Peace and Justice

Leadership Taking Action

IHM Leadership Endorsements and Public Statements

Below you will find the most recent endorsements by the IHM Leadership Council of organizational sign-on letters and position statements on issues that are important to the congregation.

Aug. 16, 2017

Statement regarding Charlottesville, Va., and racism

The Leadership Council of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Monroe, Mich., strongly condemns the violent white supremacist rallies that were held last weekend in Charlottesville, Va., resulting in the death of Heather Heyer, a young woman standing up to racism and hatred.

The wounds of racism are deeply embedded within the history of our nation. However, public discussion of racism in the United States has often been invalidated in recent years by the false perception that the successes of the Civil Rights Movement and the election of the first black president of the United States had largely eradicated racial inequality. The reality is that racism is alive and well. It continues to be manifested both in overt ways – as we saw in Charlottesville this past weekend – and in subtle, pervasive ways including economic inequality, disparities in health care and education, violence within the criminal justice system and the privilege afforded to white people living in a racist society. The perpetuation of this system harms us as all and deprives us of the richness that our uniqueness and diversity provide.

It’s also important to acknowledge the way in which those who openly espouse racial hatred have been emboldened in recent months by both the rhetoric and policies of our elected officials. We call upon them to explicitly and publicly condemn white supremacy and those organizations that seek to legitimize and advance it. We specifically call upon President Trump to remove supporters of white-supremacist ideology from his cabinet and to stand against the racist policies they propose.

Recently, the IHM community reaffirmed our commitment to healing the wounds of racism within ourselves, our community and systemically. We desire to deepen our understanding of racism as a systemic, structural cause that underlies and contributes to multiple situations of injustice in our world. We will continue to explore the ways that we are complicit in racism, both as individuals and as a congregation, so that we might work toward a more just, inclusive, relational and loving Earth community.

Aug. 2, 2017

IHM Leadership Council endorsed the “We Are With Dreamers” sign-on statement

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides protection from deportation and a roadmap to citizenship for immigrant youth who entered the United States as children, is under attack. Ten attorneys general are threatening to sue President Trump if he doesn’t end DACA by September 5th. There is genuine concern that Trump could end the DACA program in the next few weeks. The good news is that last week, 20 state attorneys general sent a letter calling on President Trump to maintain DACA and touting its successful track record.

The “We Are With Dreamers” statement demonstrates that elected officials, law enforcement, faith, and civic leaders stand with these young people and want to preserve the DACA program. Local and national faith leaders, congregations and faith-based organizations are encouraged to sign on. The statement will be published on August 15.

The IHM Chapter 2012 Directions state, “Together, with those who share our vision and values, and in solidarity with those who are made poor and marginalized by existing structures, we choose to move forward with profound trust in the power of the Spirit, living the liberating mission of Jesus Christ.” This recommendation for endorsement is made with this commitment in mind.

June 5, 2017

IHM Leadership Council releases statement regarding
the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement

We, the Leadership Council of the IHM Sisters, a Catholic community of 313 vowed sisters and 121 associates, express our deep disappointment and grave concern with President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and to stop all future payments to the Green Climate Fund (that assists developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change).

Global climate change is already harming the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world. Some of the poorest U.S. citizens (from Alaska to Louisiana) are being displaced by rising sea levels. The World Health Organization warns that “between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.”

Climate change unjustly and disproportionately harms people who have the most to lose but contribute least to the problem. All nations (but especially those nations that contribute most to the problem) have a responsibility to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. The United States (the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases) is now abdicating that responsibility.

We urge President Trump to reconsider his decision. In the meantime, the IHM Sisters remain committed to collaborating with others in shaping public policies that will foster ecological co-responsibility and eco-justice. We will continue to advocate for strong policies and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We also commend civic leaders, mayors, governors and the majority of the business community who continue to support the Paris Climate Agreement and have vowed to continue to move the United States forward in reaching our emissions reductions goals.

We remain hopeful that if our government will not lead in addressing the climate crisis, the people will. As Pope Francis writes in Laudato Si’, “We require a new and universal solidarity. … All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents.”

