News Archives » Action Alert
Support the Call for a Special Rapporteur on HR and Climate Change May 25th, 2012
A group of NGOs, including VIVAT International, has issued a petition calling for a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change at the Human Rights Council. VIVAT International, of which the Oblates are a member, is a strong supporter of this petition and is asking members of our network to support the initiative.
We encourage you to sign on as an individual or on behalf of your congregation, if you are delegated to do so.
To read and sign the petition please visit the following link: http://www.petitions24.com/sr_human_rights_and_climate_change
According to the UN, “global warming will affect, and already is affecting, the basic elements of life for millions of people around the world. Effects include an increasing frequency of extreme weather events, rising sea levels, droughts, increasing water shortages, and the spread of tropical and vector born diseases.”
“Viewing the data through a human rights lens, it is clear that projected climate change-related effects threaten the effective enjoyment of a range of human rights, such as the right to safe and adequate water and food, the right to health and adequate housing. Equally, the human rights perspective brings into focus that climate change is set to hit the poorest countries and communities the hardest.”
“The international human rights standards serve as a guide for measures to tackle climate change, underscoring the fundamental moral and legal obligations to protect and promote full enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the core universal human rights treaties.”
Fortnight For Freedom May 19th, 2012
On April 12, the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a document, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” outlining the bishops’ concerns over threats to religious freedom, both at home and abroad. The bishops called for a “Fortnight for Freedom,” a 14-day period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom, from June 21-July 4.
Bishops in their own dioceses have been encouraged to arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending religious freedom. Catholic institutions are encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with other Christians, Jews, people of other faiths and all who wish to defend this cherished freedom.
The fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, are dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country.
Please see the USCCB website for more information on organizing a special event in your parish.
Tell Congress: End Too-Big-To-Fail. Make Banking SAFE May 17th, 2012
The top five banks now control 52 percent of the financial industry’s assets; they had 17 percent in 1970. The six largest banks control assets equal to 62 percent of the nation’s gross national product. They may be not only too big to fail, but also too big to save.
The biggest of them, Dimon’s JPMorgan Chase, has $2.1 trillion in assets and more than 239,000 employees. The bank’s recent bad bet that now amounts to $3 trillion, is a clear indication of the need for serious reform.
Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Keith Ellison have introduced a measure to cut too-big-to-fail banks down to size. The SAFE (Safe, Accountable, Fair and Efficient) Banking Act would put in place an important element missing from the financial reform legislation of two years ago: a cap on how big banks can get. The bank lobby defeated all efforts to include a limit on their size.
Now the six largest banks – led by JPMorgan Chase – are collectively larger and more concentrated than they were before they blew up the economy, with the assets they control growing from $6.1 trillion before the collapse to more than $8.5 trillion today, according to Federal Reserve data.
Wall Street lobbyists have successfully delayed and diluted regulations that were supposed to flow from the Wall Street reform bill. And the big banks have ways to push their way around any barriers.
We need a fail-safe. If a bank can’t be too big, then it can’t be too big to fail.
Among the provisions of the Safe Banking Act are that no bank could hold more than 10 percent of all of the insured bank deposits in the country, nor could a bank holding company have non-deposit liabilities greater than 2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
By the standards in the SAFE Banking Act, four existing banks are currently above the size cap—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo—and would have to shrink. This would be a major step in making banking sober—and boring, as it should be—once again.
Thanks to the Campaign for America’s Future for the information on this bill.
Interfaith Moral Action On Climate April 20th, 2012
Interfaith Moral Action on Climate is a broad-based interfaith coalition formed to raise up the need for urgent action on climate change. Believing that the threat posed by Climate Change is a moral issue, IMAC has planned a series of events to coincide with Earth Day. To avoid conflicting with other events planned in Washington DC for Earth Day weekend, and because they will be visiting members of Congress, IMAC has scheduled the group’s activities for Tuesday April 24. If you are in the area, we encourage you to become involved. The Missionary Oblates JPIC Office is an endorsing organization. Full information is available on the IMAC website.
Download a flyer for the April 24th A Day for the Climate in Washington DC
Schedule of activities:
Sunrise – 9:15 am Vigil • 8:30 am Interfaith Service with Bill McKibben, Ibrahim Ramey, Indigenous leaders, Luci Murphy Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
10:30 am “Cry of the Earth: A Service for Healing the Climate” with: Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Dr. Carroll Baltimore, Sr. Simone Campbell/SSS, Rev. Richard Cizik, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Mohawk Clan Mother Louise McDonald, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, and others at the NY Ave. Presbyterian Church,1313 New York Ave., NW; Bring some earth from your local community to be healed at the Service
12 noon Multi-faith Procession to the US Capitol
- Upper Senate Park, 200 New Jersey Ave. NW
- Wear religious garb if possible
1 pm Brown bag lunch for yourself and to share
1:30 pm Commissioning Vigil at the Capitol
2 – 4:30 pm Constituent Visits with Ethical Report Cards
- meet with members in the House and Senate (Sign up for this separately on the IMAC website)
4:30 – 6:00 pm Closing, Sharing & Benediction
- Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St.
- (behind the Supreme Court)
People of faith and good will around the country who cannot join us on April 24 are urged to have vigils in their local communities.
Connecticut State Senators Repeal Death Penalty Law April 9th, 2012
On April 5, the Connecticut State Senate voted 20 -16 in favor of repeal of the state’s death penalty law. The bill would replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole as the state’s harshest punishment for future crimes. The legislation would not affect sentences of the 11 inmates currently on Connecticut’s death row.
The bill now goes to the Connecticut House of Representatives, where it is considered to have a high level of support, and then to Governor who has said he would sign it into law.
Other states have passed similar measures; among them are Illinois, New Mexico and New Jersey. In California, faith leaders are leading a campaign to gather enough signatures for an initiative to throw out the death penalty by voters on the November ballot.
The Catholic Conference of Connecticut and Religious communities are pleased with the passage of the repeal of the death penalty. The Conference is engaging in a campaign through its website and in advocacy messages in parish bulletins asking parishioners to contact their elected representatives, requesting that they support the bill.
