May 3, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – On behalf of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, the General Council signed on to an open letter from U.S. Catholics initiated by Pax Christi USA. The letter expresses “our anguish over the ongoing violence in Israel-Palestine.” In addition to signing the Pax Christi USA letter, the Adrian Dominican General Council also issued this statement calling for an end to the war, more humanitarian aid to those suffering from the war, and the release of all hostages.
We are horrified, anguished, and deeply pained by the continuing war in the Holy Land resulting in the slaughter of innocent children, women, and men in Gaza under the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We join other US Catholic leaders in calling for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and adherence to international law by all parties.”
We are witnessing:
- The horror of more than 13,750 children killed since the assault on Gaza began, nearly half of the 34,000 Palestinians estimated to have died.
- The recent airstrikes that killed seven humanitarian aid workers on clearly marked vehicles run by the World Central Kitchen, bringing the number of humanitarian aid workers killed in Gaza to at least 224, according to the United Nations.
- The inadequate supply of food, water, medicine, resulting in death by starvation of 28 children, and other women and men, with the UN World Food Program warning that famine is “imminent” if humanitarian aid is not increased “exponentially.”
- The shutdown of two-thirds of Gaza’s hospitals and nearly 80% of its healthcare facilities, with insufficient medications and staffing leaving untold numbers without medical care and many undergoing surgeries, including cesarean sections, without anesthesia.
- 180 children born each day in Gaza where a mother struggles to obtain two cups of water daily when she needs 16 cups a day to nurse her baby.
Our awareness and understanding of these catastrophic events are compromised by the unprecedented number of journalists in Gaza who have died. Although identified as “PRESS,” 100 Palestinian journalists have been killed covering the war during the past five months.
We are women of faith – women of the same Abrahamic faith as the Muslim women and girls under assault in Gaza; women of the same Abrahamic faith as the Jewish women and girls under assault in Israel on October 7. As women of faith, we join the international call and the call of US Catholic leaders for a permanent ceasefire, a return of all hostages, and unblocked road access for delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid.
We call on President Biden and Congress to stop supplying Israel with US weapons. It is unconscionable that our bombs and artillery are raining death and destruction on Palestinian children, their mothers and fathers. This military support runs counter to the moral call for a permanent ceasefire and all attempts to bring in desperately needed humanitarian aid.
We join Pope Francis who recently said, “Every day, in my heart, I carry the pain and suffering of the populations in Palestine and in Israel due to the ongoing hostilities.” He called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and throughout the region, “so that the hostages may be freed and return to their anxiously awaiting loved ones, and so that the civilian population may have safe access to necessary and urgent humanitarian aid.”
Pope Francis said, “Enough, please. Let us all say: Enough, please! Stop the war!”
We say, Amen.
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Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council are Sisters Elise D. García, OP, Prioress; Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, and Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilors; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor.
The Dominican Sisters of Adrian, a Congregation of about 400 vowed women religious and nearly 200 Associates, traces its roots back to St. Dominic in the 13th century. The Sisters minister in 21 states, the Dominican Republic, Norway, and the Philippines. The Congregation’s Vision is to “seek truth, make peace, reverence life.”