Corporate Stances

The Sisters often respond to global concerns by taking a corporate stance, a statement of principle with recommendations for change

December 12, 2021

On Sunday, December 12, 2021, the Congregation’s Leadership Council signed the Laudato Sí Action Plan (LSAP) Public Statement. 

Click here to view our Laudato Sí Action Platform page along with action plans and yearly reports.

October 31, 2018

The Dominican Sisters of Amityville are proud of the United States' history of welcoming immigrants. In 1853, our Congregation was founded in Brooklyn, NY when four German immigrant Sisters began ministering to poor immigrant families there.

May this powerful way of preaching continue during these challenging times!

As a nation, we face major decisions regarding “migration.” The United States has a long history of welcoming persons who flee their home countries due to violence, economic turmoil, and even complications due to climate change. In light of these reasons, and influenced by our Congregation’s Mission Statement, and upholding Pope Francis’ words to “promote the dignity of our brothers and sisters…particularly those who are abandoned, immigrants and those who suffer violence and human trafficking,” we, the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville:

• Support the recent statement about migration published by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious: CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT.
• Encourage the present United States Administration to allow migrants to approach our borders and to be admitted in a timely and humane manner.
• Urge policies and practices that allow parents and children to stay together.
• Reinforce our Corporate Stance on Immigration and pledge to discover new ways that we, as a Congregation, might support migrants in their hopes for re-location.
• Will bolster methods to deepen the value and richness of diversity among ourselves and our nation.

June 12, 2018

Response of Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration – (Amityville, Blauvelt, Caldwell, Hope, and Sparkill)

“And Jesus took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mk 10:16)

The following is a statement issued by the Justice Office of the Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration in response to the practice by Immigration Officials of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border of the United States and Mexico:

The Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration urge an immediate end to the morally reprehensible practice of immigration authorities’ separating children from their mothers and fathers at the US-Mexico border.

The forced separation of children from their parents with no access to one another, no information about the process of detention, and no known plan for reunification is cruel and inhumane treatment. Children are easily traumatized by such actions and parents are rendered helpless to protect their children. These actions, taken by immigration officials, run contrary to the value we place on protecting children and honoring the family unit.

We call on President Trump to stop his Administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy of filing criminal charges against immigrants – including families seeking asylum from gang violence, rape, or political persecution. And we urge Congress to enact long-overdue immigration reform that enjoys broad public support and reflects American values, such as protecting young Dreamers and keeping families united.

*Adapted from the June 11, 2018 statement of the Adrian Dominican Sisters

May 10, 2018

We, the Leadership Council of the Amityville Dominican Sisters, decry the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. Despite its flaws, the multilateral deal is widely recognized as having achieved its goal of preventing Iran from continuing to develop its nuclear weapons capacity. This imprudent, destabilizing action not only threatens to bring back the specter of a nuclear-armed Iran, but also further isolates the United States from global leadership, raises tensions among allies, and sows discord among adversaries. “Blessed are the peacemakers!” (Mt 5:9)

As women of faith, we call upon our nation’s elected leaders to act judiciously to mitigate the deleterious effects of this decision. May their actions be, as the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.” (Isaiah 32:2)

February 21, 2018

The Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration (Amityville, Blauvelt, Caldwell, Hope, Maryknoll, and Sparkill) call for an open and respectful dialogue in our communities, our states, and Congress about effective gun control legislation. We seek legislation that protects the common good and public safety as well as promotes respect for life.

We call our elected officials to develop legislation and enact laws that will:

• Require universal background checks and mandatory waiting periods for all gun purchases;
• Ban civilian ownership of high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines;
• Make gun trafficking a federal crime;

The Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration stand with the youth activists of Parkland, Florida in calling for the elected officials to pass more effective legislation on gun control. On March 24^th, sisters and associates of the OPSCC Dominican congregations will join with the youth activists and people from across the nation in the “March for Our Lives” in Washington, DC, and our local communities to protest the lack of action by elected officials and to advocate for immediate action.

February 2, 2017

“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action” – Meister Eckhart

As a Council in solidarity with the Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration (OPSCC), we choose to publicly make the following statement. We join with our Sisters in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and Dominican Sisters Conference (DSC) to continue to work for justice through our preaching and prayer.

The members of the Central Council of the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, NY are appalled by President Trump’s recent executive order banning immigrants. This nation has a long history of welcoming immigrants and sheltering refugees. Women and men religious have been blessed to accompany and serve immigrant and refugee communities across this country throughout their histories. In keeping with our collaborative corporate stance taken on May 4, 2011, with the Northeast Dominicans on the need for immigration reform, we do not see that halting or undermining the U.S. refugee resettlement program is the way. It leaves mostly women and children in extreme danger as they flee from their homes due to unthinkable violence. We remain committed to welcoming refugees who come here after passing through the U.S. government’s screening process and we call for creating legal avenues for migration, avenues that assure family unity for immigrant/refugee families.

President Trump’s order bans residents of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, suspends refugee resettlement entirely for four months, and bars resettlement of Syrian refugees indefinitely. This is unconscionable in the face of the current unprecedented global refugee crisis. More than 61 million people have been displaced from their homes, more than at any time since World War II. Some 21 million of them are refugees.

These actions focus on Muslim-majority countries, with exceptions made for Christians and non-Muslim minorities. Our heritage as Dominicans calls us to stand for truth and to raise our voices for truth, to see the other with dignity, and to listen to the other’s voice. Our own Dominican sisters and brothers in Iraq have cried for that respect and dignity during these past years of war. We must not turn away from their plight, their oppression and desperation, nor turn away from their/our Muslim sisters and brothers.

