What Is Solidarity?
Sr. Norma Pimentel (R) with people of the Rio Grande Valley
Our group calls itself Solidarity with Sisters. Catholic Social Teaching calls us to solidarity with people who are marginalized. But what does "solidarity" mean?
In my very non-official view, it's about being "solid" with others -- an in-our-bones knowing we are one connected body with all of humanity and even all of creation -- which pulls us to act. Women religious say it a lot better:
“Solidarity is not primarily a feeling. Solidarity demands more than emotion. Solidarity requires entering into the experience of another. Within the struggles or suffering of another, solidarity implies a bond that moves to action.” – Sister Clare Nolan
Since I was a little girl and first heard about Maryknoll Sisters through the atrocities in El Salvador, that is what I thought of when I thought about love: to go where you were needed but not always wanted, to refuse to abandon those whom you had come to love despite physical danger, and to serve God all the while. – Sister Mara Darleen Rutten
"We cannot live prophetically without proximity to those who are vulnerable and marginalized. First of all, that is where we belong. Our mission is to give ourselves away in love, particularly to those in greatest need. This is who we are as women religious. But also, the vantage point of marginal people is a privileged place of encounter with God, whose preference is always for the outcast. There is important wisdom to be gleaned from those on the margins. Vulnerable human beings put us more in touch with the truth of our limited and messy human condition, marked as it is by fragility, incompleteness, and inevitable struggle. The experience of God from that place is one of absolutely gratuitous mercy and empowering love. People on the margins who are less able to and less invested in keeping up appearances, often have an uncanny ability to name things as they are. Standing with them can help situate us in the truth and helps keep us honest. We need to see what they see in order to be prophetic voices for our world and Church, even as we struggle to balance our life on the periphery with fidelity to the center.” – Sister Pat Farrell
"The Peace Corps left today and my heart sank low. The danger is extreme and they were right to leave. Now I must assess my own position, because I am not up for suicide. Several times I have decided to leave El Salvador. I almost could, except for the children, the poor, bruised victims of this insanity. Who would care for them? Whose heart could be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and loneliness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine." – Jean Donovan, Maryknoll Lay Missioner who was martyred in El Salvador 12/2/1980 with Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke and Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel
[Speaking of the serious personal risks that US Dominican sisters have taken to be with the Iraqi Dominican sisters] “Only sisters and brothers, you know, can take these risks, and these things are not without consequences. But it seems to me, the biggest consequence was the solidary of knowing that you’re sister and brother with your family in Iraq.” – Sister Dusty Farnan
"Our sincere commitment to justice and active concern for the poor are absolutely non-negotiable parts of living our faith and discipleship. Today, there is so much theologizing and writing about the radical option for the poor and needy. While I may feel good about that on the conceptual level, where am I in my practical, down-to-earth solidarity with the poor? Imagine, if each… would reach out even to a few persons on the margins, how the margins would be transformed into islands of hope! We are not a hopeless group sitting here. We are a powerhouse of transformation." – Sister Mary Sujita
"We are a body." "Solidarity requires vulnerability... openness to being transformed by your challenges and your joys." It's not "the high that comes from helping people." Your own equal humanity is the starting point." "You are not going there to bring them to God. And you're not going there to find yourself. You are going there to find God, and God is already there, and they will show you God's face.” – podcast from America magazine featuring Dr. Meghan Clark of St. John University in NYC
What does solidarity look like? "Look to the Sisters for An Example of Humanitarian Aid Done Right" highlights examples:
What leads people to spend their lives in solidarity with people on the margins? Maryknoll sisters, fathers, brothers, and lay volunteers do this worldwide. They “go where they are needed but not wanted and stay until they are wanted but not needed.” Robert Ellsberg, a leader in Catholic social justice and editor in chief at Orbis Books, combines humor, personal story, and profound mission awareness in a video reflection on Maryknoll's work. (32:16)
In my very non-official view, it's about being "solid" with others -- an in-our-bones knowing we are one connected body with all of humanity and even all of creation -- which pulls us to act. Women religious say it a lot better:
“Solidarity is not primarily a feeling. Solidarity demands more than emotion. Solidarity requires entering into the experience of another. Within the struggles or suffering of another, solidarity implies a bond that moves to action.” – Sister Clare Nolan
