The Felician Sisters of North America affirm that access to clean water is a fundamental human right and a necessity for all of God’s created world. We will educate ourselves on issues of water use and supply and add our voice to those who are acting against water injustice and advocating with corporations and governments to ensure future water availability.
In the spirit of our beloved Foundress Blessed Mary Angela, we serve as instruments of justice and peace, working on behalf of all God’s people around the world who do not have access to clean water. The work of justice and peace is integral to who we are and inherent in our charism, vision, and mission. We stand with and advocate for those without a voice in our society—the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, and the vulnerable—to help restore the human dignity and rights of all God’s people.
The United Nations General Assembly voted in 2010 to recognize “the right to safe and clean drinking water as a human right.”
From Catholic Relief Services:
Plant our hearts near streams of compassion.
We pray for the women and children who spend hours each day walking to collect water.
Plant our hearts near streams of compassion.
We pray for the 800,000 deaths per year attributable to unsafe water supply, poor sanitation and hygiene.
Plant our hearts near streams of compassion.
We pray for a reduction in the 38 billion plastic water bottles that end up in landfills every year.
Plant our hearts near streams of compassion.
We pray for greater accountability and transparency when public water systems are threatened.
Plant our hearts near streams of compassion.
Good and gracious God, we pray for humility to see all the ways we take water for granted. Send Your Spirit to change the hearts of those who use water to create strife and conflict. Have mercy on those who are sick or in need because they cannot access safe water. We are thankful for Your gift of water seen in the beauty of waterfalls, placid lakes, rivers that move people and commerce, oceans full of amazing creatures. Give us guidance on how to be better stewards of a finite resource. We ask all of this in Your name. Amen.
Pope Francis says, water provides for “the balance of ecosystems and human survival, and it is necessary to manage it and take care of it so that it is not contaminated or lost.” – Message sent to Professor José Graziano da Silva, director general of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization on March 22, 2019, World Water Day.
From the UN: Clean Water and Sanitation:
“While substantial progress has been made in increasing access to clean drinking water and sanitation, billions of people—mostly in rural areas—still lack these basic services. Worldwide, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water, two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water, and more than 673 million people still practice open defecation.”
In the face of COVID-19, let’s be mindful of how that exacerbates the #cleanwater crisis