Justice Seekers By Erin Reder
S.
Jean Miller is no stranger to political rallies and protests. Through the years she can’t begin to count the number of times she has attended a demonstration on behalf of a particular issue she is passionate about. “Wherever the cause is!” she says. So back in December when she heard NETWORK was planning a rally in Washington, D.C. related to the safety of migrants at the border, she was compelled to act. “Title 42 is related to my ministry,” S. Jean explains. “My experience with immigrants is long and deeply important to me. I lived in their countries, learned their culture, was awakened by their wisdom, grieved with them over their poverty and imposed violence. I have worked with them at the border and gone to the border when rushes are coming in.” S. Jean passionately believes in respecting all human rights, including migrants’ rights to come to this country. In her volunteer work with Ohio Nuns on the Bus, she learned more about Title 42, a Trump-era rule inhumanely used to turn away migrants and asylum seekers at the southern border, and saw it as a violation of human rights that needed to be brought to the forefront. NETWORK’s planned rally felt like the perfect way to express her opposition to the president and ask for change. As she began to plan her participation, S. Jean thought back to 2018 when she and a few Community members took part in a Catholic Day of Action to stand in solidarity with immigrant sisters and brothers. On that particular occasion, she was invited by Sisters Andrea Koverman and Tracy Kemme to participate and also risk arrest. While this time arrest was not a possibility, she remembered those two Sisters who had previously invited her and thought maybe they would return the favor. “So I called Sisters Tracy and Andrea and said ‘you called me two years ago and now I’m calling you, will you go with me?’” she recalled. “When our S. Jean Miller, a justice seeker for many decades, invited me directly to go with her, the decision was clear,” says S. Tracy. “Working for justice is a central part of our Catholic faith and of our vowed life as Sisters of Charity. Our congregational mission proclaims: ‘Urged by the love of Christ ... we choose to act justly.’ Title 42 and similar policies threaten the sanctity of life, contrary to the Church’s social teachings.” Added S. Andrea, “It was a way to draw focused attention on a specific aspect of national immigration policy that many citizens do not really understand and that is the cause of incredible human suffering along the southern border. I 6
(From left) Associate Chess Campbell, S. Jean Miller and S. Louise Lears felt called to bring their concerns to the forefront and to President Biden.
have the benefit, if you can call it that, of having firsthand experiences and witnessing with my own eyes some of what is happening to people, even though working with migrants is not my primary ministry. I feel a responsibility for sharing that with people who can’t see for themselves what is going on.” Joining them were more than 80 Catholic Sisters and advocacy partners, including Sisters of Charity Mary Gallagher, Lois Jean Goettke, Louise Lears, Caroljean Willie and Associate Chess Campbell, an activist and longtime friend of S. Jean. Their objective: to express opposition to Title 42 due to its cruelty and ineffectiveness. S. Tracy elaborates: “In November, at my Cincinnati parish, I met a Mexican family who had recently arrived from the U.S./Mexico border. After escaping a dangerous situation in their hometown and making the arduous journey to the border to seek asylum, they were forced to wait in Juarez, Mexico, living in a tent village for four months. They have four children. As the mother told me their story, she broke down and wept in my arms. This is the impact of inhumane border policies like Title 42.” I ntercom
