What's Happening

January 20, 2026, Adrian, Michigan – While it has not been easy in recent years for immigrants in the United States to obtain legal status or U.S. citizenship, immigrants in the United States today face greater difficulties in this area, said immigration attorney Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, during a recent public forum at Weber Retreat and Conference Center.

Sister Attracta spoke from her experience as the founding director of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Office of Immigration Assistance. Now retired but still working in the office, she is the Director Emerita. 

Sister Attracta discussed the additional challenges that many face today under the current administration, including the elimination of a humanitarian program for people fleeing from nations such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti; the practice by ICE agents of arresting people in previously protected areas, such as churches, schools, and shelters; and the Supreme Court ruling that people – including U.S. citizens – can be detained simply for the color of their skin, their accents, or where they work.

Read the entire article, which includes a link to a recording of the program, written by Erik Gable and published in the January issue of The Lenawee Voice.   
 

October 16, 2025, Florissant, Missouri – About 20 pilgrims hiked through the wetlands along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on September 27-28, 2025, to deepen their appreciation of God’s creation, and especially the role of water. They were participating in “Pilgrims of Hope for Creation: The Rivers as Waters of Life,” hosted by the Pallottine Retreat and Conference Center in Florissant, Missouri.

Adrian Dominican Associate Celeste Mueller, DMin, President of the Board of Directors of the retreat center, organized and led the pilgrimage, convened at the end of the 2025 Season of Creation. The purpose was to “walk together to observe, listen and learn from the Rivers and the communities of plants, animals, and humans that depend on these living waters,” according to information on the retreat center’s website.

During the walk, Celeste told participants that they were hiking on “sacred sites” and encouraged them to treat these sites with an expectation that their encounter with them “might change something in us.” 

Laura Law, another Adrian Dominican Associate, also participated in the pilgrimage, and said she appreciated the meditation experience of the retreat. 

Read more about the retreat in an article by Laura Kosta published in The St. Louis Review, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Feature photo at top: Some of the participants in the Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation, hosted by the Pallottine Retreat and Conference Center in Florissant, Missouri, take time to pose for a photo.