Dominican Alliance Justice, Peace, and Care of Creation Meeting

From May 19-21 the Dominican Alliance Justice, Peace, and Care of Creation Promoters met in Springfield, Illinois for their annual meeting. Saturday was spent on Jubilee Farm where Sharon Therese Zayac, OP shared her vast knowledge and wisdom as she spoke about sustainability, GMOs, and water issues. We kept asking ourselves about the implications for all of this in our Dominican lives, as we continue to take up the effort of justice in a balance of study, prayer, preaching, and right relationships.

On Sunday we attended to the Dominican Call to Action items: Iraq, Immigration, Human Trafficking, and Ecology. Our annual meeting is always a rich time of associations and collaboration. We will connect again in Adrian at the NAJPCC meeting planned for July 22-26, 2006.

WATER: THIRSTING FOR JUSTICE

The Religious Orders Partnership: Partnership for Global Justice annual meeting was held at Holy Family Catholic Church and the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, April 27-29, 2006. Fifteen Dominican women were among the 115 participant. Key note speakers and panelists presented current issues, research, and actions regarding water. Such topics as water sovereignty, equity, conservation, and the spirituality of water were offered. Speakers at the UN spoke of the gender issue connected with water, privatization of water, cost effectiveness of desalination, water as commodity, as well as environment protection and sustainability. Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai, of the Green Belt Movement, Kenya, Africa was recipient of ROP’s Third Annual Justice Award.. The Conference ended with a four hour tour of the Hudson River, where the ecology, history, stories, music, and art of the area were explored.