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For more information on any of these news articles contact Angie Connolly, Director of Communications, at 563.588.2351 or by aconnolly@bvmcong.org.
We Invite You to Celebrate the International Day of Peace—Sept. 21, 2010
The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and many other local institutions and businesses will join with Dubuque, Iowa, and the world in celebrating the United Nations International Day of Peace on Sept. 21, 2010.
A group of Dubuque-area residents have taken the initiative by asking the Dubuque City Council to proclaim Sept. 21 as United Nations International Day of Peace in Dubuque and by inviting others to join in “creating a culture of peace” on this day.
The group’s purpose statement reflects its goal: “Peace lies at the heart of each individual, all families, communities, territories and nations. Peace is the dream we hope and strive for. It is possible to see a world turn from violent to nonviolent solutions within our lifetimes.”
Loras College will host two presentations focusing on peace. Both will be held in the Alumni Campus Center Ballroom and are free and open to the public. On Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, from 2–4 p.m., the presentation “Conflict Transformation in Families” will be offered. On Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010, from 7–8:30 p.m, a second presentation “Everyone a Peacemaker: Unleashing the Power of Nonviolent Change in Our Lives, Our Community and Our World” will be featured.
Both events will be presented by Ken Butigan, professor and activist for nonviolent change, who will explore how individuals and communities can become active agents for peace. Butigan has led more than 600 workshops on nonviolent change and authored five books. He is currently director of Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service in Chicago.
Between his presentations, Butigan will visit area high schools and colleges, asking “Can We Get a Little Peace Around Here? We’re All Part of the Solution to Violence.” He will explore with students ways to envision and build peace.
Other related events have been planned and are listed at: www.dbqdayofpeace.org.
For a brochure of the event click here.
For more information contact:
Art Roche: 563.581.6521
Dave Cochran: 563.588.7262
Sr. Patricia R. Farrell, OSF: 563.583.9786 (except from 8/25 to 9/6)
PrintSilver, Golden and Diamond Jubilee Celebrations this Year at Mount Carmel
Sister Mary Jocile Valliere, BVM Celebrates 100th Birthday
Sister Mary Jocile Valliere, BVM celebrated her 100th birthday at Mount Carmel on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010. She greeted family, sisters and friends before and after the liturgy celebrated at 11 a.m. in the Marian Hall Chapel. A dinner in the Caritas dining room rounded out the festivities.
A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sister Mary Jocile will also celebrate 80 years as a Sister of Charity, BVM, on Sept. 8, 2010. She has served in administration and also as a superior, registrar, treasurer and bookkeeper. For much of her ministry she has been a teacher in the Midwest, including Chicago and St. Louis.
View Sister's celebration photos at:
http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album_detail.cfm?galleryID=52
‘A Small Discreet Population’
Last weekend I participated in a delegation to Coal River Valley, W.Va., where we met with people whose lives are being affected by mountaintop removal (MTR). The delegation was sponsored by Eco-Justice Collaborative.
MTR has destroyed a million acres throughout Appalachia and less than two percent of it has been “reclaimed.” Rabbi Arthur Waskow says, “The earth herself is groaning and rebelling under the oppression of Big Oil & Big Coal.” It isn’t just the land that is being destroyed. There’s a tremendous human toll. Drinking water and the air are polluted. Few families in the area that we visited have not suffered some illness related to the coal industry: kidney and liver failure, neurological problems, asthma, black lung disease and many different cancers.
Resident Larry Gibson welcomed us to what’s left of his family homestead at Kayford Mountain. As he accompanied us up the path that leads to an overlook, we met a woman who was transporting 25 gallon bottles of clean water to her cabin. As we came to the ridge we were greeted by a view that resembled a moonscape. We looked out over mountaintop removal sites covering about 12,000 acres. This is the result of blasts (the equivalent of 100 Oklahoma City bombings—using the same explosives) which unearth the coal deposits.
