The green nuns: models of ecological spirituality

Catholic New Times, July 3, 2005 by Cristina Vanin

In 1999, the National Catholic Reporter printed, as its cover story, an article on the ways in which U.S. women's religious communities are responding to the ecological crisis.

Sarah McFarland Taylor of the University of California, Santa Barbara, began this research on 'green nuns' for her doctoral dissertation. The recent Women Doing Theology conference held in Montreal, provided me with an opportunity to talk about the women's religious communities in Canada Who are also working so concertedly for justice for the earth.

The Sisters of St. Martha, the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Saint Ann, the Loretto Sisters, the Sisters of Service, the various congregations of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Providence and the School Sisters of Notre Dame, are just some of the communities who are responding to the concrete impact of ecological devastation on women and men, especially the most marginalized, and on the earth itself, in their own geographical regions. They are collaborating with inter national groups that have similar concerns.

The Canadian province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame passed an Earth Charter resolution at their 2002 General Chapter, indicative of the commitment being made by all of these communities. The resolution states: "The tack of respect and reverence for life in our time calls forth from us ... a commitment to ongoing conversion which touches the core of our way of thinking and acting. Such a conversion is rooted in contemplation and leads to attitudinal, relational and structural change. It calls us to a new way of being in our world."

This call to a new way of being has meant that sisters have rewritten their mission or vision statements, set up offices to deal with ecological issues and entered new areas of pastoral work.

For example, the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul, Kingston, Ont., have an Of rice of Ecology, Earth Literacy and Organic Gardening which deals with the health of the community's living spaces, supports those striving to live with ecological awareness, encourages positive action for the earth, promotes non-violence, simplicity and moderation, and sustains a program for preserving heritage seeds and species.

The Sisters of Saint Ann, Saint Joseph's Province, of British Columbia, have a variety of environmental ministries including Providence Farm, a therapeutic community that provides programs for people encountering barriers to education and employment with the guiding principle that life is renewed 'in the cycle of people caring for the soil and the soil nurturing people.' The Sisters of Saint Ann are collaborating with the Sisters of Charity in Halifax, in the development of Glenairley Centre for Earth and Spirit, located in British Columbia, a not-for-profit ecological learning centre and organic farm. The Sisters of Charity also have a Global Concerns Resource Team with a vision that includes the fostering of mutually enhancing earth-human relations ships.

The Sisters of St. Martha of Prince Edward Island incorporated the following into their 1997 vision statement: "We see a new challenge to live in public witness the connectedness between life-giving communities and the whole earth community." Consequently, they have established Advocates for the Earth and are partnering with other groups to create a programme of Earth literacy.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame have a Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation coordinator, with initiatives that include the development of a true reverence for creation. The Sisters of Service have established the Catherine Donnelly Foundation that funds projects in three areas, one of which is Environmental Enhancement Initiatives. The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Diocese of London, Ont., have set up an Office for Systemic Justice which recognizes the relationship between human and ecological justice.

They indicate how significant these women are as models of Christian ecological justice and spirituality. Each is contributing to what Thomas Berry calls the Great Work of our time, "carrying out the transition to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner." Each has much to teach us about what it means to be a part of the single, integral community of the Earth.

Cristina Vanin teaches Religious Studies at St. Jerome's University, Waterloo, Ont.