CRLN 2007 Annual Luncheon
Voices from Venezuela: Faith Perspectives from the Grassroots
Join us for the 2007 Annual Luncheon, with keynote speaker Venezuelan Sr. Jenny Russián and Lisa Sullivan speaking on the social changes taking place in Venezuela. The luncheon will be held on November 6 at Old St. Patricks Church, 700 W. Adams Street, from noon until 2 pm.
The CRLN Luncheon is an opportunity to hear first hand from women in leadership working with Catholic communities ecumenically to empower the poor majority for inclusion in Venezuelan society. Sr. Jenny and Ms. Sullivan will help us understand the many changes taking place in Venezuela and how we, as religious leaders and U.S. citizens, can engage in meaningful relationship and dialogue with communities working for peace, justice, and human rights in Venezuela.
Tickets are $45 each. Tables of 8 are also available. For more information, contact Sharon Hunter-Smith at shunter-smith@crln.org or 773-293-3680.
Sr. Jenny Russián
Sr. Jenny Russián has been a woman religious for 15 years with the Congregation of the Institute of Missionary Catholic Sisters of Christ Jesus. She currently serves as Vice-president of the ecumenical Latin American Foundation for Human Rights and Social Development, which received a United Nations Peace Award in the 1980's for its work on behalf of the disappeared in South America . She is also Director of the Institute of Human Development and Social Economy, functioning in various areas of Caracas and the interior of the country to promote economic and social development, as well as working with poor families, adolescents, and children in her local parish. Sr. Jenny has a sophisticated understanding of the Venezuelan context and the church's role within it.
Lisa Sullivan
Lisa Sullivan is the Latin America Coordinator for the School of the Americas Watch and has lived in Venezuela for 30 years. Last year, she accompanied Fr. Roy Bourgeois and others from SOA Watch on a tour of Latin American countries to meet with government leaders and seek their pledges to not send military personnel from their countries to train at SOA, now called WHINSEC. The presidents of Uruguay , Venezuela , and Argentina agreed to immediate troop withdrawals from the SOA, and Bolivian President Evo Morales agreed to a gradual withdrawal of troops. Lisa will translate for Sr. Jenny and add her own observations on current trends in Venezuela.
