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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to honor Sister Patricia M. Murphy,
4RSM, and Sister JoAnn Persch, RSM, for their years of
5dedication to helping others; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Sister Patricia Murphy and Sister JoAnn Persch
7have both been educators and administrators; Sister Patricia
8ministered in Sicuani, Peru, where she opened a school and
9served as principal for 8 years; they have both ministered to
10the elderly through service in the Mercy Hospital community
11outreach program and Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly;
12and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 1990, the Sisters were part of a team of 4 who
14opened Su Casa Catholic Worker Community for Central American
15Refugees seeking political asylum; the residents were
16survivors of torture; in 1996, they moved to Casa Notre Dame
17which sheltered women in recovery from addictions and also
18sheltered their children; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Sister JoAnn and Sister Patricia became Peace and
20Justice Coordinators for the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago and
21currently continue their work as volunteer Peace and Justice
22Ministers in the Chicago area of the WestMidwest Community;

 

 

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1their passion for working with immigrants stems from the work
2at Su Casa, but they are also called to this ministry by the
3commitment of their religious community to stand in solidarity
4with immigrants; their ministry includes advocacy for
5comprehensive immigration reform; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Sisters have a special concern for those who
7are being detained and those being deported; their ministry
8includes prayer at the deportation staging center each Friday
9morning while people are being deported; that prayer has led
10them to establish a court watch program in the immigration
11court; attempts to enter the deportation center and the McHenry
12County Jail failed, which led to work with the Illinois
13Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Interfaith
14Committee for Detained Immigrants to have a bill passed in the
15Illinois Legislature which allows pastoral workers access to
16the detainees; and
 
17    WHEREAS, With the passage and implementation of the bill,
18the Sisters have trained pastoral workers and developed teams
19to go into the McHenry County Jail; the teams meet with the
20detained immigrants once every week; the Sisters, along with
21the Illinois Coalition and the Interfaith Committee, obtained
22permission to pray on the buses at the deportation center with
23those being deported; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Since March of 2010, the Sisters are permitted to
2enter the deportation center and to pray with those being
3deported and support the families who come to say goodbye; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Their current project is the Post-Detention
5Accompaniment Program for men and women who are released but
6have no support until they can start life over; Sister Patricia
7and Sister JoAnn collaborate with the Illinois Coalition for
8Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Office of Immigrant
9Affairs and Immigration Education of the Chicago Archdiocese;
10they are among the founding members of the Sisters and Brothers
11of Immigrants and work collaboratively with the Priests for
12Justice for Immigrants; their umbrella group is the Interfaith
13Committee for Detained Immigrants; therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16we thank Sister Patricia and Sister JoAnn for their dedication
17to God's people and their ministry; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19presented to Sister Patricia Murphy and Sister JoAnn Persch as
20a symbol of our respect and esteem.