In June 2020, the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph put out a statement on racism and a commitment to direct action. As part of this commitment, the U.S. Federation will be hosting a four-part series on restorative justice, it's relationship to the Charism, and how we can more fully incorporate restorative justice into our daily lives and ministries.
Workshops will begin September 2020, and the subsequent three workshops will run monthly until December 2020. We will also offer resources for communities to engage in questions about restorative justice in-between the workshops. We also encourage people to attend any or all of the workshops- previous attendance is not required for future workshops.
- Thursday, September 24 at 3 pm ET: The first workshop will be an overview of restorative justice and its relationship to the CSSJ Charism. Caitlin Morneau and Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy from Catholic Mobilizing Network and Sr. Rose McLarney will present at this workshop.
- Saturday, October 10 at 2 pm ET Racism and Restorative Justice in Catholic Institutions: Dr. Shannen Dee Williams (Villanova University) and Sr. Melinda Pellerin (Springfield) will discuss racism within Catholic institutions, historical truth telling, and practical reparations necessary to move forward. This workshop will discuss antiracism work within the Charism and leave time for questions and discussion.
- Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 PM ET: People utilizing restorative justice in their lives and ministries will give short presentations on how they incorporate restorative justice principles. This will be followed by a lively panel discussion where participants can ask practical questions of our panelists, leaving with concrete ideas of how to incorporate these principles into our own lives. Speakers include: Jessica Cuevas (Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles), Emile DeWeaver (Prison Renaissance), Sean Horrigan (University of San Diego), Heather Thompson (DC Peace Team) and Arica Maurer (Director of the Buchanan Initiative for Peace and Nonviolence at Avila University) as the moderator.
- December 2020 To Be Announced
These workshops are open to all under the Federation, including but not limited to our associates, agregees, St. Joseph Worker community, partners in mission, the Family of Joseph, ACSSJ, employees, and all those who share the CSSJ charism. Please share abundantly.
These workshops will be made available for free to students, the St. Joseph Worker community, and U.S. Federation members. For those who are financially able and aren't from the above groups, we are asking for a small suggested donation for each workshop. All funds will be used to upgrade our zoom technology, to pay our speakers, and for any future U.S. Federation programming.
If you are not a Federation member but would like to join, please visit our website to learn more.
We are also asking for institutional sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring this programming, you can learn more here or email us at info@cssjfed.org.
