Latest OMI JPIC News
Setback for Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Prior Consultation in Peru May 29th, 2013
The Peruvian government is refusing to publish a database on indigenous peoples and has excluded from the consultation process, coastal and mountain communities, where mining activity is concentrated.
The implementation of the Law of Prior Consultation of Indigenous Peoples over legislative or administrative measures that directly affect them — in effect for a little over a year — is facing huge setbacks in Peru. In late April, in the context of falling metals prices and slowing economic growth in China and Europe, the government temporarily waived prior consultation on 14 mining projects located on the coast and in the mountains and that are currently in exploratory phase.
Pope Francis and Shareholders United in Priorities May 28th, 2013
In this blog on Huffington Post, Fr. Seamus Finn OMI examines the connections between faith-driven shareholder activism and a recent talk by Pope Francis on some of the important issues that have been publicly debated since the near collapse of the financial system.
OMI JPIC office welcomes intern Br Terence Chota OMI May 23rd, 2013
The Oblate JPIC office is proud to welcome our intern Brother Terence Chota OMI. We are excited to have Br Terence join our staff for the summer. He will be focusing on Human Rights and Integrity of Creation issues. The following is an introduction to Br Terence:
I am Terence Kasonde Chota. I come from Zambia, which is in the southern part of Africa. Upon completion of my High School Education, I trained as a Primary School Teacher. I joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 2003. I did two years of my initial formation in Zambia, followed by a spiritual year and Oblate Charism in Namibia. I then went to study French and Philosophy in Cameroon where I completed with a Bachelor’s Degree. I went back to Zambia for youth ministry in both Education and ecclesiastical circles. In 2010, I went to South Africa to do my Bachelor in Theology. I am currently at the Oblate School of Theology pursuing a Master of Divinity and a Master of Art in theology.
I have had a unique experience of formation. I have been in at least 3 different houses of formation. I believe God provided this opportunity for me, not because I am strong, but because am actually weak and feeble enough to lean on him. Adapting to different cultures is not easy but it is very enriching. With the challenges and joys that I have faced in everyday life experiences I have realized that I have holistically developed in my spiritual life and the Oblate way of Life. I have learnt that to strive for holiness and maturity in my own personal life is extremely important, but it is only half the picture; the other half is our God-given responsibility to the world around us. My areas of interest in issues of justice are in integrity of creation, human trafficking and human dignity. This is very vital for me because the OMI Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) initiative works to promote human dignity and respect for God’s creation through faith-consistent investments principles, advocacy with corporations and governments, educational outreach, and grassroot organizing in Oblates parishes.
I would sum up my experience as an Oblate with constitution 32 of the Oblates Constitution and Rules: “it is as missionaries that we worship, in the various ways the Spirit suggests to us. We come before him bearing with us the daily pressures of our anxiety for those to whom he sends us. Our life in all its dimensions is a prayer that, in us and through us, God’s Kingdom come.”
2012 International Religious Freedom Report Available May 22nd, 2013
The International Religious Freedom Act is a law passed by the US Congress that mandates the preparation of the International Religious Freedom Report. Produced by the US State Department, this report shines light on the challenges that people face as they seek the right to worship as they wish.
Read the 2012 International Religious Freedom Report
Oblate Shareholder Activism Appreciated May 22nd, 2013
Oblate shareholder activism was recognized recently by Richard Eskow*, blogging on Huffington Post about the morality (or lack thereof) of our financial system. Here is an excerpt from his blog:
“Unethical or lawbreaking bankers are morally responsible for their actions. We didn’t break the law or throw people out of their homes. They did.
But even if we don’t share in the guilt, we share the responsibility. Did we do everything we could to stop them? They’re too powerful, people will say, and that’s true. But we have a responsibility to try, and to keep on trying, no matter what. We have a responsibility to engage in the great effort, which is a struggle for better regulation and a more humane economy. It’s also a struggle for hearts and minds – Dimon’s, the media’s, and our own. We should be demanding more – of the banks that serve us, of the media that entertain (if not inform) us, of the government agencies that work for us.
Futures
And we should be demanding more of us. These union pension funds, institutional investors at JPMorgan Chase, took action today to change the way business is done there. So did Father Seamus Finn of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, who introduced one of the resolutions on behalf of a family trust with JPM shares.
More of us need to join them in concerted, constructive economic activism. We can also work to reduce our dependence on the kinds of loans that lead to financial servitude, to the extent that’s possible in this harsh economic climate.”
Read the Huffington Post blog by Richard Eskow on JP Morgan Chase
*Richard Eskow is a writer, and host of ‘The Breakdown’, as well as a Senior Fellow at Campaign for America’s Future
