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.

June 1, 2020
IHM Sisters join the call for racial justice

The Leadership Council of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Mich., joins in solidarity with those across the United States and around the world who are crying out in grief and in nonviolent protest against the continued killing of our Black brothers and sisters. While acknowledging both our privilege and complicity in structural racism, we stand by our sisters and brothers of color and recommit ourselves to raising our voices and working for systemic change in order to build the Beloved Community.

We pray for peace and comfort for the families of those whose lives were taken most recently: George Floyd of Minneapolis; Ahmaud Arbery of Brunswick, Ga.; and Breonna Taylor of Louisville, Ky. We pray for the families of countless others before them whose lives were taken in similar acts of racialized violence as they continue to grieve the loss of their loved ones. We pray for strength and healing for all of our brothers and sisters who have been traumatized in numerous ways by both individual and institutionalized racism, be it killings at the hands of law enforcement or disproportionate death due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We see you. We hear you. We join you in calling for justice.

By participating in the process of creating right relationships, healing and reconciliation, the IHM Sisters are committed to working to eradicate racism within ourselves, our congregation, our Church and our global community. In the spirit of Pentecost, we invite you to join us in the following prayer, excerpted from: The Assumptions of White Privilege and What We Can Do About It by Rev. Bryan Massingale:

Come, Holy Spirit!
Fill the hearts of your faithful.
Enkindle within us the fire of your love.
Come, Holy Spirit!
Breathe into us a fiery passion for justice.
Especially for those who have the breath of life crushed from them.
         Amen.

Jan. 13, 2020
IHM Leadership Council Statement Regarding Military Escalation with Iran  

The IHM Sisters’ Leadership Council joins other Catholics and people of faith around the world in condemning both the Trump Administration’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani and Iran’s retaliatory bombing of a United States military base in Iraq. As Pope John Paul II said, “War is always a defeat for humanity.” War with Iran would lead to unimaginable suffering for tens of thousands of Americans and Iranians alike, each made in the image of God.

We are relieved that there was no immediate military response from the Trump Administration. However, we recognize that such peace is tenuous. Threats, enactment of proposed economic sanctions and further erosion of the Iran nuclear agreement have the potential to reignite conflict at any moment. We must ensure that the cycle of retaliation is stopped and a path to lasting peace is pursued.

We urge both U.S. and Iranian leaders to step back from the brink of war. It is never too late to engage in diplomacy. We are encouraged that the U.S. House has exercised its authority by passing legislation that would prevent the president from launching a unilateral, unauthorized war against Iran. We urge the Senate to do the same.

Moreover, we urge all our leaders to follow the nonviolent example of Jesus, who instructs us to love our enemies as well as our neighbors and who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

IHM Leadership Council Endorsements and Public Statements – 2019

IHM Leadership Council Endorsements and Public Statements – 2018

IHM Leadership Council Endorsements and Public Statements – 2017

IHM Leadership Council Endorsements and Public Statements – 2016