April 6, 2017

The IHM Leadership Council recently endorsed the HOW Coalition Sign-On Letter in Support of the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes make up the largest body of fresh water on Earth. More than 35 million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, jobs and their way of life. More than 3,500 species of plants and animals live in the Great Lakes basin. More than 170 species of fish inhabit the Great Lakes, their tributaries and connecting waterways.

In March, the Trump Administration released its 2018 budget proposal that included the complete elimination of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a popular program responsible for cleaning up toxic pollution, restoring wildlife habitat, controlling invasive species and reducing runoff from cities and farms. The cuts are part of the administration’s efforts to gut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by $2.6 billion, almost one-third of the budget for the agency responsible for ensuring every American has clean, safe drinking water.

The HOW Coalition prepared a letter in support of funding key Great Lakes programs in Fiscal Year 2018 including the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, and other priorities, along with general support for funding for core federal agencies that support all Great Lakes work.

This letter is addressed to the Chairman and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. It will also be sent to the chair and ranking members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, shared with the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture, Energy-Water, and Interior-EPA appropriations subcommittees, and shared with the House and Senate Great Lakes delegation.

This letter was endorsed as an expression of the IHM congregation’s commitment to “collaborating with others in shaping public policies that will foster ecological co-responsibility and eco-justice” (IHM 1994 Enactment on Eco-Justice.)

March 30, 2017

The IHM Leadership Council has issued a public statement on the president’s recent executive order on energy.

“The IHM Sisters recognize and respect the sacredness and interdependence of all creation. We are aware that when we lose reverence for and awe of creation, as well as an understanding of our place as partners within the Earth community, our sense of God and of ourselves is diminished. It is from this awareness that the IHM Leadership Council expresses its disappointment with President Trump’s March 28 executive order on energy policy that would attempt to roll back some of the most important climate and energy initiatives developed in recent years, including the Clean Power Plan (CPP) that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation.

“In his encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis refers to the Earth’s climate as a ‘common good, belonging to all and meant for all.’ He acknowledges the scientific consensus that Earth’s climate is warming and that greenhouse gases, released as a result of human activity, are the largest contributor. It is the poor and vulnerable around the world who will feel – and are already experiencing – the greatest effects of climate change (flooding, extreme weather, drought, crop loss, etc.) We echo Pope Francis’ call to ‘recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it.’

“The ‘Clean Power Plan’ was a strong step in the right direction for the United States, the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It was developed through years of careful consultation with the energy industry, states and other stakeholders and was recognized as a reasonable approach to reducing the carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Dismantling the CPP would not only make it harder to achieve the necessary levels of greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the climate crisis, it would protect a nominal number of jobs in the coal industry relative to the number jobs that could be created from greater investment in renewable energy if the CPP moves forward.

“The IHM Sisters are committed to collaborating with others in shaping public policies that will foster ecological co-responsibility and eco-justice. As potentially harmful as this executive order may be, we hope that the energy industry will move forward with adopting strong policies and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost renewable energy – not out of regulatory obligation – but because it makes long-term economic sense and because the future of Earth, our home, depends upon it.”

Jan. 11, 2017

IHM Leadership Council recently endorsed the ICCR “Affordable Care Act Support Letter.” The letter will be sent to President-elect Trump and members of the United States Congress, urging them to:

Preserve the Affordable Care Act;
Work collaboratively with all key stakeholders to improve the ACA and better rein in health care costs; and
Make the fiscal and political commitment necessary to expand quality health care coverage to all Americans.

The Trump campaign promised that no one who currently has coverage under the ACA would be without coverage under a new plan. However, congressional Republicans took the first step in their plan to rush through a repeal of the ACA in a budget resolution, which would speed up the process of dismantling the ACA without proposing an alternative. Republicans are using the budget process to dismantle the ACA by eliminating tax breaks, subsidies and more. This is not acceptable for the millions of people who stand to lose coverage. It will jeopardize more than 20 million people who receive healthcare through the ACA and countless others who have benefited from the ACA.

In 2010, the IHM Leadership Council advocated for increasing access to affordable health care and expanding coverage through passage of the Affordable Care Act. While improvements to the ACA are needed, repealing it at this juncture would have detrimental effects on millions of Americans.