Mercy gives Keynote Address at International Justice Conference

Sr. Deirdre Mullan the Mercy representative at the United Nations gave the keynote address at the Comboni Missionaries Generalate, in Rome Italy on April 16th 2004.

Focusing on our thrust as Sisters of Mercy, Deirdre spoke of how the promotion of justice is at the heart of a true culture of solidarity. It is not just a question of giving one’s surplus to those in need, but of "helping entire peoples presently excluded or marginalized to enter into the sphere of economic and human development. For this to happen, it is not enough to draw on the surplus goods which in fact the world abundantly produces; it requires above all a change of lifestyles, of models of production and consumption, and of the established structures of power which today govern societies."

Deirdre said that Globalization divides as much as it unites; it divides as it unites – the causes of division being identical with those which promote the uniformity of the globe.

We are in a new historical situation in which human decisions and activities in one region dramatically affect the ecological and economic well-being of the entire earth community. In response to this we need to make ethical global decisions and work in a collaborative way. The most important new frontier for redressing these issues is that of mind and spirit. The new web of global interdependencies that bind us together, and the tremendous stresses and complex moral choices before us in the twenty-first century, require a far deeper and more far reaching spirituality than ever before in history.

Such a change needs to be born within each of us through a transformed consciousness. It is no longer enough to be compassionate, you must ACT.

Messages to Veronica O'Brien rsm Web Communications Contact Person (Congregation)

Deirdre Mullan rsm Director MGC