February 12, 2009

The Miracle of Sister Elizabeth Kelliher

Last Sunday, at a small Catholic Church in the Downtown Eastside on Cordova Street, the organ music that filled the room for the congregation was being played by a very special woman.

Sister Elizabeth Kelliher, an 85 year old nun with the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, was about to end her hunger strike calling for the re-establishment of a national housing program. She had just gone 7 days on a liquid diet as part of the 2010 Homelessness Hunger Strike Relay.

Sister Elizabeth is a pillar in the Downtown Eastside where she tirelessly gives of her time and continues to be a source of inspiration for many, many people.

She operates a soup kitchen that feeds between 300 and 500 of the city’s most poverty stricken each day.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement have been living in and serving the people of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver for over 80 years. The sisters first arrived to serve the Japanese community, which was then living around Powell Street.

When the internment of their neighbours occurred, the sisters opened their convent for safe storage of goods and possessions belonging to those families being sent to the prison camps. Some of the sisters accompanied the internees to Greenwood, BC and stayed with them.

After the service on Sunday, Sister Elizabeth took time to eat and marched over to the 2nd Annual Poverty Olympics at the Japanese Language School where she was recognized by her community. Some of those in attendance included Itchy the Bedbug and Chewy the Rat.

Asked privately how she felt during her fast, she said “I didn’t even get hungry.”

In the Downtown Eastside, we are now calling this a miracle. We will hold off calling for the beatification of Sister Elizabeth and everyone else at the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement while she is still performing miracles right here in British Columbia.

I ask all members of the House to join me in recognizing Sister Elizabeth, an inspiring woman who continues to be a trailblazer in her eighties.