If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission
If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters on a Mission (by Jo Piazza, Open Road Media, 2014, 258 p.), tells the stories, briefly, of ten remarkable women, movers and shakers motivated by faith and conviction in their calling to do something! The author has confidence that if nuns ruled the world, things would get done! Jo describes herself as an agnostic. She is a reporter, an accomplished journalist, a fine story-teller and has been a commentator on CNN and FOX News, among other programs. She spent quality time learning from these women. She says Simone Campbell, of Nuns-on-the-bus, refers to the Pope as Frank(!) and she concludes this book with a lengthy quote from Joan Chittister’s 2012 address to the graduating class at Stanford University. It’s about being a leader and what that means. Inspirational read!
Breaking the Silence Network Presentation
On June 10, Breaking the Silence Network of PEI brought in Crisanta Perez who is an indigenous Maya Mam woman from San Miguel, Guatemala. She is known as “the voice of resistance” against what is happening in their village and surrounding villages due to the activities of Gold Corp in the Marlin Mine, an open pit mine. It was heartbreaking to hear her testimony of their struggle to protect their land, their drinking water and the whole environment in which they live. She spoke about how divisive it is because some are selling their land and others are not. She is a courageous woman. Her presentation was followed by another one, about how we on PEI need to protect our natural resources particularly our water. A member of the Coalition for the Protection of PEI Water spoke about the High Capacity Wells (Deep Water Wells) issue and the belief that eventually the government is going to succumb to the pressure although they are saying they are in the process of drafting a Water Act. One startling statistic she quoted is that McCain Foods uses 9 million gallons of water a day to produce French Fries.
Year of Consecrated Life – Cornwall
The Catholic Women’s League of St. Francis of Assisi Parish invited the sisters who worked or lived in St. Francis of Assisi Parish to a gathering to celebrate the year of Consecrated Life by a dinner and sharing. Dianne McCarville, president of the CWL, welcomed the sisters and members. The evening began with a short prayer service that ended with the words of Pope Francis: “Wake the world with daunting joy.”
