News Archives » Integrity of Creation
NAACP Releases Environmental Justice Classroom Resource Guide March 10th, 2015
Given the results of the latest report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the NAACP says we must ask ourselves some critical questions about how we prepare our children to face the world they will be inheriting, and the harsh truth of today’s conditions and dynamics. How do we ensure that our youth emerge from their studies with an understanding of the intersection between our social, economic, cultural, political, and environmental status in society? How do we teach them their role as influencers of what’s happening in their environment, now and in the future?
The reality of being a youth of color and/or a youth living in a low income community means that, due to socio-political marginalization, already one is more likely to be located next to a polluting facility and/or living in a county whose air quality is in violation of already lax federal standards. And, mnority youth are more likely to have the very building that houses their institution of learning built on toxic, contaminated land. We see how this plays out in high rates of asthma, attention deficit disorder, learning problems, and even violence, all of which are tied to exposure to toxins. We also see this result in missed days of school for children, missed days of work for parents who are sick themselves and/or caring for sick children, etc. We also see lower property values because of proximity to toxic facilities, which means under-resourced schools and compromised education. These youth are caught in a cycle of pollution, illness, poor education, negative interactions with the criminal justice system, and economic blight, which detracts from youth’s ability to achieve and their families’ capacity to thrive.
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Ecospirituality Resources March 10th, 2015
We would like to share a resource that you may find useful in your worship planning and personal refection. Ecospirituality Resources is a website that offers material that connects concern for creation with growing faith in the Mystery within it, integrates new scientific discoveries with beliefs and lifestyles, and deepens understanding of threats to Earth’s life systems and our call to respond. Written by Terri MacKenzie, SHCJ, the materials are free, downloadable, and broadly interfaith, or at least, ecumenical.
Visit Ecospirituality Resources to check out Sr. Terri’s blog, worship materials for the Advent and Lenten seasons, and suggested books, videos and websites on ecospirituality. Concerned about fracking? Watch Sr. Terri’s video, Time for an Energy Change
Faith Leaders Speak out on Climate March 5th, 2015
The comments below are from a talk given by Archbishop Thomas Wenski in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 20. Archbishop Wenski was one of several religious leaders taking part on a briefing on religion and climate change sponsored by the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. The briefing — aimed at Congress — took place at the Capitol Hill Visitors Center and was open to Congressional staffers, members of Congress, and representatives from the faith community. OMI JPIC staff attended the briefing. For a more complete version of the Archbishop’s remarks, please visit our partner organization, Catholic Rural Life.
The US Capitol Visitor Center
“While the precise details of how climate change will affect the world are not known, the projections shared by scientists have been alarming. We can no longer ignore the visible signs that changes are occurring in our environment that will affect all life, especially human life. In many poorer nations, years of relief and development work are being undone by prolonged droughts, more intense storms and other extreme weather conditions associated with climate change.”
“Bishops are not scientists but we are pastors — and in so far as climate change affects concrete human beings, it is a moral issue; and pastors, in exercising their care of their flocks, do weigh in — and appropriately so — on moral issues. Also, as Catholics, we firmly believe that the poor have a first claim on our consciences in matters pertaining to the common good. As the U.S. Catholic bishops said in our 2001 climate change statement, “Action to mitigate global climate change must be built upon a foundation of social and economic justice.”
“This past July, on behalf of the U.S. bishops, I wrote a letter supporting “the EPA proposal for a national standard to reduce significantly carbon pollution.” And while the devil may be in the details, I said: ‘These standards should protect the health and welfare of all people, especially children, the elderly, as well as poor and vulnerable communities, from harmful pollution emitted from power plants and from the impacts of climate change.’ ”
Oblate JPIC Signs Letter to US Congress Opposing Fast Track Authority for Trade Agreement March 2nd, 2015
On February 17, Missionary Oblates JPIC office joined in an interfaith letter signed by nearly three-dozen faith communities to oppose fast-track authority for the passage of an upcoming international trade agreement by Congress. The letter has been sent to all Members of the US Congress. Fast-Track authority paves the way for Congressional approval of trade agreements such as the looming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with little or no debate, and with no changes possible to the agreement that has been negotiated by the US Trade Representative, largely behind closed doors. This is an undemocratic process, which potentially denies a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of trade agreement provisions on vulnerable communities, workers and the environment, and which does not provide for detailed public hearings, despite the potential for significant public impacts.
Members of the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investments who signed the letter write, “Our faith traditions call for community participation in the democratic process because we believe this is the only way to ensure all people have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the creation of good policies. “Fast track” is a broken and undemocratic process because it privileges the views of powerful global corporations in defining the terms of trade agreements, while excluding voices of those adversely impacted. This impedes progress towards a more just world.”
Full text of the letter with signatories (Download PDF)
Engaging for Impact March 2nd, 2015
Why Do Faith-based Shareholders Engage Mining Companies?
The Rev. Seamus Finn, OMI was interviewed recently by SUSTAIN, a publication of the International Finance Corporation, a lending arm of the World Bank that focuses exclusively on the private sector. The IFC is interested in how the Church has engaged in recent years with the extractives industry. Fr. Finn has been centrally involved in high-level meetings called by the Vatican and the Archbishop of Canterbury with mining CEOs and faith-based representatives to discuss ways to increase respect for the rights of, and lessen the impact of mining operations, on local communities. He is Director of Faith-Based Investing for the Oblate International Pastoral (OIP) Investment Trust, and Executive Director of the International Interfaith Investment Group (3iG)
Some of the questions asked in the interview are: “Why should the church care about extractives?”, “Why social justice through investment?”, and “Is there a way to secure societal fairness? Is it always a dynamic or is there a sweet spot?”
