Clinton Franciscans to present Clare Award

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On Sunday, November 2, 2003, Joan Chittister OSB, accepted the Clare Award at The Franciscan University of the Prairies. It was only the fourth time that Clinton Franciscans have bestowed their highest honor. Joan took the opportunity to introduce the 300 plus guests to the United Nations Global Peace Initiative (GPI) of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders, of which she is a facilitator. GPI is an outgrowth of the U.N. Millennium World Peace Summit,.

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Joan Chittister OSB, signed books and spoke with visitors following the Clare Award presentation.

In her introduction, former president Marilyn Huegerich osf, likened Joan to Clare - the symbol of light: "Joan is one who is clear that justice and spirituality cannot exist without each other. She is clearer in knowing that when we refuse to confront evil, we crucify the good. She is exceedingly clear in the call to change oppressive systems whether in society, the world or the church. Joan is 'the light in the darkness for the upright.'"

Accepting the award, Joan acknowledged her own personal devotion to Clare, saying, "You bring me under the shadow of Clare; you bring me through her to judgment on myself.... I accept this award as a mandate to keep on moving. I'll try to be true to this great and demanding trust."

Commending the witness of The Franciscan University of the Prairies in preparing new generations for the world community especially the students present, she said, "We have never needed Franciscan witness more than today. Remember: you Franciscans were the first at the United Nations."

Joan explained that the GPI is the first time an international body has officially recognized the potential of religious women working for peace.

"The women of the world are watching to see what women are doing for women. It is time to fashion a world where feminine vision and values and voices are heard everywhere," said Joan in explaining her experience with GPI at recent meetings in Oslo, Norway, and Geneva, Switzerland.

Women, the life-givers of the world, have a stake in the world pursuit for peace, she said, referring to the "madness of war" as "social annihilation," and "a sin against the sanctity of life" being waged all too often in the name of religion.

Citing economic and political wars currently raging in Ireland, Africa and the Middle East under the guise of religious conflict, Joan said, "Religion is fast becoming the most dangerous thing on earth."

In explaining the genesis of GPI, Joan said, "The goal of religious is to be a cosmic call to cosmic consciousness. "To be religious, women must lead the way to peace."

Brimming with the hopeful promise of a more peaceful future through the achievements of GPI, Joan quoted the Talmud: "If the people lead, eventually the leaders will follow."

Her stories of the difficulty many GPI partners experience in participating in the international meetings brought home the terrible reality of oppression, but her photos of women working together to improve such conditions inspired hope and determination in her audience.

Quoting Camus, Joan said, "The saints of our time are those who refuse to be its executioners or its victims." She illustrated that statement with photos and stories of women participating in GPI meetings in Geneva (Oct. 2002) and Oslo (June 2003), growing together into a spiritual body to enable women to claim their power and to create an atmosphere of equals by involving women in the peacemaking processes wherever and whenever they occur.

Quoting the Sufi, Joan said, "If you expect to see the results of your work, you have simply not asked a big enough question, and if you think your work in life is over and you are still alive, it isn't. Do something!"

"Clare of Assisi"

For the Clinton Franciscans by William Hannan, Hannan Studio, Moline Illinois 1999

The Clare Award is given occasionally by the congregation to honor a woman who exemplifies the characteristics of St. Clare and the values of the Clinton Franciscans: to live active nonviolence, pursuing peace with justice in right relationship with all of creation.

Past recipients of the Clare Award include Edwina Gateley (1993), poet, lecturer, and the founder of the Volunteer Missionary society and of Genesis House of Chicago; Dorothy Schramm (1996), founder of the Iowa Division of the United National Association-USA; and Rev. Carol Richardson (1999), who was then executive director of SOAWATCH.

United Nations Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders

WHAT: This Initiative is an unprecedented gathering of women religious, business and government leaders from every faith and region in the world, who are meeting to forge a partnership to reduce conflict, violence and religious hatred. It is a network of women that has never before been established and one that has unique potential to blend the leadership abilities of women towards a common goal of building reconciliation and healing in regions of conflict.

WHY: Women’s peace building efforts have not had the visibility, recognition and support necessary to have an impact. Conflict and religious hatred around the world are nearly a daily occurrence. It is urgent that women from all sectors, regions and religions meet to declare that they have had enough violence and work to construct a specific plan of action for peace building activities in regions of conflict. That is the objective of this Initiative. The aim is to develop specific action steps that will create and expand effective peace building led by women.

The Global Peace Initiative is a direct outcome of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders that brought over 2000 preeminent religious leaders and their delegations to the United Nations in New York in August 2000.

Less than fifteen percent were women. This led to a commitment to build a network of accomplished women religious and spiritual leaders along with their counterparts from business and government who can support United Nations activities aimed at eliminating the causes that lead to conflict.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES:

To build a strong global network of women leaders rooted in spiritual values who are committed to working for peace. This network will cross all cultures, faith traditions, sectors and regions.
To strengthen, collaborate and support the work of the United Nations on peace issues, particularly as they relate to women and youth.
Identify effective peace building programs in regions of conflict initiated by women that are leading to transformation and healing.
Provide leadership training for women who engage in peace building efforts to enable them to expand and draw more resources to their work.
Establish a Global Peace Fund for Women that will provide funding for priority peace building programs that have a demonstrated impact and can be replicated in other regions.

For more information on the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and spiritual Leaders, go to:

www.millenniumpeacesummit.org

Joan Chittister OSB, a Benedictine sister of Erie, Penn., widely recognized for her work for justice, peace, and equality for women in church and society, will receive the Clare Award from the Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton, Iowa, at a public program and reception on Sunday, November 2, 2003, in Clinton.

Chittister, founder and director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality, an active member of the International Peace Council and past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, will become the fourth recipient of the award that was established in 1993.

Chittister, a noted international lecturer, participated in the Fourth U.N. Conference in Beijing in 1995 and the Parliament of the World's Religions in South Africa in 1999. She is a regular columnist in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR). She is working with the International Peace Council to eliminate contemporary forms of slavery and achieve gender equity in a globalized world. Currently she is co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders, a UN-sponsored committee that promotes a more active role by women to ease world tensions, condemns all forms of violence against women and works to achieve gender equality especially in all government peace negotiations.

Joan Chittister OSB has been a leading voice on spirituality for over 25 years. Her most recent books, The Story of Ruth: Twelve Moments in Every Woman's Life, and Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, are lauded by peace activists, scholars, environmentalists, and religious leaders.

"At a time when the vision and values that define us as a nation seem under siege from all directions, Joan Chittister - mystic and prophet - has given us yet another perspective on holding fast to hope as we struggle to make our way in a world that keeps moving away from us." Miriam Therese Winter, Theologian

"I was deeply moved by Joan Chittister's courage and insight and by her insistence that we re ll capable of them as well." Rabbi Harold Kushner