History of Work for Justice and Systemic Change in
the Congregation
From their earliest days in 1842 up to the present, the Sisters of the
Holy Cross have responded to the injustices of the times through their
ministries. Whether it was the education of girls and young women, the
foundation of a health care system, or the establishment of ministries
outside of the United States, the members of the Congregation have always
stood in solidarity with God’s suffering people.
After the 1984 General Chapter, this response to injustice was
expanded. The “social service” response was complemented with a
“systemic” response. A Congregation Justice Committee was formed to
help the members of the Congregation understand and address issues systemically
and from a global perspective. Through its research and work on
social justice issues, the committee has discovered that:
- All forms of oppression and injustice are interconnected and
mutually reinforcing
- Injustice is rooted in the misuse and abuse of power–the
domination of one group by another, and human domination of the earth
and non-human life forms
- Oppression is “gendered”– women are affected differently and
usually more severely by poverty and injustice than men
- Resources are increasingly concentrated in the hands of an elite
few; absolute poverty is deepening and the gap between the rich and
poor is widening.
In response to the injustices of our time, the Congregation Justice
Committee focuses its efforts on three major areas of concern:
- social & economic justice,
- ecological integrity, and
- the promotion of democracy, nonviolence and peace.
Sisters of the Holy Cross: A timeline
of our work for justice and systemic change
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