Our Passion for Justice
Living an Engaged Christian Life.
Our Corporate Stances
What the Bible says about Action for Justice
From the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
The Dominican Passion for Justice
When he was a student, St. Dominic sold his books and gave the money to the poor rather than see his neighbors starve. He is supposed to have said "How can I study on these dead skins while living human beings are hungry?"
In the 16th Century Dominicans on the island of Hispaniola spoke out at great risk to condemn the encomienda system that kept the indigenous people of the island enslaved. From that moment forward they and their brother Dominicans at the University of Salamanca, Spain worked together to systematically oppose enslavement through study, contemplation, and engagement with the political powers of the day, and direct action.
In 2016 hundreds of Dominican women and men gathered at Salamanca to renew the commitment of the Order of Preachers for the mission of Gospel Justice. Explore these pages to discover what they did and to see how the Dominican Sisters of Springfield are currently engaged in action on behalf of justice.
Today Dominican women and men continue to collaboration on behalf of the common good of people and Earth.
Our Corporate Stances
We are connected to our Dominican sisters and brothers worldwide, and we share common concerns and commit to collaborative action for the protection of human rights, climate justice, economic rights, and peace and security.
Learn more about each of these justice concerns and our corporate stances related to them here.
We believe preaching the gospel of justice is integral to our Dominican vocation. For that reason we choose on occasion to make public corporate statements about these important social concerns. Each corporate stance we've taken since our first one in 1994 has been affirmed by at least two-thirds of those who are able to vote.
In our Dominican tradition, the process of affirmation is preceded by communal study, dialog, and prayer.
