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The Sisters of ICCR: Genuine Faith in Action May 7th, 2012

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a shareholder coalition celebrating over 40 years of social justice advocacy, released a statement on Friday acknowledging the vital role of Catholic women religious in transforming corporate policies and practices in order to create a more just and sustainable world.

Read the statement here… (Download PDF)

Environment Sunday ~ June 3 May 4th, 2012

Thanks to Eco Congregation Ireland for this information. Please check out their website for guidance on taking your parish through a process of becoming environmentally aware and responsible.

Environment Sunday this year falls on June 3, two days before World Environment Day (June 5) and two weeks before the Earth Summit.

Is your church holding a special service or event to mark Environment Sunday? A walk/cycle to church Sunday? A nature walk? A litter pick? Or a work-party in the church grounds or locality?

The international Christian environmental organization, A Rocha, has produced materials for Environment Sunday in recent years. See http://en.arocha.org/uk/index.html

A Rocha chose the first Sunday in June, or the nearest Sunday to World Environment Day, for Environment Sunday because this time of year – early summer – is most suitable for outdoor events. It is easier to see and enjoy flowers, butterflies, birds and other wildlife at this time. Furthermore, UN World Environment Day  is June 5th.

The 2012 parish resource pack is on the topic of Trees and Forests.

 

UNCTAD Mandate on Debt Relief Sustained May 3rd, 2012

Jubilee USA is celebrating passage of the Doha Accord, a major step forward in developing solutions to the international debt crisis. The Missionary Oblates is a member of the Jubilee USA coalition and has a seat on the Board. Last week during tough and divisive negotiations in Qatar, Jubilee USA – working with governments and international partners – secured a strong mandate on debt and responsible lending and borrowing.

Click here to read more »

Impacts of Mining Exhibit at the UN hosted by VIVAT International May 1st, 2012

The Missionary Oblates and VIVAT International will host a multi-media exhibit on the impacts of mining operations on people and ecosystems around the world on May 8th at the United Nations. This unique exhibit will be up for viewing from 11:00-3:00 pm in the Chapel at the Church Center for the United Nations. May 8th is the second day of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the theme of which is the Doctrine of Discovery. The exhibit organizers have reached out through their global faith-based networks for stories and images from local communities affected by mining operations. If you are in New York on May 8th, please attend!

Goals of the exhibit include:

• Bearing witness to the suffering of the Earth and its peoples as a consequence of extractive industry abuses;
• Underscoring the necessity of industry standards in preventing mining abuses; and
• Revealing the courageous resistance of peoples all over the world to inadequate extractive industry standards.

At 2:30, there will be a special 15 minute commemoration of those who have been murdered around the world as a result due to their community resistance against the consequences of extractive industry on their communities.

Event details (Download PDF)

Banks Targeted in Divestment Campaign and by Faith-Based Shareholder Activism April 29th, 2012

Churches and faith-based shareholders alike have been taking action against big banks that have failed to respond to the plight of homeowners and others seriously affected by the financial crisis. The Missionary Oblates have been actively engaging the big banks and financial institutions in an effort to deal with some of the underlying problems that have caused so much pain to so many.

Recently, members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) facilitated the participation of VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) in the Detroit AGM of GE Capital. VOICE is a faith-based community organization representing people who have lost their homes or whose houses are threatened by the on-going foreclosure crisis. GE Capital holds some of these mortgages and has been resistant to negotiation of the mortgage terms.

A recent article in Catholic News Service looks at the growing divestment campaign and some of the other activities of church groups vis a vis the big banks.

See our related post on the demonstrations outside the recent Well Fargo AGM in San Francisco.

Angry Homeowners, Community Groups Protested at Wells Fargo AGM April 29th, 2012

Thousands of angry homeowners, immigrants, union members, Occupiers and community groups converged on the annual shareholders meeting of Wells Fargo Bank. In a carefully choreographed protest, simultaneous marches left Justin Herman Plaza on the city’s waterfront, site of the Occupy San Francisco encampment last fall. Demonstrators walked up parallel streets into the financial district, where they encircled the block in which the meeting was set to take place, in the Julia Morgan ballroom of the Merchant’s Exchange Building.

 A group of religious, union and community representatives had purchased shares of stock in the bank beforehand, supposedly allowing them to attend the shareholders meeting. Some even held proxies, allowing them to vote the stock belonging to others. As the rally swirled outside, and speeches and songs filled the streets now vacant of their normal traffic, the police closed off the building and refused to let the shareholders inside:

Wells Fargo blocked over a hundred legitimate shareholders from entering the meeting, saying that the room had reached maximum capacity. About 20 shareholders inside took turns interrupting the CEO while he tried to give his speech. They were escorted out of the meeting. The meeting ended in 37 minutes (compared to 2.5 hours in previous years), with not a single question, largely due to the turmoil both outside and inside the meeting and the fact that Wells packed the room with their own employees.

While the media coverage portrayed the events as part of the Occupy movement, PICO groups in the Bay Area, SEIU, NPA, ACCE, AJS, NBL and other organizing groups provided the core leadership for the event.

 

 

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