of the Catholic Sisters Leadership Council (CSLC) that addresses Gospel justice with a focus on issues current and relevant to southwestern Pennsylvania. The CSLC is a collaboration of communities of Catholic sisters serving western Pennsylvania. PATH to Justice was formed in 2004 to join in solidarity with Catholic sisters across the country who, under the auspices of the Leadership Council of Women Religious, resolved to address the trafficking of women and children. In 2008, PATH to Justice expanded its focus to include comprehensive immigration reform.

SISTERS PLACE

Sisters Place Inc. is a supportive housing community committed to assisting single parent families who are homeless in southwestern Pennsylvania. Its mission is to assist such families toward self-sufficiency by providing housing and supportive services.

Sisters Place was founded in 1993 by the CSLC (then the Tri-Diocesan Sisters Leadership Conference) as an outgrowth of their interest in serving the poor in the community. Because of their extensive experience with this needy population, the group recognized the critical need of many impoverished families for stable housing and supportive services as they work to make lasting, positive changes in their lives. The organization provides both transitional and permanent housing to single parents. The transitional housing program is limited to two years and focuses on young mothers between the ages of 18 and 26. The permanent housing program provides housing indefinitely to single parents (and their children) with disabilities.

Each family resides in their own townhouse located in a larger housing complex. Sisters Place initially purchased and renovated 20 individual townhouses in 1996. The scattered site arrangement allows for anonymity, especially important for families who have escaped domestic violence. An afterschool program and summer camp experience is provided to the children in both of the residential programs.

CLICK HERE to visit the Sisters Place website.

NEWS & STATEMENTS

Sisters of Mercy Say: No War with Iran

Sister Patricia McDermott, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas president, issued this statement on the 2019 U.S. strike against Iran:

“Sisters of Mercy of the Americas join with people across the world in condemning the Trump Administration’s drone strike assassination of Qassem Soleimani, leader of Iran’s Quds force, outside of Baghdad. Far from fostering peace in a troubled part of the world, this reckless decision will only escalate violence and increase suffering for millions of people. We call on our government to reject violence and militarism and, instead, engage in the hard work of diplomacy.”

Sisters in Leadership Call on President Trump to Stop All Divisive & Polarizing Rhetoric

In August 2019, during the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), 663 leaders of orders of Catholic Sisters sent a letter to President Trump beseeching him to end all divisive and polarizing rhetoric. The Catholic Sisters of Western PA stand with the LCWR to call upon the President of the United States to exercise his moral authority for the good of all people. Read the full letter here.

"We implore you to never use language that disrespects, dehumanizes, or demonizes others. We expect our President, and all who serve this nation as leaders, to be always mindful of the common good and the dignity of each and every person. You hold a position that has the potential to inspire the best of every one of us and we ask you to use this unique status to bring about healing and never seek to create division."

CSLC Statement on Trump Administration’s Intent to End DACA

September 6, 2017 — As the collective voice of women religious throughout our region, the Catholic Sisters Leadership Council of Western Pennsylvania (CSLC) cannot remain silent in light of the injustice being perpetrated upon one of our country’s vulnerable populations. By rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Trump Administration and the Department of Justice are acting in violation of one of the critical moral pillars upon which our country was built.

Each of the 16 religious communities that CSLC represents comes from diverse ethnic backgrounds but had its beginnings in the United States to serve a common purpose — to provide education and spiritual enrichment for immigrant families. That purpose has not changed, as we continue to serve all of God’s people, including the poor in schools, hospitals, social services and parishes.

So as to support those whose voices are not heard, we offer our collective voice in favor of legislation to create a foreseeable future for those impacted by the nullification of DACA, some 800,000 people who came to the U.S. as children and know no other home. Rather than incite fear among our country’s immigrant population, we strongly urge Congress to pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act and provide a path by which these young immigrants who contribute to American society as students, laborers, military members and business owners may achieve citizenship in a country that, itself, was founded by immigrants.

We ask you to join us in prayer for those fearful for their families and their futures as a result of DACA’s demise. Likewise, we encourage our friends in the community to contact their members of Congress and urge them to act now and support the DREAM Act, as it is simply the right thing to do.

CSLC Statement on Trump Administration’s Immigration Restrictions

February 1, 2017 — “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” – Leviticus 19:33-34

We are ALL immigrants. As representatives of more than 17 communities of Catholic Sisters serving in western Pennsylvania, we are united by our shared immigrant heritage and are compelled to continue to speak up for those who have no voice.

Our founding Sisters were immigrants or daughters of immigrants. Some orders came to America centuries ago, and others were formed here to serve the needs of a young nation filled with the hope and promise of freedom for all. We share a mission to serve the poor and oppressed, which in the early days of the United States included immigrant populations from Europe in need of spiritual guidance, education, healthcare, compassion and mercy.

Answering this call, our Sisters established and staffed schools and hospitals. We fed the physical and spiritual hunger of those navigating the divides of culture and language while helping to power the workforce and drive the prosperity of a land where Lady Liberty welcomed them with open arms to her shores.

Assimilation did not come without challenges. Our Sisters and other fledgling Americans faced discrimination based on their ethnicity and religion as they strived to become citizens of this melting pot society. But our Sisters and those they served persevered and became diverse threads in the colorful fabric of our region and our country. They educated generations of children, served tirelessly in our churches, comforted the sick, advocated for the oppressed and brought spiritual comfort to starving souls.

So it is with great concern and disappointment that we see this same discrimination faced by our ancestors directed toward Muslims and other immigrants and refugees seeking the safety, hope and promise that our country has always represented. We join Pope Francis, Bishop David Zubik and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration in expressing our deep concerns about the President’s executive order.

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” – Hebrews 13:2

We understand and support the responsibility of any government to safeguard its citizens. However, we firmly reject the Trump Administration’s ban on immigrants and refugees — no matter how temporary it may be — as a credible means of keeping Americans safe. We are deeply troubled by an executive order that is in such dramatic contrast to the fundamental values upon which our country was founded.

We reject the very notion that Muslim men, women and children pose any threat to Americans solely on the basis of their faith and, therefore, strongly disagree with any action taken against any people solely on the basis of their race, ethnicity, country or origin or faith. We also do not believe that Americans at home or abroad are made any less safe by providing shelter and safety for vulnerable men, women and children who are fleeing violence and other life-threatening circumstances in their homelands.

We offer gratitude to the civic leaders and elected officials who have already spoken in favor of welcoming vulnerable migrants and refugees, and applaud judicial rulings that have stayed portions of the ban. We urge our leaders, regardless of political party, to continue to speak and act boldly and courageously in upholding the Constitution and our country’s fundamental values.

Likewise, we urge faith leaders to join us in speaking, acting and advocating for the preservation of religious freedom in the United States. We also particularly urge Christians to join us in rejecting any hint of priority because of our faith.

The refugees and immigrants detained at our airports are no different than the families who came to our ports at other times in our country’s history. They arrive, suitcases in hand and hope in their hearts – some to escape unimaginable circumstances and some simply to make a better future — just like our ancestors. We can see in their faces the very same promise as in the previous generations of our own families and Sisters who came before us.

It is our profound hope that Lady Liberty shall never extend her palms in rejection, but rather maintain the welcoming embrace she has always offered. It is imperative that every society learn from its mistakes and draw lessons from its past. Now is the time for our country to reexamine its origins and reaffirm the values that have made it and its people great.

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