News from Visitation Province
Birthday Celebration in Sydney: Sr. Mary Cecilia MacDonald celebrated her 99th birthday at the CND Health Center on Wednesday, April 7th. She was celebrated with prayer, best wishes, song and cake.
Arlene Rutledge, coordinator
Follow-up: UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons: Those of you who participated in the November 6, 2020, meeting of the Montréal Sisters and Associates with Margaret Gillis of the International Longevity Centre (ILC) will recall that she spoke extensively about how the COVID-19 pandemic revealed longstanding systemic issues related to long-term care, ageism, and ageing in general.
You will be happy to learn that their work towards the development of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons continues to make great strides with expressions of support from within our own country and around the world. On March 30, 2021, at the 11th Session of the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, they held an official side event “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Human Rights of Older Persons: An International Dialogue”. It included eminent aging experts and United Nations Ambassadors (Including Canada) to discuss the issue and to look for meaningful responses to protect the human rights of older persons and to ensure that what we have seen in the pandemic never happens again. If you are learning about this initiative for the first time, please click on the ILC link above for more information. To borrow from Manitoba Senator Patricia Bovey, “Human Rights do not have a best-before date.”
Charles Taker, Montréal Associate
Journey with us in Prayer! Over 20 Sisters and Associates are following the Indigenous Canada online course from the University of Alberta and gathering weekly to reflect and share on how and what we are learning touches the mission of Visitation Province. We took a break for Holy Week, but we are now back at it and will continue until June. Please keep us in your prayers as we learn together and respond to the invitation to open our hearts and minds to Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Monica Lambton, JPIC Coordinator