Since I was a little girl and first heard about Maryknoll Sisters through the atrocities in El Salvador, that is what I thought of when I thought about love: to go where you were needed but not always wanted, to refuse to abandon those whom you had come to love despite physical danger, and to serve God all the while. – Sister Mara Darleen Rutten
"We cannot live prophetically without proximity to those who are vulnerable and marginalized. First of all, that is where we belong. Our mission is to give ourselves away in love, particularly to those in greatest need. This is who we are as women religious. But also, the vantage point of marginal people is a privileged place of encounter with God, whose preference is always for the outcast. There is important wisdom to be gleaned from those on the margins. Vulnerable human beings put us more in touch with the truth of our limited and messy human condition, marked as it is by fragility, incompleteness, and inevitable struggle. The experience of God from that place is one of absolutely gratuitous mercy and empowering love. People on the margins who are less able to and less invested in keeping up appearances, often have an uncanny ability to name things as they are. Standing with them can help situate us in the truth and helps keep us honest. We need to see what they see in order to be prophetic voices for our world and Church, even as we struggle to balance our life on the periphery with fidelity to the center.” – Sister Pat Farrell
"The Peace Corps left today and my heart sank low. The danger is extreme and they were right to leave. Now I must assess my own position, because I am not up for suicide. Several times I have decided to leave El Salvador. I almost could, except for the children, the poor, bruised victims of this insanity. Who would care for them? Whose heart could be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and loneliness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine." – Jean Donovan, Maryknoll Lay Missioner who was martyred in El Salvador 12/2/1980 with Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke and Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel
[Speaking of the serious personal risks that US Dominican sisters have taken to be with the Iraqi Dominican sisters] “Only sisters and brothers, you know, can take these risks, and these things are not without consequences. But it seems to me, the biggest consequence was the solidary of knowing that you’re sister and brother with your family in Iraq.” – Sister Dusty Farnan
"Our sincere commitment to justice and active concern for the poor are absolutely non-negotiable parts of living our faith and discipleship. Today, there is so much theologizing and writing about the radical option for the poor and needy. While I may feel good about that on the conceptual level, where am I in my practical, down-to-earth solidarity with the poor? Imagine, if each… would reach out even to a few persons on the margins, how the margins would be transformed into islands of hope! We are not a hopeless group sitting here. We are a powerhouse of transformation." – Sister Mary Sujita
"We are a body." "Solidarity requires vulnerability... openness to being transformed by your challenges and your joys." It's not "the high that comes from helping people." Your own equal humanity is the starting point." "You are not going there to bring them to God. And you're not going there to find yourself. You are going there to find God, and God is already there, and they will show you God's face.” – podcast from America magazine featuring Dr. Meghan Clark of St. John University in NYC
What does solidarity look like? "Look to the Sisters for An Example of Humanitarian Aid Done Right" highlights examples:
- "Adherence to nonpartiality: Do not ask anyone about religious or national identity when assisting in the areas of health or education." Says Sister Habiba Nafif in South Sudan: "We are working with the human being, and that's the important thing."We are working with human beings."
- "Positive attitude here is key in the sense that in difficult situations, stress is ever present, so we need to orient ourselves to see, to listen, to share, and realize that which is good," says Sister Anne Kiragu in South Sudan.
- Thinking globally -- putting their work in context. "Being able to identify ourselves with others who work in difficult places indicates an enormous field of energy united in solidarity for the poor and less privileged. Actually this makes the world a better place for us all," says Sister Anne.
- A "theology of presence." Sister Anne quotes two African proverbs: "Being present is more worthwhile than giving." Put another way, "Better the eyes that visit and see you than the gifts people offer you."
What leads people to spend their lives in solidarity with people on the margins? Maryknoll sisters, fathers, brothers, and lay volunteers do this worldwide. They “go where they are needed but not wanted and stay until they are wanted but not needed.” Robert Ellsberg, a leader in Catholic social justice and editor in chief at Orbis Books, combines humor, personal story, and profound mission awareness in a video reflection on Maryknoll's work. (32:16)