A Joint Statement from the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province and Atlantic-Midwest Province
Urged by the love of Christ and of our sisters and brothers, the School Sisters of Notre Dame work actively toward enhancing just structures that foster the fullness of life and toward changing unjust structures that inhibit it.(1) We minister with the conviction that every human life is sacred, that every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore deserving of reverence and protection.
We lament and deplore the practice of abortion and the way this sensitive matter is exploited and manipulated for political gain. Similarly, we abhor those social conditions that place women in the untenable position where viable alternatives to abortion are not accessible to them. We continue to commit ourselves to the education, empowerment and equality of women while advocating for those social policies, programs, and conditions which uphold the dignity of women and enable them to protect and support the life of their children.
We join with the Vatican in hoping that the debate on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling will not be reduced to an ideological confrontation but will prompt all of us to reflect on what it means to welcome life, to defend it, and to promote it with appropriate legislation and resources.(2)
We agree with those who encourage dialogue and call for the expansion of conditions under which life – all life – can flourish.(3) Conditions that include: universal access to quality health care and quality education; prenatal resources and paid family leave; a living wage and economic policies that respect the dignity of workers and support families; protection and welcome for immigrants and refugees; outreach to the marginalized and vulnerable; an end to human trafficking and the dismantling of racism; a commitment to peace and nonviolence; and care for creation, our common home.
In the spirit of Laudato Si’(4) the School Sisters of Notre Dame work to protect and preserve our common home and to develop an integral ecology. In other words, we commit ourselves to promoting the culture of life and the conditions under which all life may flourish.(5)
We educate, advocate, and act in collaboration with others
for the dignity of life and the care of all creation – Love Gives Everything, Directional Statement School Sisters of Notre Dame
1 SSND Shalom Document
2 Vatican Pontifical Academy for Life 6/25/22 Statement
3 Such as the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange in their statement On the Value of Life
4 https://gerhardinger.org/ministry/global/shalom-networkjpic/commitment-to-the-laudato-si-action-platform/
5 SSND Shalom Document
