Climate Change

In light of the recent withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Treaty, we, Rochester Franciscans, are compelled to raise our voices in objection to that immoral action, and join with all others who continue to act in support of the treaty, including the Holy See and 194 other nations of the world. We are obligated to make a stand on behalf of the poor and most vulnerable, and act to promote the common good. It is essential that our path forward be one of engaging with the international community and to join forces in offering respect and reverence for our common home.

In addition, we sent a separate press release to our Legislators in Minnesota and Washington, DC, the Rochester Post-Bulletin, and the Diocese of Winona-Rochester’s Courier to share this information, referencing actions taken over the years, in particular:

In 2009, the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota, proclaimed “climate change endangers all of creation. Its adverse effects are especially felt by our poor brothers and sisters around the world.” (Corporate Stance, June 1, 2009) Their stance has not wavered. Since 2009, the Sisters have lived out these values by:

Supporting tree planting projects in Cambodia and Cameroon;
Installing solar panels at Assisi Heights, to help alleviate extra electrical usage during peak times; and
Investing in renewable energy and ‘green’ corporations.

Who We Are: The Climate Change Working Group interacts and shares concerns with the Catholic Climate Covenant. Recently, a member of the Catholic Climate Covenant staff met with Sisters and Cojourners at Assisi Heights to encourage action on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Draft Standards on Carbon emission reductions from existing power plants.

What We Do: The Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) meets regularly, generally via conference call, to share information about climate change advocacy around the state, country and world. This Working Group is connected to the Catholic Climate Change Covenant and also to Interfaith Power and Light (IPL). The IPL is actively supported by our Sister, Joan Brown, who is the executive director of IPL in New Mexico. IPL and MN 350 chapters sponsored seven buses to take people to the Climate Change March 2014 in New York. Sister Patricia Keefe was one of those participating in the March, which drew upwards of 400,000 persons. The Rochester Climate Change Coalition was formed following the Climate Change March in New York. The Coalition holds meetings to plan events for Earth Fest week.

Solar Power at Assisi Heights

Assisi Heights is now using solar power to reduce its energy cost and any negative impact from our electrical usage on the environment. So how did all this happen in just one year?

As followers of St. Francis, Patron Saint of Ecology, care of the earth has been part of our charism and, for some of our members, it is a passion! Sisters Joan Brown and Tierney Trueman have been urging us to explore solar power for many years. In the spring of 2013, serious exploration of a “solar field” on our property began, and by the end of November, it was a reality! Selecting a company, locating the panels on our property for maximum exposure to the sun, and getting the solar panels and inverters that change solar power to electricity “up and running” was the focus from July to the end of November.

600 solar panels, mounted at a 30 degree angle, and facing south in 15 rows, are now located on our property. We have the largest “solar field” in southeastern Minnesota! At peak performance, the system can generate 150 KW (AC) of electricity per day, the amount of energy needed by about 21 homes. Our solar field has generated a lot of interest in the local area with coverage by newspapers and TV stations.

Solar energy is a “win-win” source of electricity. The rebate we received from Rochester Public Utility covered one-third of the cost, giving us a “payback” period of about 6 years. The expected life of the solar system is 30-40 years and requires little, if any, maintenance. The panels have been tested at temperatures from -40˚F to 185˚F.

Special Interests

Written by: Sisters Joy Barth, Zoa Braunwarth and Janel Crumb. Reprinted from 2010 Annual Report: A Year in Review- Following Our Mission

The Rochester Franciscan Community’s mission statement emphasizes “reverence for all creation.” We support the United Nations General Assembly resolution that it is a human right to have access to clean water and sanitation. Water is a part of creation, and one of our significant focal points. Our three aims are to educate, to become responsible advocates, and to make connections with others focusing on this issue.

Recently, we have provided several educational opportunities in the Rochester area, that include:

Hosted an exhibit, “The Dangers of Water Privatization” at the Public Library and Assisi Heights.
The purchase and presentation of two DVDs: Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story, and Dirt.
Attendance of several Sisters and Cojourners at the Nobel Peace Conference: “H2O Uncertain Resource,” in October, 2009, at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN.
Sponsorship of the January 30, 2011, presentation, “Water, More Precious than Gold,” by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, an Associate Professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St. Thomas, a graduate of St. Olaf College, an activist and an author.
Hosted a program at Assisi Heights on April 30, 2011, “Impact of Beavers on the Ecosystem,” by Terry Lee, Water Resources Coordinator, Olmsted County. Beavers play a significant role in water conditions in our area.
Attendance by many of our Sisters at the Art Exhibit: “Rivers of Regeneration,” Sponsored by Water Matters, a coalition in the South Zumbro Watershed, promoting sustainable water quality and quantity.
Providing volunteer support from 24 of our Sisters at Cascade Meadows, a new Science and Education Center with a focus on restoration of wetlands.

In addition, Rochester Franciscan Sisters and Cojourners located throughout the U.S. have been involved in their own local areas. Some examples include:

Our Sister in Montana belongs to the Northern Plains Resource Council and keeps us informed about advocacy to the Montana legislature regarding the process of Hydraulic Fracturing Mining, which is detrimental to the water supply.
A sub-committee of our Justice and Peace Committee, known as the Mountaintop Removal Working Group, notifies us of issues related to water in Appalachia. This method of mining is exploiting the people, the land and water.

