November 1, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – On behalf of Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates, the Leadership Council of the Congregation issued the following statement, calling on Americans to treat one another with respect and dignity on National Election Day, November 5, 2024, as they cast their ballots.
In four days, American citizens of legal age will go to the polls to cast votes that will determine who will occupy the White House, seats in the U.S. Congress, and leadership roles in states, counties and municipalities. The presidential and congressional contenders paint a starkly different vision and pathway for the future of our nation, and polls indicate Americans are evenly divided in our preferences. Many votes already have been cast through early voting and absentee ballots.
As Catholic Sisters who treasure the Gospel values of our faith tradition and the democratic traditions of our nation, we call on our fellow Americans to treat one another with dignity and respect when we head to the polls. Let us honor each other as we exercise the most fundamental right in a democratic society – to vote for the leaders of our choice. Let us especially honor and respect fellow citizens of both political parties who work diligently at the polls to help ensure the integrity and fairness of our elections, which are at the heart of our democracy. They deserve our deep gratitude for this essential safeguarding work, not denigration with false accusations or threats of harm.
We Adrian Dominican Sisters follow the Way of a first-century Jew who called us to love God and one another – not just those who are like us but also those who differ in faith, race, gender, ethnicity, viewpoint. We strive to do so in the spirit of St. Dominic, a 13th-century Spaniard who called us to seek truth and speak it as preachers of the Gospel. We consequently speak out for justice, equity, and inclusion, respecting the dignity of all God’s richly diverse people; for protecting our sacred Earth home, honoring all life; and for peace in our nation and the world.
We pray that our faith, as Americans, in the goodness of our neighbors – families across the country who share their precious lives with one another – will triumph over partisan differences as we exercise the awesome freedom and responsibility of living in a democracy.
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Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Leadership Council include Sisters Bibiana Colasito, OP, General Councilor; Margaret Coyne, OP, Chapter Prioress; Sara Fairbanks, OP, Mission Prioress; Judith Friedel, OP, Chapter Prioress; Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation; Mary Jane Lubinski, OP, Mission Prioress; Marie Yolanda Manapsal, OP, Chapter Prioress; Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilor; Mary Priniski, OP, Chapter Prioress; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor; and Mary Soher, OP, Mission Prioress.