Prayer service for Oak Flat mountain (online)
07/19/25
10:00 am
Location: online
Host: Loretto Community
You are invited to join an online prayer service for Oak Flat mountain. Oak Flat is a mountain sacred to the Apaches in Arizona, and Loretto continues to be involved in supporting the fight to prevent a copper mining company from destroying it. Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Sister Kristin Peters, a member of our Truth, Justice and Healing team, will be present in Arizona, standing in solidarity with the Western Apache in defense and witness of their most sacred site, Oak Flat.
On Saturday July 19 at 10 a.m. CST, the Loretto community will be answering the Apache Stronghold’s call for prayer from Kentucky. Loretto Co-Members Susan Classen and JoAnn Gates have prepared a special prayer service and are welcoming all to join via Zoom to add their community’s voices and prayers to those who gather at Oak Flat this weekend.
About
*Information courtesy of Land Justice Futures
This weekend, a coalition of eight Catholic sisters and religious community members from across the country will travel to Arizona to stand in solidarity with the Western Apache, in defense and witness of their most sacred site, Oak Flat (Chi’chil Bildagoteel). For years, the Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Western Apache and other allies, have been waging a fight to protect these lands which have been under federal protection for decades. After several legal battles and the recent refusal from the Supreme Court to hear the Apache Stronghold’s religious freedom case, Oak Flat now faces total demolition by multinational copper mining corporations Resolution Copper and Rio Tinto.
The federal land transfer, officially slated for August 19, would cause devastating damage to the land and destroy the Apache’s ability to practice their religion—a religion which originates from and is inextricably tied to the land at Oak Flat, with ceremonies being held there for millennia that can only take place at that holy site. In the Supreme Court, two Justices dissented against the majority decision to not hear the case, calling it a “grievous mistake” and a threat to religious freedom everywhere.
Heeding the Apache Stronghold’s call for allies and religious leaders to stand in solidarity, these women religious will join communities and tribes from across the country in ceremony for two days, bringing forward the power of collective prayer in service of Mother Earth.
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