Looking into the eyes of children is certainly part of the conviction that has led two Catholic sisters, both former teachers, to a lifetime of preaching against and protesting nuclear weapons.

Their personal protests started in Michigan in the 1980s. Their impassioned actions working with Home for Peace and Justice, led lawmakers in the State of Michigan to declare it a nuclear weapons-free grounds. It remains a nuclear weapons-free zone.

Today, they continue raising awareness about the use of nuclear weapons and the humanitarian and environmental disaster the world and its citizens would face if any country activated a weapon.

Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert celebrated the historic moment this past summer, 7/7/17, when peace organizations and advocates from around the world came together at the United Nations for four and a half weeks and wrote a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert are part of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. They were present when 122 countries signed the treaty on 7/7/17. The United States refused to participate. ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of nuclear weapons.

Learn more by viewing the video below.

And coming up, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 6:30-8:00 pm, join Sisters Ardeth and Carol in Grand Rapids Michigan at Dominican Center at Marywood for One Step Closer to Nuclear Disarmament.