Good leadership respects human dignity

What is moral leadership today? To answer that question, sisters from Benet Hill Monastery and Mount St. Francis of Colorado Springs joined 663 other leaders at the 2019 National Assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in Scottsdale, Arizona, titled “Imagining Leadership in a Global Community.” 
The assembly provided religious leaders with information and inspiration which engaged the participants in the exploration of leadership today. Weaving world and local realities into the assembly prayer, content and conversations, the participants engaged in two actions to make their collective voice heard. A letter was sent to President Trump beseeching him to end all divisive and polarizing rhetoric. The letter states in part, “We implore you to never use language that disrespects, dehumanizes or demonizes others. We expect our president and all who serve this nation as leaders, to be always mindful of the common good and the dignity of each and every person.”
As Catholic sisters, we daily examine our own words and actions in light of the Gospels; we urge the president to do the same in regard to his moral authority. The members affirmed a resolution in which we committed for the next three years to continue to explore the root causes of injustice, in particular, the intersection of racism, migration and climate crises, as well as the complicity of our congregations in these injustices. We pledged to work with these issues through education, prayer, advocacy, service, impact investing and collaborative projects.
 Sister Clare Carr, OSB
 Sister Marietta Spenner, OSF