Sydney Inn and Suites, Charlottetown: Last Saturday and Sunday afternoon, sisters and former students were invited to visit our former Notre Dame Convent, now known as Sydney Inn and Suites. This invitation was indeed a gesture of solidarity on the part of the new ownership with all those who have had affiliation with it over the years, and was much appreciated by all who attended.
John Philip Newell gave a very fine lecture this past summer at Boston College entitled "The Meeting Between East and West: Spirituality Beyond Boundaries.” It is 1 hr and 41 min in length and you can pause and restart if needed. You can access it at https://youtu.be/WgPRRya9MuY.
Last week, six of us participated in the annual CRC JPIC Ontario Network workshop. With the closing of Scarboro Missions, the event was moved to Kingston with great success. I came from Montreal, Rosemary Shannon, Rosemary Brosseau, Mildred Chabassol and Emily Doherty were there from Kingston and Nina Glinski travelled from Ottawa. Exploring the theme of the role of the Catholic Church and theology in relations with First Nations from colonization to the present, we worked with emotionally challenging history, along with examples and stories of hope that a different type of relationship is possible. The guest speaker was the Honourable Graydon Nicholas, Maliseet, former Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick and member of the Guadalupe Circle (Catholic healing circle for First Nations relationships). He presented little known gems of solidarity from history, while group participants shared stories of change from today and their plans for moving forward in a better way. As CND, we found the variety of resources, information and experiences to be very helpful as we consider an increased Community response to the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.