Leave a lasting legacy of justice
The KAIROS Justice Fund is an endowment fund, (the capital plus 10 percent is held in perpetuity at all times), with the purpose of providing an ongoing stable funding base in support of our shared work for social and ecological justice. Since 2006, contributions to the Justice Fund have been made by religious communities, as well as by individuals and churches.
To learn more about the KAIROS Justice Fund and how you can leave a lasting legacy for faithful action for justice, please contact Fahira Golich, KAIROS’ Donor Relations Coordinator, fgolich@kairoscanada.org, 416-463-5312 Ext. 2036
“Our donation to KAIROS represents the Sisters of St. Ann’s continuing commitment to human rights, Indigenous peoples and ecological justice. I have always appreciated the rooting in scripture and spiritual faith-based groundedness that KAIROS brings to the issues.”
Sister Marie Zarowny, Province Co-leader of Sisters of St. Ann, Pacific Northwest
Interview with Sister Marie Zarowny
What inspired the Sisters of St. Ann to give to the KAIROS Justice Fund?
We were thinking for some time of giving to the fund when we first heard about it. As you know, we are winding down our own operations. We have been making an annual donation to KAIROS and we’re no longer going to be in a position to do so once we have wound down our administration. We wanted to select organizations to support into the future and to give a lump sum that would generate what we might have been giving if we had been here, and hopefully a little more than that. That was the basis of why we did it at this time and how we had the assets.
Why KAIROS?
The Sisters of St. Ann have been involved in KAIROS since the beginning, at the local level with many of the inter-church coalitions that came together to form KAIROS. Here in Western Canada, we have been particularly drawn not only to work with those who have been marginalized from our dominant society, but also to teach about the conditions that give rise to that marginalization. With the rise of Development and Peace and then within a few years, the inter-church group Ten Days for World Development, local groups were formed to do education for ten days every year across the country. Each of the churches did their own fundraising during Lent. We’ve had a long history. We were involved with Ten Days at the local level and pretty much everywhere we were in BC and the North. When it all got folded into KAIROS, we continued to support KAIROS in our local area and provide an annual donation. It’s really out of that history of personal involvement and community commitment.
How is KAIROS’ work connected to your mission?
Throughout the years, the Sisters of St. Ann established schools and hospitals in BC, providing quality education and health care regardless of one’s ability to pay. We also have a long history of commitment to right historic wrongs against Indigenous peoples, to change conditions that give rise to poverty and exclusion both at home and abroad, and to work for sustainable development. In so doing, we participated in ecumenical projects, including KAIROS and its predecessors. This donation represents the Sisters’ continuing commitment to human rights and ecological justice.
I think that an important aspect of it is the ecumenical dimension. Since the Sisters’ arrival in BC – next year will be 160 years – Catholics have always been the minority of the Christian population here. We’ve always worked with other denominations. Bishop Cridge, the first Anglican Bishop, was very close friends with our first provincial leader and they collaborated on a number of projects. It’s part of our history, theology and spirituality that we see the value of working ecumenically. We have a strong commitment to that. That’s another reason why we really wanted to direct some resources to KAIROS – an ecumenical connection at a time when it’s not necessarily the thing to do in certain sectors of the church.
When it comes to KAIROS’ work, what stands out for you?
I think of all the faith-based organizations in Canada, KAIROS has done the most with working in solidarity with First Nations and trying to educate the Canadian public through the Blanket Exercise and other ways. KAIROS has persistently – it’s not a one shot thing – stayed the course in the whole area of reconciliation, not only with the churches, but with Canada. I think that certainly the work that’s being done with regard to First Nations is of great significance for us and that all the work related to the climate is of great significance. Those are two aspects that I really appreciate. I’ve always appreciated the faith-based dimension, the rooting in scripture, and the call to come from that place of spiritual faith-based groundedness that KAIROS brings to all the issues it takes on. I also appreciate the research that’s been done. I’ve had a lot of confidence in the work that KAIROS has done as they’ve developed campaigns on various issues – mining for example.
As with most organizations, I know that you have an outreach to youth, which I appreciate. My hope for the future is that KAIROS finds a way to make itself known to youth in our various denominations so that they see it as a real option for getting involved with the major issues of the world confronting us at this time in history.
Do you see that as part of the legacy you are leaving?
I guess because we were looking to the future with it, yes. We didn’t articulate it as such, but certainly, when you ask me, what hope I have – that is it.
