This letter was drafted, reviewed and contributed to by a broad coalition of experts and members of US SIF and ICCR. Read the letter…

Read the January 2012 issue

In the 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that the economy should be at the service of people, and not the other way around.

“Profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end that provides a sense both of how to produce it and how to make good use of it,” the pope wrote. “Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.”

Going further, Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI has argued that faith-based investors should demand accountability from the companies they invested with or they should divest stock in companies engaged in morally objectionable practices. ”With ownership comes responsibility and rights.”

Read more in the article, Companies called to be Responsible by Amy Kotlarz, which appeared in the Catholic Courier on January 3rd, 2012.

Copies of the Pope’s message, entitled ‘Migration and New Evangelization’, can be accessed in English, Spanish, French and Italian. Click on the links to access the documents:

• English
• Spanish 
• French
• Italian 

]]> http://omiusajpic.org/2012/01/12/papal-message-for-world-day-of-migrants-and-refugees/feed/ 0 http://omiusajpic.org/2012/01/10/illinois-bishops-call-for-immigration-reform-and-support-of-immigrant-families/ http://omiusajpic.org/2012/01/10/illinois-bishops-call-for-immigration-reform-and-support-of-immigrant-families/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:01:32 +0000 christina http://omiusajpic.org/?p=10664 The Bishops of Illinois opened National Migration Week, which started January 8, with a statement calling on Catholics to provide support to immigrant families and advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.

During the next six months, each diocese in Illinois will share the stories and realities of immigrant families in their parishes and communities. These stories will be published in diocesan newspapers, bulletin inserts and on our website.

Read the bishops’ statement…

If you have actions, news and reflections about the National Immigration Week from your community, parish or diocese, please share these with the JPIC office.

Human Trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, and forceful detention of people either from one country to another, or within countries. Threats, force and/or deception are typical. Those being exploited are either unpaid, or given a very small payment for their work, prostitution or other sexual exploitation, and are not free to leave these abusive situations. Each year, there are between 600,000 and 800,000 people trafficked across borders throughout the world. There are many more trafficked within countries as well. The United States is not immune to this problem; Many are trafficked within U.S. borders, as well as into the U.S. from outside.

Human Trafficking is rapidly growing, despite the efforts of many to control it. Wherever there is poverty, war, flood, famine, or any kind of upheaval, unscrupulous people prey on the vulnerable. Women and children are especially affected, but many men are as well.

Many of us are unaware of the number of slaves (yes, slaves) we use to maintain our lifestyles. Go to www.slaveryfootprint.org for a series of questions that will show how many slaves it takes to maintain the way you live.

For ideas on what to do, check out the website for Breaking the Snares – A resource for parishes to use in combating Human Trafficking by the Sisters of the Divine Savior; see their parish resource.

In addition, explore the following:

• Stop Trafficking Newsletter and other resources: http://www.stopenslavement.org/archive.htm#handouts
• End Child Prostitution and Trafficking: www.ecpat.net (Website also available in French and Spanish)
• Google The Dark Side of Chocolate to find several sites that show how children in Africa are involved in the chocolate that is so available to us.

The billboards with the message, “I was a stranger an immigrant and you welcomed me” are being posted on December 12 and will remain up through early January 2012. The message, based on the words of Jesus, is taken from the Gospel of Matthew.

“We declare ourselves ‘Welcoming Communities’ in affirmation of our Catholic tradition that holds sacred the dignity of each person,” the Sisters said in their statement, “and we invite other communities and people of faith to join us in becoming ‘Immigrant Welcoming Communities’ through prayer, reflection, education and action.”

For more information visit, http://www.clintonfranciscans.com/news-and-events.html OR www.facebook.com/catholicsisters

“Just as on the road to Emmaus, Christ’s disciples met him in the guise of a stranger, this year’s theme helps remind us that Christ makes himself present to each of us in the lonesome traveler, the newcomer, and the migrant,” said Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles. “We are called to open our hearts and provide hospitality to those in need, especially for migrants who find themselves far away from home and in vulnerable situations.” Archbishop Gomez is the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration.

Resources for National Migration Week can be found on the USCCB website. Posters, prayer cards and booklets can be ordered through the USCCB publishing service or by calling 800-235-8722.

Additionally, the U.S. bishops continue to encourage advocacy efforts by the Catholic community on comprehensive immigration reform. Visit the Justice for Immigrants Campaign website for more information.

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI also unveiled the theme for the 98th World Day of Migrants and Refugees to be celebrated January 15, 2012: “Migration and the New Evangelization.” In his message the pope says that the present time calls upon the Church to intensify its missionary activity both in the regions where the Gospel is proclaimed for the first time and in countries with a Christian tradition.

“Proclaiming Jesus Christ the one Savior of the world ‘constitutes the essential mission of the Church’ … Today we feel the urgent need to give a fresh impetus and new approaches to the work of evangelization in a world in which the breaking down of frontiers and the new processes of globalization are bringing individuals and peoples even closer,” said Pope Benedict.

Internal or international migration, in search of better living conditions or to flee from the threat of persecution, war and violence, has led to an unprecedented mingling of individuals and peoples, with new problems not only from the human standpoint but also from ethical, religious and spiritual ones, the pope said. And, he added, “Christian communities are to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity, as well as by fostering new political, economic and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person.” World Day of Migrants and Refugees was instituted by Pope Pius X in 1914.

Pope Benedict’s message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2012 can be found in the Vatican website (click here)

]]> http://omiusajpic.org/2011/12/12/welcoming-christ-in-the-migrant/feed/ 0 http://omiusajpic.org/2011/12/06/december-10th-human-rights-day/ http://omiusajpic.org/2011/12/06/december-10th-human-rights-day/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:10:07 +0000 christina http://omiusajpic.org/?p=10410 Celebrate Human Rights Day in your congregation the weekend of December 9-11. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), of which Missionary Oblates JPIC is a member, has prayers, worship and action resources for Human Rights Day available on their website. Visit NRCAT: Human Rights Day and work to prevent torture.