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Zambian Oblates hold Justice and Peace Workshop June 5th, 2013
Fr. Kennedy Katongo OMI (far left) with Oblate Pre-novices
From February 4th to 8th 2013, a workshop on the spirituality of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation was held for Oblate pre-novices at the Oblate Formation House in Lusaka, Zambia.
Fr. Kennedy Katongo OMI, Director of the Oblate’s Justice and Peace Office in Zambia, convened the workshop. Fr. Katongo shared on the importance of preaching and living the Gospel. He called for JPIC awareness for global positive happenings and challenges facing the world today. ‘Positive happenings’ include industrialization, multiculturalism and intercultural dialogue, development of human rights, transportation and communication. Some of the challenges that require immediate actions include global warming, poverty violence and human rights abuses.
In the workshop closing remarks, the Oblate students were urged to live justly, promote peace and uphold the integrity of creation. Justice and peace work is a call to identify and respond to injustices in society. For Missionary Oblates, the scriptures, Catholic Social Teaching, and Oblate principles provide a background for how we need to respond.
This article first appeared in the OMI Zambia Delegation Newsletter for March 2013 and was written by Oblate Students Chikweto Chungu, Godwin Wali and Ackim Phiri, Lusaka, Zambia.
Sri Lanka Media Attacks Brought to UN Attention June 3rd, 2013
Two written statements on Sri Lanka were presented recently to the 23rd Session of the UN General Assembly for the promotion and protection of Human Rights, Civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and against all forms of Discrimination and Racism.
Sri Lanka: Systematic attacks on freedom of expression and the media requires specific attention of the Human Rights Council was submitted by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Download PDF)
Freedom of Assembly in the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka was submitted by the International Movement against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) (Download PDF)
The General Service of OMI JPIC in 2009 spelled out the Oblate commitment to Human Rights, a commitment that was endorse by the present General Administration saying: “We commit ourselves so that all peoples should be respected in their right to life from conception to life’s natural end and to have access to basic human needs as well as enjoy the right to enjoy the free exercise of civic, political, social, religious and cultural rights, and to have a healthy community to live in”.
Another Oblate mission priority under PEACE and RECONCILIATION states:
“Inspired by Jesus who died to reconcile all peoples with God and guided by St. Eugene’s pastoral concern for reconciliation between people in his missionary activity takes us to commit ourselves to promote peace and reconciliation in identifying and acknowledging the nature of the historical divisions and animosity which exists between countries and ethnic groups; also to explore opportunities and learning tools and processes that can make a positive contribution to the peacemaking process”.
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.”
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
