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Pro-Life Marchers Brave Cold, Wet Weather January 23rd, 2012

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in the annual Pro-Life March in Washington, DC today, with demonstrations planned in cities and towns across the country, calling for an end to abortion in America. Tens of thousands of pro-life supporters marched through downtown San Francisco on Saturday, January 21, to mark the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

Seminarians attending the rally were hosted at the Oblate headquarters in Washington.

Learn more…

Corporations, Taxes and Responsible Investors January 23rd, 2012

Read the latest from Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI on Huffington Post.

He highlights the responsibility of corporations that “…rely on numerous public resources and services to operate their businesses and maintain their profitability…[to] contribute their fare share to the public coffers that enable governments to develop the foundation and provide the services that corporations and all citizens count on to survive.”

He ends with a clear call: “Shareholders, and especially faith based and socially responsible investors, will need to consider how to engage companies that are identified as the most aggressive in developing legal strategies to either avoid or evade the payment of approved taxes. The use of such tools and action that are clearly designed to profit by avoiding responsibility to contribute appropriately to the revenue streams, that are essential to the fulfillment of the government’s mandate to safeguard the public welfare and protect the common good, deserves much closer evaluation and scrutiny.”

2012 promises to be an interesting year as societies across the globe struggle with financial and environmental sustainability in the context of justice.

Oblate Parish in Roma, Texas Celebrates National Immigration Week January 18th, 2012

Parishioners at Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Roma, Texas commemorated National Immigration Week (Jan 8-14) with a homily on immigration and prayers for refugees and immigrants. The parish staff also used the bulletin insert provided by the USCCB and encouraged everyone to take it home and use it in prayer all week. The issue of immigration is a story close to home for many of the parishioners at Our Lady of Refuge. The parish is very close the Rio Grande River and members include large landowners, local government officials and immigrant families whose relatives may have faced detention and deportation issues before. Thanks to Fr. Bob Wright OMI for leading the parish into celebrating National Immigration Week.

Stop Trafficking! January 17th, 2012

This latest issue of the newsletter Stop Trafficking! has good descriptions of the California Supply Chain Act, as well as information about actions being taken around the Super Bowl. Stop Trafficking! is made possible through the supportive sponsorship of national and international congregations of women religious and their partners.

Read the January 2012 issue

 

Responsible Purchasing and Investing: A Catholic Priority January 12th, 2012

From buying toothpaste to managing a portfolio – Catholics across the country are taking action to avoid buying from or investing in companies that fail to respect human dignity.

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.

Papal Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees January 12th, 2012

World Day of Migrants and Refugees is January 15th

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 

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