‘Allow Church people to continue missionary work’

We, Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion, are very deeply disturbed by the news that one of our sisters, Sister Patricia Fox, NDS, was detained by the Bureau of Immigration of the Philippines for her work and solidarity with the poor in the country.

Sister Pat was assigned by the congregation to do mission in the Philippines in 1990. Following the mandate of the Church mission of proclaiming the good news to the poor, she has since given her life as a religious to the service of the poor and those in need at the peripheries of society.

Pope Francis has always reiterated this mission of the Church: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick and the prisoners, and care for the environment, with mercy and compassion, for justice and peace.

Sister Pat has most obediently lived her missionary calling. That is why she is seen among the poor, in fact-finding and mercy missions among the indigenous population and in ecologically impoverished areas, among the sick and prisoners.

By virtue of her religious vows as an imperative of her Christian faith, Sister Pat has the right to promote this Christian response to the needs of the people in the Philippines regardless of faith differences, political beliefs and social status.

We, Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion, support Sister Pat and her missionary presence in the Philippine Church and society.

We ask the Philippine government to allow Sister Pat and other fellow Church people to continue their missionary work in the Philippines by respecting and upholding Church people’s rights and respond by being present among the poor, the sick and the prisoners.

SISTER MARY BABIC, NDS, superior general, Notre Dame de Sion, Rome