Peace and Justice
Sisters of Divine Providence have had an active Peace and Justice Committee since the 1980s. Through the leadership of some of our members we have spoken out against the death penalty and nuclear arms and participated in rallies for peace.
We are presently engaged in action toward immigration reform and response to the needs of immigrants.
Promoting Peace at the Peace Festival in Newport, Kentucky
Institute on Religious Liberty at Thomas More College
Sisters Alice, Theresa, and Lynn at a Rally in support of immigrants
Sisters gather to make blankets for the flood victims in Johnson County, Kentucky
Sisters Alice and Janet participate in Nuns on the Bus — Transform Politics
Accepted June 27, 2018 Sisters of Divine Providence of Kentucky Corporate Stance on Gun Violence Prevention We, Sisters of Divine Providence and Associates, grieve the loss of life through violence wherever it takes place in our world. We are horrified at senseless deaths from gun violence in our nation, especially by the deaths of children and young persons. We hold as our ideal the creation of a society in which swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks (Is. 2:4). As we long for a world of peace and justice, we realize that transformation of ourselves and society is not easy and takes courage and must be done. We call for open and respectful dialogue in our communities, our states, and Congress around the proliferation of guns and pervasive violence of all kinds in our culture. As we work toward comprehensive gun control legislation, we ask our elected officials to immediately develop and pass effective laws that:
* require universal background checks and mandatory waiting periods for all gun purchases
* ban civilian ownership of high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines
* make gun trafficking a federal crime
We applaud efforts already initiated by corporations, some states and municipalities, and individuals who have adopted policies to lessen the number of guns on our streets and in homes. Gun violence is a public health and moral crisis that destroys the lives, dignity and hope of millions of people in our country. We are committed to working with others on gun violence prevention that focuses on homicide, suicide and unintentional shootings. We believe that together we can find ways to stop the killing. We place ourselves willingly in the hands of Divine Providence so that we may be instruments of peace and nonviolence on Earth. We call upon all people of faith and good will to join us in prayer and action.
We, Sisters of the Congregation of Divine Providence of Melbourne, Kentucky, stand in opposition to capital punishment in our nation. We pledge to work for the abolition of the death penalty wherever it occurs.
Our Province Focus Statement (1999-2004) calls us “to bring the message and values of the Gospel to bear upon the real situations of our times”. At this time in history, when life is often devalued, faithfulness to the Gospel demands that we affirm the sacredness of all life and condemn the deliberate taking of life.
As we value the life of those who have committed acts of terrible violence, we reach out to the families and friends of the victims of these acts holding them in our prayer and concern. We will do what we can to ease their suffering.
We hold as our model Jesus Christ who forgave those who took His human life on the cross. We pledge to work toward genuine forgiveness in our own lives.
Accepted July 15, 2000
Conscious of our call to be living witnesses of God's Providence, we, Sisters of Divine Providence of Kentucky, proclaim that peace is the Divine Will for Earth. We wish to add our voice to the voices of the recent Popes, the world bishops, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and other persons of good will who condemn nuclear warfare. As citizens of the United States, we call upon our own government to work tirelessly toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, to refrain from developing a new generation of nuclear weapons, to adopt a no-first-use nuclear policy, and to cooperate with global efforts to keep outer space nuclear free. As citizens of the world, we urge all governments to work for the elimination of nuclear arms from Earth.
Prayer, reflection, and study led us to understand that nuclear war is a real danger, that spending vast sums of money on arms is a cause of much of the suffering and poverty in the world, and that national and global secu.rity is not enhanced by nuclear weapons or the threat of their use. Daily we come to see more clearly that all the inhabitants of Earth are loved by God, that no nation can claim superiority over the others, and that all people must find cooperative and nonviolent ways of settling disputes.
As persons of hope, we know that God is at work in humanity. We, therefore, challenge ourselves to cooperate with other concerned people to promote nuclear disarmament. We will continue to educate ourselves and others about the facts of nuclear destruction and that, in the words of Pope Francis, "nuclear weapons are immoral and must also be considered as an illegal means of warfare". We will pray and do penance, allowing the God of Peace to be present on Earth through us. We will use our talents and community resources toward the promotion of a peaceful and just world and will do what we can to promote the creation of the necessary world structures so that global conflict can be resolved through dialogue and negotiations.
Realizing that personal, national, and global security is found only in God, we place ourselves willingly in the hands of Divine Providence so that we may be instruments of peace on Earth. We call upon other people of faith and good will to join us.
First Enactment - 1982
Revised and Reaffirmed - June 2005
Revised and Reaffirmed - December 2017