We drove on to Whitesville, where we met other residents and heard their stories which led them to activism. For several years, they have lobbied the U.S Congress and West Virginia legislators against mountaintop removal and continue to do so. Lorelei Scarbro lost her husband to black lung disease. Several other members of her family have been or are employed in the coal industry. She shared stories of her efforts to stop MTR. One of the most poignant was a meeting with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative, to whom she pointed out the health problems of her friends and neighbors related to air and water pollution caused by coal. Afterward, the EPA representative referred to the “small discreet population” that was being affected—just so much collateral damage.
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Elementary school adjacent to coal plant. |
But is it just a small group of people who are affected? Even if that were the case, deliberately endangering the lives of others is indefensible. And yet tons of coal—mined in West Virginia—are sent out of the area, out of the state and out of the country. How many other neighborhoods are being affected by the pollutants generated by its transport and later its burning?
Gwen Farry, BVM
Possible Actions:
www.ecojusticecollaborative.org
The Topless America Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7u5-92KdQc
Sister Carol Spiegel, BVM has Conflict Resolution Resource Book Published
Twelve years ago, when Carol Spiegel, BVM began her ministry as a Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution Educator, she had no idea that her work would engender the birth of a book.
After twenty-plus years of teaching math at Clarke College, Carol began working with elementary school teachers in St. Paul, Minn. Her goal was to set up a peacemaking and conflict resolution program in each elementary school where she worked, focusing on a crucial age for young students trying to address these issues.
During those years she focused on two or three schools per year, spending one or two days a week as a resource person and teaching classes as well. She found out that children identified with illustrated story books in children’s literature that depicted the real life issues facing them, with peaceful ways to address them.
As she continued in her ministry, Carol began to take stock of these books, compiling a list and continually researching new ones. She annotated each book for her own reference journal as she continued to seek out other appropriate books to add to her growing resource collection. “At the time,” she says, “I didn’t know I was writing a book.”
Through a series of serendipitous events, Carol’s book evolved. In 2004, she contacted ESR (Educators for Social Responsibility) because they had published several books she had used in her conflict ministry for young people. This resulted in a “work for hire” stint with ESR and led to the publication of Book by Book: An Annotated Guide to Young People’s Literature with Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution Themes in May, 2010.
Carol will sign copies of her annotated bibliography and demonstrate its usage on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010, from 1-2:30 p.m. at River Lights 2nd Edition Bookstore in Dubuque, Iowa.
To find out more about Carol’s book go to:
http://www.esrnational.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=87
Books ordered by July 31, 2010, will receive free shipping.
Coupon code to use: BVMCONG2010
SAVE THE DATE! Women and Spirit Exhibit
Feb. 18, 2011– May 22, 2011
“Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America” opens Feb. 18, 2011, at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa.
The exhibit reveals the role of Catholic sisters in shaping American history. Through rare artifacts, compelling photographs and videos, and vivid first-person narratives, the exhibition explores the contributions Catholic sisters made—and continue to make—in shaping the nation’s social and cultural landscape.
The Sisters of Charity, BVM are included in the national exhibit with artifacts and photographs on display. At the Mississippi River Museum, in collaboration with 12 area congregations, a local component will be developed to complement the national exhibit.
Immediately prior to coming to Dubuque, the exhibit will be at the Statue of Liberty National Monument/Ellis Island Immigration Museum, Liberty Island, N.Y. Most recently, it has been at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Cleveland, Ohio.
The “Women & Spirit” traveling exhibit, is organized by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). Clarke University and the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium are sponsoring the exhibit locally in Dubuque.
Make your plans to attend now!!!
For Group Tours, contact: Nate Breitsprecker, Museum’s Tour Coordinator | 800.226.3369, ext. 214 | nbreitsprecker@rivermuseum.com
For School Field Trips, contact: Melissa Wersinger, Museum’s Education Department | 800.226.3369, ext. 214 | mwersinger@rivermuseum.com
“Women and Spirit” is touring the United States now through 2012. Look for a city near you.
Exhibit Schedule:
May 9, 2010 – Aug. 28, 2010
Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
Cleveland, Ohio
Sept. 24, 2010 – Jan. 22, 2011
Statue of Liberty National Monument/Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Liberty Island, N.Y.
