Women religious return from Alabama pilgrimage — reflect on hope, civil rights

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

In early October, women religious from the Diocese of Covington — representing the Sisters of Notre Dame, Sisters of Divine Providence and Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery — set their sights on Selma, Alabama for a pilgrimage commemorating the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.

In 1965, Selma became the gathering place for hundreds of people, including many women religious, to march from Selma to Alabama’s capital of Montgomery in the name of voting rights for African Americans. In their visit to the city, the sisters visited Selma’s historic sights and reflected on the impact of the Civil Rights Movement today.

Reflecting on the pilgrimage, Benedictine Sister Dorothy Schuette noted that “even as we acknowledge injustice and injuries inflicted and received by our ancestors and country-women and men, we are heartened by the care and work of our sisters and brothers to repair and build up the children of God.” An example being the Edmunites — who gave the sisters a place to stay at their mission, and who serve the African American community in Selma.

“Our pilgrim group’s shared prayer and reflections at the close of each day were valuable opportunities for the six of us to express our deep emotions of compassion, sorrow, solidarity and empathy for those who have been so abused in the past,” Sister Dorothy said. “We also became more aware of the traces of racial hatred that continue to exist in the society in which we live. But we are women of hope witnessing to the deepest desire of humankind to live in peace with