This executive order harkens back to the darker moments of our own history of slavery and internment camps. It damages our reputation in the eyes of the many peoples who want to know America as a defender of human rights and religious liberty, not a nation that targets religious populations and then shuts its doors on them.

The address to Congress by Pope Francis in 2015 reminded them that “It is time to put aside fear and join together to recover who we are and what we represent to a world badly in need of hope and solidarity. If we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities.”

April 22, 2015

Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration – Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, Blauvelt, Caldwell, Hope, and Sparkill

Dominican Sisters Commit to Work on Climate Change Impacts Climate Justice Calls us to Seek Sustainable Life Habits.

Amityville, Blauvelt, Hope, Sparkill, NY, and Caldwell, NJ: Five congregations of Dominican Sisters–the Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration–join their voices and efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and build more sustainable lifestyles. Speaking and acting on behalf of Earth systems, essential for the continuation of life, is an important element in the work of justice inherent in the life of a Dominican Sister. By joining together to speak as one voice, organizing actions to protect the environment, and advocating for policies that protect the most vulnerable among us and our environment, the Sisters join the growing number of individuals and families in the Climate Change Movement.

In instituting this Corporate Stance on Climate Change, the Sisters commit to:

• Lending our individual and collective voice to those efforts, consistent with our Catholic faith and the Dominican search for truth, that seeks to mitigate the effects of Climate Change.
• Changes in lifestyle individually and collectively that will reduce our carbon footprint on the planet and encourage others to do the same in our homes, at places of work, at the institutions where we have influence, and in our communities of worship.
• Educating ourselves, family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues about global warming and ways to address this challenge.
• Joining like-minded groups to mobilize awareness and action toward a more sustainable future by working for systemic change and legislation to protect the environment and the community of life.
• Making responsible investments, supporting the development of sustainable energies and advocating for more environmentally responsible corporate policies and practices.

This corporate stance binds us, individually and corporately, to make decisions that protect our environment, to take actions that make our daily lives less harmful to the environment, and to invite others to understand that the protection of Earth systems is essential for ensuring a healthy planet for future generations. April 2015

Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration represents over 1,000 Sisters and Associates from Dominican congregations of Roman Catholic Sisters in New York and New Jersey, dedicated to serving God’s people, especially the most vulnerable among us.

Resolution

We, the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, Blauvelt, Caldwell, Hope, and Sparkill, believe that our present immigration law is badly broken and in need of reform: it ignores the human situation of separated families and the oppressive living conditions that force people to migrate.

We support a compassionate and comprehensive immigration law that:

• Provides the processes for undocumented persons to achieve permanent residency and citizenship without leaving the United States.
• Creates legal avenues for migration.
• Assures family unity for immigrant families.
• Provides guaranteed human rights and labor protections for undocumented workers and all workers.
• Addresses the root causes of migration by protecting the human rights of workers internationally.

Action Steps

• Publish our corporate stance in the media.
• Educate ourselves by staying informed of developments in immigration legislation.
• Continue to advocate and educate for immigration reform in our ministries, parishes, and with other concerned groups.
• Contact local and federal legislators to support the issue of a just reform of immigration laws.

March 31, 2008

We, the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, NY, and Associates of the Congregation of the Holy Cross of Amityville, New York, hereby state our objection to and condemnation of all trafficking of persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation and/or any coerced commercial or other activity. We condemn the actions of those who promote all activities which violate fundamental human rights and Federal and State laws which prohibit such trafficking.

December 2004

A New York US Dominican Federation Chapter Group consisting of members of Adrian, Amityville, and Hope Congregations proposes the following corporate stance for the Federation of Dominican Sisters, USA. We support a moratorium on the planting of GE (Genetically Engineered) crops pending environmental and human safety studies. Until such time as this technology is proven safe, all foods containing GE ingredients should be labeled.

March 2003

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, New York numbering 600 plus members* has taken a corporate stance against a pre-emptive war with Iraq.
Corporate Stance Statement: Echoing our corporate vision, we Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Amityville, New York reject violence in ourselves and in society in order that all generations will grow and cherish life. Our commitment to this vision compels us to give voice to our unqualified opposition to a pre-emptive strike against Iraq. We urge our President and his Administration to heed the call of nations, long our friends and allies, to allow time for all diplomatic means to be exhausted.

We entreat President Bush and his advisors to consider the human cost of a war against Iraq – the cost to U.S. service women and men and their families; the cost to the citizens of Iraq whose population is 50% children. We appeal to the leaders of our nation to consider the material cost to the citizens of the United States – the diminishment of funds to programs that support those already marginalized, the poor, the elderly, and the sick.

As women committed to calling ourselves, our Church, and society to accountability, we stand firmly and without reservation against a war with Iraq. We embrace the nonviolent Jesus, and we challenge President Bush, his Administration, and members of Congress to abandon the immoral action now being considered.
We keep in our hearts the men and women in our Armed Forces who have sacrificed so much, and we ask God to hold them in safekeeping.

September 1999

The Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, NY endorse and support the Jubilee 2000 world-wide movement to cancel the debt of impoverished countries.

December 1994

“Choose Life”

The Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, New York, numbering 700-plus* in the New York area, have taken a corporate stance against the death penalty. In response to Governor Pataki’s pledge to reinstate the death penalty, this congregation by direct vote commits itself to reject all forms of violence.

“We the undersigned stand against any legislation instituting the death penalty in New York State.”

Corporate Stance Statement December 29, 1994

May 1985

“We, the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, NY, believe that nuclear arms are evil. It is a sin to produce, possess or threaten to use them. We believe that the current balance of the United States and Soviet nuclear weapons is an adequate basis on which to negotiate arms reduction. Therefore, we support as a first step immediate, mutual and verifiable freeze on testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union.”