Called to Action: A School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Podcast

In Episode 2: Catholic Social Teaching on Racial Justice we welcome Sister Janise Berberich to help us explain Catholic social teaching around racism. She offers a great perspective from her 35 years of teaching at Notre Dame High School, St. Louis. We hope you enjoy this episode and that you listen to each episode, available every other Wednesday!

Welcome back to another season of Called to Action ! Season 4: Racial Justice, Episode 1: Introduction to Racial Justice helps us explain how to define racism and lays out the first steps someone can take when working towards dismantling their own racism.  Our first guest Sister Barbara Pfarr, part of SSNDs Racial Justice Committee, help us introduce the topic and walks us through the three pathwa...

In preparation for the launch of Called to Action Season 4: Racial Justice  we are releasing a special bonus episode that was recorded after the conclusion of Season 3. We hope you enjoy this episode with special guest Libby Keady who is a theology teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Hampton, Maryland. Libby's senior class had been listening to Season 3: Migration, We Stand in Solidar...

On episode 10, our Called to Action season finale, we welcome Bishop Mark Seitz from the Diocese of El Paso. Bishop Seitz is currently involved in advocacy for immigration reform. He shares how the Catholic faith shows us how Catholic social teaching can intersect with legislation to find a solution to the problems he sees at the border of Texas and Mexico. We hope you join us for this amazing con...

On episode 9, we welcome Sister Lucy Nigh who has just completed 13 years of service in ministry at the border of Arizona and Mexico. She shares many stories that describe the dangers migrants go through when attempting to cross the Southwestern border and explains the type of enforcement the U.S. is currently using to police the border. We hope you join us for this amazing conversation. If you ha...

On episode 8, we welcome Sister Cathy Doherty and a DACA recipient named Ivonne who she has assisted along with many other immigrants through her 30 years of experience working in ministry at Our Lady of Guadalupe located in Ferguson. Together we discuss what the term "dreamers" refers to and the process someone goes through to become a DACA recipient. We hope you join us for this amazin...

On episode 7, we welcome Sister Limeteze Pierre-Gilles who is currently living in Maryland and works for an organization called Beyond Borders that primarily works with the Haitian community to help improve their overall living situations. Sister Limeteze also shares her experience working with migrant families affected by climate change that have been separated through their migration. We hope yo...

On episode 6, we welcome Sister Kathy Schmittgens who is currently the co-director of the associates program for the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province. Sister Kathy shares her experience of being displaced in Africa with the local migrant community as she helps us explore the root causes of immigration.   If you have any questions or comments please contact us at Communications...

On episode 5, we welcome Sister Beatriz Martinez who is currently representing the School Sisters of Norte Dame at the United Nations in New York. Sister Beatriz offers a global view of how legislation and policies have affected migrants worldwide. She also shares with us her personal experience as a migrant, moving to different areas within Mexico as a child so her family could find better work o...

On episode 4, we welcome Sister Christine Garcia who is serving her second term as a Provincial Councilor in the Central Pacific Province. Join us as Sister Christine talks us through the common myths that society has been told about immigrants. We hope you enjoy this episode and welcome you to contact us at Communications@ssndcp.org if you have any questions or comments you would like to share. C...

On episode 3, we welcome Sister Jan Gregorcich, who has been a School Sister of Notre Dame for 53 years, as she shares stories with us about her visits with detained immigrants in detention centers in Kenosha and Douglas Counties in Wisconsin. Her firsthand experience helps us navigate immigration law and puts into perspective what visas are available to immigrants and the obstacles they face. We...

On episode 2, we welcome Sister Jean Ersfeld, a School Sister of Notre Dame, who is currently in ministry at Sacred Heart Parish located in St. Paul, Minn. In this episode, Sister Jean explores the topic of what scripture and Catholic social teaching on migration tell us, and what part they play in the movement for immigration reform. Both Sister Jean and Sister Anna Marie offer great perspective...

