In a world crying out for justice and healing, what is the “prophetic role” of the Church? Sister Helen Marie Burns and other Church leaders, including Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger and Bishop John E. Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, explored this question in a panel discussion at the University of Detroit Mercy on April 25. The event was part of the university’s 150th anniversary commemoration.
The Church, like the prophets of Scripture, must announce and promote God’s vision and stand up to systemic injustice, said Sister Helen Marie, a past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). Church leaders must focus not only on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy but also on “the works of justice” that undo unjust systems, she emphasized.
“Systems imprison. Systems create hunger, homelessness and nakedness. We [must] also become more aware of the vulnerabilities of the Earth itself, because God’s vision for creation is the flourishing of all life.”
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