Two Dominican sisters known for their longtime activism in the cause of peace will be among the speakers at the Gathering for Peace and Justice at Sacred Heart Church in Camden on Feb. 15.
In addition to Sister Ardeth Platte and Sister Carol Gilbert, the other speakers will be John Bach, Quaker chaplain at Harvard University, and Ananya Singh, a climate activist and CEO of Greening Forward.
The theme for the day is The Doomsday Clock: Threats to Humanity from Nuclear War and Climate Change. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. The program begins at 9:30 a.m. and concludes at 3:30 p.m. The event is being co-sponsored by Coalition for Peace (CFPA) and Brandywine Peace Community.
Sister Ardeth, now in her 80s, and Sister Carol, in her 70s, have been peace activists since the Vietnam War. They have spent time in prison for their actions, which has included crisscrossing the country and praying at nuclear weapons-related sites, missile silos and factories that assemble bomb components.
“We talk about being faithful, living lives of faithfulness, being faithful to the Gospel. I think what the nonviolent Jesus was all about was faithfulness,” Sister Carol told Catholic News Service in 2012. “We live in a culture that talks about success. The culture wants to know, ‘Were you successful? How many people were there? How many people were converted? How many times were you arrested?’ For us it’s not about that. It’s about living that faithful life,” she said.
John Bach, a Quaker, speaks of a similar theme on the Harvard chaplains website, stating that he learned “freedom was not determined by which side of a prison wall you were on or by paychecks or ability to consume, but rather being of service and faithful to ideals.”
Singh, of Greening Forward, describes herself as a high school student who is passionate about “environmental activism, youth empowerment and civic engagement.”
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