Call to Action's Season 3: Migration, We Stand in Solidarity is a School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Province podcast. Season 3 will feature the return of co-host Sister Anna Marie Reha, and the addition of Adam Schicker, School Sister of Notre Dame's  (SSND) newest Communications Manager. This season will focus on the SSND corporate stance on comprehensive immigration reform and will...

In this last episode of Season 2, Sister Anne Marie Reha and Kaitlyn Holdmeyer speak with Hawley Iseke, Theology Department Chair and SSND associate   in Guam. Hawley shared how choices matter and it's important to recognize the interconnectedness of everything. For more information download this pdf: Recognize our interconnectedness with all creation.

Sister Jeanne  Wingenter has a passion for justice and peace. In this episode of Called to Action , Sister Anna Marie Reha and Kaitlyn Holdmeyer, speak with Sister Jeanne to better understand the just war theory and its five principles. For more information download these pdf: Challenge the validity and application of “Just War Theory" and The Challenges of Global Conflict and Eradicating.

Sister Paul Mary Draxler , a member of the Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace committee, shares how important it is to understand the myths of war. In order to have peace, we need to have prayer and open communication. Join co-hosts, Sister Anna Marie Reha and Kaitlyn Holdmeyer, as they learn from Sister Paul Mary. For more information download this pdf: Promote peace-building through nonviolent po...

Season 2 of Called to Action,  discusses the theme of Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace with co-hosts Sister Anna Marie Reha and Kaitlyn Holdmeyer. In this episode, we talk with Sister Alice Zachmann . Sister Alice is a champion for peace and has participated in many peaceful protests over her 73 years of professed life. She also founded the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA in order to protec...

Sister Anna Marie Reha and Kaitlyn Holdmeyer speak with Sister Ruth Mori from Kyoto, Japan.  She shares how the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki affected her family and Japan. To Sister Ruth, Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace is a longing from a person’s soul, and its living out should start personally and should spread gradually among people like gentle water.  For more information download...

Sister Lois Martens , shares the importance of Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace (GNJP). She has served on the GNJP committee for many years and still feels that living GNJP is a journey that can take a lifetime. For more information download this pdf: Recognize our interconnectedness with all creation.   Sign up to get notifications from Voter Voice and learn more about the seven-year commitment...

Anne Vidacovich, a SSND associate shares how having an open mind and heart can create space for Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace (GNJP) with co-hosts S. Anna Marie Reha and Kaitlyn Holdmeyer. For more information download this pdf: Recognize and respect the dignity of each person; live and teach love and compassion for all .  Gain a better understanding by reading the Gospel Nonviolence and Just...

Learn more about Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace (GNJP) from Sister Paulissa Jirik who is on the GNJP committee. For more information download this pdf: Cultivate our own inner peace, self-respect and recognition of one’s own dignity .  Read the Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace Corporate Stance Statement.  

In this episode, you learn more about the School Sisters of Notre Dame's corporate stance on Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace from Shalom/JPIC director, Tim Dewane. For more information download this pdf: Nonviolent Policies, Practices, and Strategies .  Read the Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace Corporate Stance Statement.  

Sister Anna Marie Reha , provincial councilor, and Kaitlyn Holdmeyer, communications manager, co-host Season 2 of Called to Action .  In this episode, you learn more about the hosts and explore the urgency of Season 2's theme, Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace. For more information download this pdf: The centrality of Gospel Nonviolence .  Additional information can be found on our website . 

In this episode we talk to Megan Schnitker. She is an Indigenous traditional herbalist and founder of the Mahkato Revitalization Project. Her parents, Charles Wayne and Marla Bull Bear, have always been a strong foundation for her by providing Lakota teachings and traditions growing up. Her father is hereditary Chief Bull Bear of the Kiyaksa Band of Oglalas of Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota,...

The final speaker for Season 1, Called to Action, is Megan Schnitker, Owner and Indigenous Traditional Herbalist, Lakota Made, LLC, a speaker during the 2021 Women's Leadership Luncheons in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Her Native American culture values taking care of the Earth, as the Earth takes care of them. In her ancestry, women leaders in the Lakota culture have strong connections to the land....