“Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake.
War begets war, violence begets violence.”

Pope Francis, Angelus, September 1, 2013.

The members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), in solidarity with the global community of faith, stand in the shadow of the horrors initiated on October 7, 2023 in Israel and Gaza.  As women of the Gospel, we grieve with those who grieve, seek release of those held captive, and recognize the root causes of violence as well as the urgent call for the use of all possible resources to stabilize the Middle East, secure refuge for those in humanitarian crisis, and negotiate peace that will last.

United with the interfaith community, we take seriously our responsibility to protect the safety of all people of faith throughout the world.  We stand united with leaders of other faiths, intolerant of any form of hate or violence towards places of worship, and ready to witness to the transformation of consciousness necessary for sustainable peace.

LCWR is compelled to work toward a world where reverence for all living beings finds expression in a life of nonviolence. We stand in solidarity with the victims of brutality and with faith leaders as we heed the Gospel call to follow Jesus’ way of nonviolence, reconciliation, and care for the most vulnerable across lines of division.

We commit ourselves and the members of our religious communities to choose the peaceful path of Jesus and exercise all of our rights and duties as citizens to urge our leaders to act as responsible members of the world community. We join our prayer with religious people of all faiths who recognize that war is not the solution, and we commit ourselves to be those who believe that peace is possible.

We call upon world leaders and the United Nations to activate those mechanisms necessary for an immediate ceasefire and the negotiation of peace, so that justice may prevail.  We are each responsible to be aware, to be informed by factual information, to look at root causes, and to reject rhetoric that fuels violence. 

We, the members of LCWR, will continue to speak on behalf of the truth of faith, the strength of prayer, the power of nonviolence and the only pathway that will provide a future for our children: peace.

Resources for Review and Use:

USCCB Statement on Violence in the Middle East

HIAS and the Call to Humanitarian Response

Invitation to Weekly Wednesday Prayer, Churches for Middle East Peace

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Churches for Middle East Peace

Patriarchs of Jerusalem Churches Unite in a Call for Peace and Justice

FOSNA:  Colonial Violence and the pursuit of a just peace

Revised on October 14, 2023

At the World Congress Against the Death Penalty on February 27, 2021, Pope Francis declared the death penalty to be a “grave violation of human right to life and never justified.” He stated that the right to life is “the source of all gifts and of all other rights” that must be protected.

The Pontiff further stated, “The dignity of the person is not lost even when he or she has committed the worst of crimes.” To that end, Pope Francis ordered a revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says that “the church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ of the American Province affirm this teaching and stand in support of the aforementioned statements made by Pope Francis. With Dignity and Respect for All as a central core value, we believe life is sacred throughout all stages of existence from conception to natural death. We invite all our partners in the work of the Spirit to defend the right to life of every individual.

In 2019, Justice William Barr reinstated the death penalty. Therefore, this Poor Handmaid stance is especially crucial at this time.

We continue to pray with and for those sentenced to death, that they may know the loving mercy of God.

Approved by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ American Province.

Signed by Provincial Leadership of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.

July 14, 2021

The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ support the latest LCWR Resolution regarding our relationship with Native communities and Native American boarding schools, in particular. Please note at the end of the Resolution there are six actions listed that we can do to work toward a right relationship with Indigenous communities.
Click here to read the resolution.

The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ are members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. We endorse and support the LCWR Statement on Racism and Gun Violence in Buffalo, New York. We invite you to use this statement in your own prayer and reflection, outreach and action in ways that are helpful to you.

May God’s peace comfort and sustain all those whose lives are torn by racism and violence. May our lives give witness to the Gospel vision of love and compassion.

May 18, 2022

Our hearts are breaking as we once again come face to face with the racial hatred and gun violence that infect our land. The members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious extend their condolences to the Buffalo community and all who lost loved ones, friends, and neighbors and we say once more violence and white supremacy cannot stand. And we know that is not enough!

Racism is a virus, every bit as deadly as COVID-19, that has infected our nation since its inception and until we address it, people of color will continue to die, and our nation will continue to bleed. Racism, whether the institutional racism which privileges some at the expense of others or the daily acts of hate and discrimination, diminishes us all. It denies that most profound truth, that all of us are created in God’s image and each of us is entitled to lives of dignity and respect.

As women religious in a predominantly white organization, we recognize how we have been privileged. We lament our silence in the face of white supremacist ideology, and we acknowledge our complicity in institutional racism. We ask forgiveness of our sisters and brothers of color, and we pray for our nation’s healing. And we know that is not enough! It is time for bold, decisive action. We pledge to raise our voices and to act to end the violence and white supremacy which has cost us dearly. In the wake of the horror of Buffalo, we rededicate ourselves to LCWR’s commitment to dismantle systemic racism and white privilege and effect transformative change in our hearts, our organization, and our society and we pledge anew to build God’s beloved community. We will not permit that violence and white supremacy to stand!

LCWR is an association of leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. The conference has nearly 1300 members, who represent more than 38,800 women religious in the United States. Founded in 1956, LCWR assists its members to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.

June 10, 2022

The American Province of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ calls for common sense gun laws in the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, TX on May 24, 2022 as well as the other multiple mass shootings. The Uvalde mass shooting was the twenty-second school shooting this year.

We weep at the loss of young, innocent lives of children in our schools as well as staff members who leave behind spouses and children. Students and adults face daily fears and worries about the numerous shootings all too often in our country. So many lives have been lost by gun violence. It is time for common sense gun safety laws before more lives are lost in such tragedies.

We call on members of Congress to take immediate action, to enact legislation banning access to semi-automatic assault weapons with high capacity ammunition magazines, to require stringent background checks for all gun purchases, to restrict concealed weapons in or around schools and other public places, to support red flag laws and to restrict the ownership or use of guns and other weapons by persons with mental illness. We also call on Congress to bolster mental health services across our country.

We pray for grieving families, school personnel, and all suffering from these tragic school shootings and loss of life. Every child should have the freedom to attend school without the fear of being shot while trying to learn. Every person should be able to go to work, to their place of worship, or to a store without fear of becoming a victim of a shooting.

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Mt. 5:4)