Statement from the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, U.S. Region
The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, U.S. Region, an order of Catholic sisters with regional offices in St. Louis, remain opposed to construction of a natural gas pipeline underneath a strip of land they own in West Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Penn.
Despite the Adorers’ refusal to cooperate with this endeavor, Transco has gotten approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granting them the right to construct, maintain and operate a pipeline on this land for the Atlantic Sunrise Project.
The Adorers have a Land Ethic, approved by their congregation in October 2005, that:
- Honors the sacredness of creation
- Reverences Earth as a sanctuary where all life is protected
- Treasures land as a gift of beauty and sustenance and legacy for future generations.
The Adorers received a request from the grassroots coalition, Lancaster Against Pipelines, to install and use, and to invite other people of faith to use, a portable prayer “chapel” on their land. The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy uses of land.
While the Adorers understand that the federal court order of eminent domain, once it goes into effect, can allow Transco to call for the removal of the “chapel” from the easement, they believe that having this structure on their land, for however long, gives tangible witness to the sacredness of Earth.
https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3047
The truth the matter is that the natural gas will be sold outside the country. It will not save energy costs here in this country. Resist and insist.
The Adorer’s do great work at St. Anne’s as I had a relative live there for some time. However, I believe they are being co-opted for political purposes. The St. Anne’s website touts their facilities as “gas heated” and notes that they are expanding. I doubt they will protest the burying of gas lines to feed these facilities. So gas lines on one end of the property are unconscionable, but elsewhere on their property are part of their business plan for expansion? And if the gas is exported overseas eventually (there is no functioning gas liquificarion facilities for export today), where will it go? To Europe, where freedoms are being limited by the Russian stranglehold on the natural gas supply. The sisters and most Catholics prayed at the Pope’s urging in the 1970’s and 80’s for the conversion to Christianity for Russia and Eastern Europe. The greatest impediment to that is the atheist leadership in Russia, whose power is derived from the natural gas monopoly. If the world were only so black and white as “big bad capitalist gas companies are evil”.
Using gas and opposing a gas pipeline are unrelated but, sadly, frequently conflated issues. We didn’t ask for limited energy sources, for the pollution and destruction that coal and other fossil fuels bring. The sisters’ example is instructive here. If the public were fully aware of the damages of these sources–and rapid, devastating global warming is making us more aware–there would be more pressure to pursue sustainable energies. I agree that geopolitics is playing a role in the current frenzy to seize private property (by any means necessary) for gas that will be exported–for corporate profit–but there are indeed more healthy, profitable and effective ways to heat St. Anne’s. The sisters know this, I’m sure. If the world were only so black and white as you’re painting it, lfletch99, we would indeed have very different problems.
Oh Ann, you can’t wish your hypocrisy away. You need to own it dear. You have options. But your options are just not convenient or affordable. You prefer to take the easy route and keep your quality of life unaffected. You’re the worst kind of hypocrite.
I’m grateful that the Sisters are standing up for our earth. Thank you.
[…] outdoor chapel in Columbia, Pennsylvania on property owned by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, an order of Catholic nuns. Among those in attendance were representatives from another order, the Sisters of Loretto, from […]
[…] outdoor chapel in Columbia, Pennsylvania on property owned by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, an order of Catholic nuns. Among those in attendance were representatives from another order, the Sisters of Loretto, from […]
Gas or Oil pipelines are absolutely necessary to heat the world and its population. I do not understand your situation in detail, but the actual fee owner who owns the land has the right to sign a pipeline right of way and be compensated for it or refuse to grant access. Why is it that the ASC is so opposed to a pipeline on the land. Pipelines are carefully monitored, wrapped, buried 42 inches in depth and covered up enabling the population to enjoy heat to keep warm. I believe in Saving the Planet, but I also believe in helping mankind thru progress. There is a middle road to all issues like this. Save the Planet, but extend Life and happiness for all. God Bless America!
[…] sisters say their protest is a religious one and the pipeline violates one of their ethics, which names the Earth as a sanctuary to be […]
[…] sisters say their protest is a religious one and the pipeline violates one of their ethics, which names the Earth as a sanctuary to be […]
[…] to use, a portable prayer ‘chapel’ on their land,” the environmentally-minded nuns wrote in a press announcement. “The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy […]
[…] to use, a portable prayer ‘chapel’ on their land,” the environmentally-minded nuns wrote in a press announcement. “The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy […]
[…] prayer ‘chapel’ on their land,” the environmentally-minded nuns wrote in a press announcement. “The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy […]
[…] prayer ‘chapel’ on their land,” the environmentally-minded nuns wrote in a press announcement. “The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy […]
[…] prayer ‘chapel’ on their land,” the environmentally-minded nuns wrote in a press announcement. “The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy […]
[…] to use, a portable prayer ‘chapel’ on their land,” the environmentally-minded nuns wrote in a press announcement. “The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy […]
[…] to use, a portable prayer ‘chapel’ on their land,” the environmentally-minded nuns wrote in a press announcement. “The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy […]
One potential federal legal argument the Sisters may consider is the taking is a violation of their religious liberty much like other orders of nuns have recently advanced in the face of federal intrusion into the realm of religiously held beliefs that cannot be compensated.
[…] CNN, Adorers of the Blood of Christ, and Lancaster […]