With regard to advocacy efforts, we have worked on the “Think Outside the Bottle” campaign, organized by Corporate Accountability International, for a number of years. Through strategic investment strategies, we can vote against policies promoted bottled water businesses.

These programs, plus many others, motivate us to be involved in legislative action. We have contacted legislators to uphold present EPA restrictions about highly controversial sulfide mining proposals around the pristine Boundary Waters area of northern Minnesota. Since the original Clean Water Act passed in 1972, we are supporting a new bill, American Commitment to Clean Water. We have also contacted our legislators on the Restoration Initiative for the Great Lakes, the Reform for Toxic Substance Control Act, Safer Production and Disposal of Plastics, and other bills regarding our clean water supply.

As dedicated Franciscans, our education, advocacy and efforts to make connections spark mindfulness and involvement for the common good.

Written by: Sister Joan Brown. Reprinted from interchange, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Spring 2011

About ten years ago, I cocooned my self into a hermitage for a two-month solitude retreat in the oak forests outside Tulsa, Oklahoma. My only question the entire time was: “What is my essence?” After hours, days and weeks of meditation, prayer, reflection and walking the woods, I found the word HEARTH emerged after meditation one day. At first, I was stunned. In modern Western culture hearth is an almost extinct concept. As I burrowed into the spirit of hearth, I realized that it truly was the essence out of which I was to live in this historical moment.

Hearth is a home. Hearth enfolds heart, earth, ear and art. Each of these words encapsulates a particular wisdom for living in integrity and wholeness as part of the Sacred Earth Community with our home, Earth. For seven years now, Marlene Perrotte, a Mercy Sister, and I have pursued living around the Hearth. We have been gifted with others around the fire of life including Dennis, (a layman living in another house on our land) chickens, ducks, bees, roadrunners, hawks, plants, trees and a wonderful extended community of people.

In addition to our daily work—Marlene teaches at the community college and I am the Executive Director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light working on climate change—living sustainably and exploring the meaning of Earth Hearth Homestead in the North Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a passion.

We rent an acre of land on the Griegos lateral acequia (a communal system of irrigation developed by ancient Pueblos and early Spanish settlers). Our shelter is an old adobe home which was originally a milking barn for a dairy.

Over the past years, we have created a nurturing space with numerous fruit trees and bushes, a cold frame year round vegetable garden, summer gardens, healing medicinal ceremonial herb garden, straw bale hermitage, a labyrinth, and bee hives. Our home and land is a gathering place for educational seminars, retreats, prayer, healing rituals and celebrations with lots of local and homemade food. This work invites others in through the Partnership for Earth Spirituality (PES).

The Sacred Earth Community that gathers and works in this urban setting and beyond honors this place as Home resting upon the many people, creatures and ancestors who have lived here. A home is made by those present and all who have been here in the past. On many occasions, we felt guided by the inspiration of many holy ones who have gone before. In addition, home opens windows into the future.

An unexpected chapter in our lives began for us October 31, 2010, the eve of Dia del Muerto (Day of the Dead). Our l andlord called to say he was selling the property. Simultaneously, we felt dismay and hope. Hope was engendered by those who arrived at the door with offerings for the Dia del Muerto altar— an annual ritual remembering those who have gone before us.

During November 1 and 2, reflecting on all the goodness of the past, we recalled with confidence the words of Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, all manner of things shall be well,” we began to put the word out to the larger community of PES that we needed to find someone to purchase the land who wanted to extend the work here into the future. Many connections, new friends and collaborators, emerged and there is now a wonderful couple with young adult children who know permaculture, healing arts and many other skills, who will purchase the property.

In an age when ecological devastation surrounds us, urban settings must become hearth homes… caring for water by conserving and creating water harvesting systems; caring for earth by planting trees and gardens for food and animal and bird habitat; caring for resources by utilizing solar energy and efficiency measures; caring for community and the soul through the arts, meditation, prayer, ritual and spiritual enrichment.

Our new landlords realize, at a deep level, that spirituality and practice must meet in creating a legacy for their children and other children. Our gifted new partnership opens up greater collaboration, to include solar panels, water harvesting systems, gardening and networking with others who are growing food to create distribution markets in the North Valley, and so much more than we can imagine.

Living in Albuquerque, we realize that we are part of a bio-region. Our homework extends into the multicultural desert and mountain bio-region we share. Sister Water is of special concern to PES, collaborating with our Anglo, Native American and Hispanic brothers and sisters to protect and restore water from contamination by Los Alamos National Laboratory to the North and by uranium mining around sacred Mt. Taylor to the West. We feel very privileged to be working with people from a variety of communities including Navajo, and people from the Pueblos of Laguna, Acoma, Santa Clara and San Ildefonso, along with Acequia Farmers and grassroots organizations fighting for clean water.

Recently, we were part of a group that won a 4 year-lawsuit against Los Alamos National Labs for violation of the U.S. Clean Water Act.

Traditionally, the fire of the hearth was protected at night so a fire could continue the next day for cooking, for heat, for light, for work, art and for a gathering place to share songs and stories. Today, our Earth home invites an evolutionary resurgence of the art and spirituality of the hearth.