Our Justice Work

Lady posing with indigenous child For Mary Ward, integrity was all. Her relationship with a God who loves and cares for the world, meant that she could do no other. Issues of human need and injustice could not be neglected. A commitment to God meant a commitment to seek justice and to free people to know their own dignity.

Today, Loreto sisters seek to respond similarly - either working at the grass-roots level, or addressing structural injustices and advocating for those who do not have a voice. You will find individual Loreto sisters reaching out to oppressed groups in South-East Asia and Africa. Others are committed at home: some are engaged full-time in works relating to justice; some take an active role in contemporary issues relating to our society: reconciliation, and the outreach to refugees and asylum-seekers.

Pentecost Prayers 2010

JPIC Inter-province Communications

The ‘Ring of Fire’ is the name given to IBVM inter-province communication and networking for JPIC. Each Loreto Sisters province is asked to co-ordinate the writing of ‘The Ring of Fire’ three times a year.

Visit the internationalibvm website to access the latest Ring of Fire newsletter (opens in a new window). Australian Ring of Fire contributions are also available below:

Ring of Fire July 2010

Ring of Fire April 2009

Ring of Fire Nov 2008

Ring of Fire March 2007

Ring of Fire July 2006

IBVM (Loreto Branch) at the UN

In December 2002, the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Branch) was granted Associative Status with the Department of Public Information at the United Nations (DPI) as an independent Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).

The Department of Public Information publicises UN activities around the world on such issues as peace and security, economic and social development, human rights and humanitarian affairs. It also promotes UN observances and international years established by the General Assembly to focus world attention on important issues facing humanity.

Associative Status gives the Loreto Sisters access to:

Meetings in New York
Major UN conferences around the world
The wealth of materials produced by the UN agencies.

And attendance at major meetings:

Commission on the Status of Women
Commission on Sustainable Development
Commission on Social Development
Permanent forum on Indigenous issues

Our responsibility is to:

Raise awareness and promote UN policies and programs.
Report regularly on what we do. We can’t be just doing it but need to be seen doing it.
Promote our relationship with UN by linking to the UN NGO Office www.un.org
Mention our work and UN status in our newsletters and other province/region materials like brochures, pamphlets.
Make sure UN related events in which members and schools are involved are recorded – e.g. advertisements, agendas of workshops, meetings, special events – gather these and email to loretoadmin@loreto.org.au
Pass on UN communications from th Loreto Sistesr to associates, co-workers, schools etc so that they can be aware, involved and take appropriate action.

Evanne Hunter ibvm, Gwen Hoeffer rscj,
Lolin Menendez and Cecile Meijer rscj.

New Appointment at the UN

Australian Loreto Sister, Anne Kelly ibvm, has been appointed IBVM NGO Representative at the United Nations. This is a three year term that commenced in May 2010. Anne is currently working in adult education in Dili, Timor Leste and has a background in education, social justice and international relations.

Marian Moriarty ibvm, General Superior Loreto Sisters said, "We thank Anne for generously responding to this call. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Australian Province for releasing Anne for this role at the UN. We know that there are hopes and dreams for the IBVM presence and ministry in Timor which will be significantly affected by this decision. It is always difficult to choose between two "goods"."

Read more about Anne's appointment

NGOs perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions. They bring citizens' concerns to Governments, monitor policies and encourage political participation at the community level. Some are organised around specific issues, such as human rights, the environment, education or health. In taking this initiative, IBVMs want to speak with a collective voice at the United Nations. The words of Nelson Mandela spell out this message:

In the political tradition that I come from a public speech is the end product of collective effort. The speeches should therefore be seen not as my voice only but that of the liberation movement and as a reflection of the times in which I lived.

Priorities are as follows:

to further develop and strengthen our IBVM global network for justice peace and integrity of creation (JPIC) which we call the Ring of Fire involving communities, schools and all IBVM ministries.
to identify together some key issues of national and international concern from IBVM and RSCJ perspectives.
to bring our spirituality and charism to bear on global issues being addressed at the United Nations as we speak out with our collective voice.

The voices of many are absent from global discussion and decisions. Can we work together, as the new NGO, to raise those missing voices, which you hear daily where you live and work?

November 2009 Update

Visit the United Nations website