Feb. 18, 2011 – May 22, 2011
National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium
Dubuque, Iowa
Sept. 2, 2011 - Dec. 31, 2011
Center for History in association with the University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Ind.
For more information, visit “Women and Spirit”: www.womenandspirit.org
Discover a world few have see, millions have shared.
Sister Mary Janine Wolff, BVM Honored by Catherine McAuley Center
Mary Janine Wolff will receive the 10 Year Individual of Service Award for her volunteer hours at the Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The award is given to Mary Janine from the 27th Annual Governor’s Volunteer Awards. The Governor’s Volunteer Awards (GVA) program began presenting state-level recognition to honor Iowa volunteers in 1983, choosing its award recipients from state agencies and nonprofit, charitable and government organizations.
Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1989, the Catherine McAuley Center celebrates 20 years of service to the Cedar Rapids community, providing programs for transitional housing for women and adult basic education. Mary Janine has been a tutor in the Adult Basic Education Program at the Center for more than 10 years and also volunteered at many events.
Chris Lumm, Education Program Assistant, says, “Sr. Janine is the embodiment of the mission of CMC. She is an inspiring, stalwart volunteer, a dedicated educator and an ardent promoter of individuals in need. We thank her for her time, for her service, and for being such a blessing to the lives of so many.”
BVM Sisters at Mount Carmel Surprise Msgr. Robert Vogl with 90th Birthday Celebration
On Thursday, July 7, the Sisters of Charity, BVM at Mount Carmel in Dubuque hosted a surprise birthday party for Msgr. Robert R. Vogl, who celebrated his 90th birthday on July 5. The Marian Hall sisters were in charge of the party, which began with a liturgy at 11 a.m., followed by lunch in the Marian Hall dining room. A reception was held from 1:30–3:00 p.m. in Loyola Hall.
One of a rotating group of liturgy presiders at Mount Carmel back in the 1980s, Msgr. Vogl has been associated with the BVMs for over 30 years. “He must have taken a liking to us,” says Sister Virgina Hughes, BVM. After 48 years of teaching at Loras College, Msgr. Vogl began his role as full-time chaplain at Mount Carmel in 1992.
Sister Mary Ann Zollmann, president of the BVM congregation, has known Msgr. Vogl since 1981, when they were both professors teaching religious studies. “I taught at Clarke College when he was at Loras,” she says. “Msgr. Vogl is certainly a man who lives the Gospel totally and completely. Here at Mount Carmel he preaches the Word to all of us . . . teaching and preaching is what he does best.”
When presented with a kelly green Irish sweater and plaid Irish cap, Msgr. Vogl, who is of German descent, responded, “I’ll wear whatever is in my closet!” He was also honored with a large cardboard check for one million dollars—nonrefundable to the BVM community—a tribute to the fact that much of what he’s received over the years has been donated back to the BVM congregation.
“Dubuque’s Got Sisters!”
On Friday, April 9 through Saturday, April 10, 11 women joined Dubuque-area Sisters for a 24-hour tour of four tri-state area convents. The group prayed together, shared several meals, and participants listened to the stories that each individual community shared with them. They visited the Presentation, Franciscan, Dominican and BVM motherhouses. The women reported that it was a helpful way to learn about religious life in general, to get a better understanding of the different communities, and to appreciate all that women religious are doing together.
For more information about future "Dubuque's Got Sisters!" tours or to find out more about life as a BVM, email Lou Anglin, BVM, at langlin@bvmcong.org or call her at 563-588-2351.
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“Hospitality—welcoming, nurturing, making comfortable—is key to who BVMs are,” said Lou. “We are glad to share what has been so generously given us by God.”
The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary are women of steadfast love called to live the mission of Jesus through the core values of Freedom, Charity, Education and Justice. For 176 years, BVMs have ministered to those in need in numerous parts of the world. Currently, BVMs minister in 23 U.S. states, and in Ecuador, Guatamala and Ghana. Ministries include education, pastoral work, spiritual development, health care, justice advocacy and business services.
Tour our website to find out more about us, and how to join us in this amazing vocation.
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Sisters of Charity, BVM - 1100 Carmel Drive - Dubuque, Iowa 52003 - 563.588.2351