Springfield Dominican Sister Marcelline Koch, OP, was a signatory to a statement by the International Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace about taking action to counter climate change. The statement went out to the global Dominican Family highlighting the extreme consequences if no action is taken: droughts, mass migrations, and strange weather phenomena. The statement gives a proposed solution to cut through the complexity of the climate change issue.
The statement was released after the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit and the record breaking September 2020 Climate Strike planetary protests led by teenage activist Greta Thunberg. The statement expresses solidarity with the youth and others working to challenge leaders and support action and policy changes. It is a call to the Dominican Family to commit to the ecological conversion Pope Francis calls for in Laudato Sí.
The International Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace includes a friar and a sister justice promoter from each of the five regions of the world, a representative of the Dominican nuns and Dominican youth, and two representatives from the Dominican Laity. Its purpose is to promote and support justice and peace efforts in the Dominican Family.
