Full Text of HR0929 97th General Assembly
HR0929 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to honor Sister Patricia M. Murphy, | 4 | | RSM, and Sister JoAnn Persch, RSM, for their years of | 5 | | dedication to helping others; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Sister Patricia Murphy and Sister JoAnn Persch | 7 | | have both been educators and administrators; Sister Patricia | 8 | | ministered in Sicuani, Peru, where she opened a school and | 9 | | served as principal for 8 years; they have both ministered to | 10 | | the elderly through service in the Mercy Hospital community | 11 | | outreach program and Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly; | 12 | | and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, In 1990, the Sisters were part of a team of 4 who | 14 | | opened Su Casa Catholic Worker Community for Central American | 15 | | Refugees seeking political asylum; the residents were | 16 | | survivors of torture; in 1996, they moved to Casa Notre Dame | 17 | | which sheltered women in recovery from addictions and also | 18 | | sheltered their children; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Sister JoAnn and Sister Patricia became Peace and | 20 | | Justice Coordinators for the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago and | 21 | | currently continue their work as volunteer Peace and Justice | 22 | | Ministers in the Chicago area of the WestMidwest Community; |
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| 1 | | their passion for working with immigrants stems from the work | 2 | | at Su Casa, but they are also called to this ministry by the | 3 | | commitment of their religious community to stand in solidarity | 4 | | with immigrants; their ministry includes advocacy for | 5 | | comprehensive immigration reform; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Sisters have a special concern for those who | 7 | | are being detained and those being deported; their ministry | 8 | | includes prayer at the deportation staging center each Friday | 9 | | morning while people are being deported; that prayer has led | 10 | | them to establish a court watch program in the immigration | 11 | | court; attempts to enter the deportation center and the McHenry | 12 | | County Jail failed, which led to work with the Illinois | 13 | | Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Interfaith | 14 | | Committee for Detained Immigrants to have a bill passed in the | 15 | | Illinois Legislature which allows pastoral workers access to | 16 | | the detainees; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, With the passage and implementation of the bill, | 18 | | the Sisters have trained pastoral workers and developed teams | 19 | | to go into the McHenry County Jail; the teams meet with the | 20 | | detained immigrants once every week; the Sisters, along with | 21 | | the Illinois Coalition and the Interfaith Committee, obtained | 22 | | permission to pray on the buses at the deportation center with | 23 | | those being deported; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Since March of 2010, the Sisters are permitted to | 2 | | enter the deportation center and to pray with those being | 3 | | deported and support the families who come to say goodbye; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Their current project is the Post-Detention | 5 | | Accompaniment Program for men and women who are released but | 6 | | have no support until they can start life over;
Sister Patricia | 7 | | and Sister JoAnn collaborate with the Illinois Coalition for | 8 | | Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Office of Immigrant | 9 | | Affairs and Immigration Education of the Chicago Archdiocese; | 10 | | they are among the founding members of the Sisters and Brothers | 11 | | of Immigrants and work collaboratively with the Priests for | 12 | | Justice for Immigrants; their umbrella group is the Interfaith | 13 | | Committee for Detained Immigrants; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 15 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 16 | | we thank Sister Patricia and Sister JoAnn for their dedication | 17 | | to God's people and their ministry; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 | | presented to Sister Patricia Murphy and Sister JoAnn Persch as | 20 | | a symbol of our respect and esteem.
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