In brief

Left, Sister Marita Beumer at Hispanos Dayton; Jenna Legg photo. Second, prayer service for children who have died in detention; Colleen Kammer photo. Third, Sisters Eva Roehrich, Noreen Jutte and Pat Dieringer enjoy the ice cream social; Michelle Bodine photo. Right, a card from Carolina and Norma from Santiago.

Precious Blood Sisters have been busy with a variety of recent events. In all that we do, we strive to continue to fulfill our mission to proclaim God’s love by being a life-giving, reconciling presence in our fractured world.

June 23 — The Congregation was a co-sponsor of Hispanos Dayton, a family festival held at St. Mary Catholic Church that celebrates various Hispanic cultures with crafts, dances and food. Jenna Legg, coordinator of vocation ministry, and Fr. Steve Dos Santos, CPPS, ran an information booth, and several Sisters attended the festival.

July 18 and September 4 — Sisters participated in two national Catholic days of action calling for an end to immigrant and refugee family separation and child detention. The Sisters also held a prayer service at Salem Heights to remember the seven children who have died while in U.S. detention since December 2018.

July 18 — Tom Hissong, retired Aullwood Audubon educator in Dayton, gave a unique photographic and educational presentation at Salem Heights on the relationship between native plants and birds.

July 20 — A workshop and discussion titled “Unpacking Racial Power and Privilege” was hosted by the Sisters at Salem Heights for members of the Dayton community. Tim Wise’s documentary White Like Me was used to facilitate participants’ understanding of racial privilege and bias. Organized by the Weavers of Justice anti-racism task force in Dayton.

July 22 — 175th anniversary of CPPS presence in the United States! The Sisters celebrated this day with an ice cream social provided by Food for the Journey Project. See article on Page 20.

July 26 — Norma Arancibia, a former Sister of the Precious Blood from Santiago, Chile, was a recent guest of Sister Regina Albers at Salem Heights. She gave a presentation to the Congregation to share her story and ministry. Norma grew up near a Precious Blood Parish in Santiago and knew Father Larry Eiting, CPPS, well. Norma is now directing the Padre Lorenzo Eiting home for abused and abandoned children in Santiago, many of whom are born addicted to drugs. Traveling with Norma was 24-year old Carolina, who arrived at the Eiting Home as a 4-month-old; Carolina will soon be receiving her nursing degree. Norma has stewarded more than 80 children through the Eiting Home. She stays busy with the 13 children she is educating and caring for currently.

Left, Jenna Legg, Brother Tim Cahill, Sister LaKesha Church and Father Steve Dos Santos at The Fest in Cleveland; second, Sisters Madonna Ratermann, Patty Kremer and Margo Young at the prayer vigil for Oregon District mass shooting victims; contributed photos. Third, Sisters Joyce Lehman, Judy Kroeger, Judy Niday, Alice Schoettelkotte, Cecilia Taphorn and Edna Hess at First Lutheran Church in Dayton; Colleen Kammer photo. Right, cemetery at Maria Stein Shrine; Mary Knapke photo.

August 4 — Sister LaKesha Church and Jenna Legg attended The Fest in Cleveland with Father Steve Dos Santos, CPPS, and Brother Tim Cahill, CPPS. The Fest is a one-day, annual Catholic family festival featuring vendors, vocation booths, giveaways and Christian bands; it concludes with outdoor Mass, followed by fireworks.

August 5 — Sisters were present at the prayer vigil for Oregon District mass shooting victims in Dayton, along with hundreds of other people from the city. The Community Homicide Prayer Vigil Group, which the Sisters founded and organize, held another vigil for the victims on August 10 at McIntosh Park.

August 13-16 — The new leadership team for the Sisters of the Precious Blood attended the Leadership Conference of Women Religious’ (LCWR) annual assembly in Scottsdale, Arizona. The 663 members at the assembly affirmed a resolution for the next three years to examine the root causes of injustice, especially at the intersection of racism, the climate crisis and migration.

August 20 — Seven Sisters and Colleen Kammer attended a community ceremony at First Lutheran Church in Dayton to acknowledge the 400th anniversary of black enslavement in America.

August 29 — Visit to Rep. Mike Turner’s Dayton office. Colleen Kammer and Sisters Margo Young, Patty Kremer and Jeanette Buehler met with the representative’s district director and his staff to discuss desired legislation and practices regarding gun violence, racism, climate change and immigration.

September 4 — Sister Jeanette Buehler retired from the planning team of the Ladies Interfaith group. She was recognized for her years of service during the group’s September gathering at the Fazl-i-Umar Mosque in Dayton.

Upcoming event: Oct. 20 — A prayer service will be held at Maria Stein Shrine, the Congregation’s traditional motherhouse in Maria Stein, Ohio. New bronze plaques have been installed for the 291 Sisters buried at the cemetery from Maria Stein Convent Cemetery; Gruenenwald Convent Cemetery; Mary’s Home Convent Cemetery; Himmelgarten Convent Cemetery; Temple, Texas; and Collegeville, Indiana, from 1878 to 1967. Following the prayer service, Sister Maryann Bremke will give a presentation on the 10 convents established in North America by Father Francis de Sales Brunner.

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