As was previously announced, Sr. Joann Compagno will be leaving her ministry as Director of Pastoral Care at Lourdes on April 5th. Sr. Joann has served nine years in this capacity. There will be no CND replacing her at Lourdes. An SSND, Sr. John Vianney, will be taking on that role. Sr. John Vianney was a former administrator here at Villa Notre Dame in Wilton, so she is well known to all the CNDs here. We have complete confidence in her ability to care for the pastoral needs of all the sisters at Lourdes. She has our support and gratitude.

On March 9^th, in honour of International Women's Day, Cinema Politica Charlottetown and Cooper Institute hosted a screening of the documentary, Gulabi Gang. This impeccably shot film follows a group of fearless women who fight gender violence in India with great ferocity and hope. In the bad lands of Bundelkhand in central India, the pink sari-clad women of the Gulabi Gang travel long distances by cart and tractor, bus and train, to wrest justice for women and Dalits, undeterred by sneering policemen and condescending bureaucrats. Sampat Pal, their leader, is a rough-and-tough woman with a commanding personality who has evolved her own brand of feminism and egalitarian politics. Her strength lies in her words. She is constantly on the move – today investigating a young woman’s suspicious death, tomorrow protesting against a corrupt official. The gang encounters resistance everywhere – whole villages connive in protecting the perpetrators of violence. As the film pulls us into the centre of these blazing conflicts, it uncovers a complex story, disturbing yet heartening. The word Gulabi means pink. When a woman joins the group she is given a pink sari so they all wear pink. 

On April 16th, Call to Action is sponsoring a cocktail reception and Forum to honor STEPS (Steps to end family violence) and its founder Sr. Mary Nerney, CND. It will be held at Church of the Holy Apostles at 9th Avenue and 28th Street at 6 p.m.