News Archives » Action Alert
December 10th: Human Rights Day December 6th, 2011
Celebrate Human Rights Day in your congregation the weekend of December 9-11. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), of which Missionary Oblates JPIC is a member, has prayers, worship and action resources for Human Rights Day available on their website. Visit NRCAT: Human Rights Day and work to prevent torture.
2011 WORLD AIDS DAY November 29th, 2011
December 1 is World AIDS Day. The theme is “Getting to Zero.” Launched by the World AIDS Campaign and supported by the United Nations AIDS campaign, the “Getting to Zero” campaign runs until 2015 and focuses on the goals of zero new infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths.
The new UNAIDS 2011 report, entitled How to Get to Zero: Faster, Smarter, Better, shows worldwide deaths from AIDS at their lowest level since 2005, signaling a 21 percent drop overall. According to the report, globally, there were an estimated 34 million people living with HIV in 2010, and since 2005, AIDS-related deaths decreased from 2.2 million to 1.8 million. The report attributed the marked decline in AIDS-related deaths to increased availability and use of lifesaving antiretroviral drugs.
What Can You Do
Pray: Pray for orphaned children who are unable to receive treatment for AIDS. Pray for workers who are bringing treatment to those who are suffering. Pray for churches that are reaching out to those with HIV and AIDS in their own communities. Liturgies and worship resources from past World AIDS Days are available here at Catholic Relief Services website: http://education.crs.org/educational-resources/world-aids-day/
Advocate: Contact your Senators and Representative to urge them to support a 2012 budget that preserves robust help for our most impoverished neighbors. If Congress approves the current proposed 2012 budget, 3.7 million people will not be tested for HIV, and 58,000 pregnant women won’t receive medicine that ensures that their babies are HIV-free.
Action Alert: Let’s Avoid Another Financial Crash! November 17th, 2011
Ask your Members of Congress to increase funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Rapid action is needed to get Congressional funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission – the agency set up to prevent another financial meltdown. The Senate has found money for other programs, but is severely underfunding the CFTC. Please use the link provided here to email your Senators to ensure that we avoid another financial crisis: http://bit.ly/slq116
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The 8th Day Center in Chicago Supports Occupy Wall Street November 9th, 2011
Photo: From far right: 8th Day staff members Kathleen Desautels, SP, Mary Ellen Madden, Staff for BVMs, Gwen Farry, BVM, Liz Deligio, Staff for FSPAs, Joellen McCarthy, BVM and 8th Day Associate, Barbara Corcoran join other activists at Occupy Chicago this past October. Photo courtesy of Angie Connolly, Sisters of Charity, BVM.
The 8th Day Center announced in their recent newsletter:
“As an organization whose values include cooperation, mutuality, nonviolence, and consensual decision making,
- we support the right to peaceably assemble;
- we support the non-hierarchical, organic, democratic, cooperative model of the Occupy Wall Street Movement;
- we stand with the Occupy Wall Street Movement calling for a fundamental shift in power and resources and a co-created sustainable future for all.”
JPIC Distance Learning Program October 25th, 2011
The Spiritan-owned Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA, launched a JPIC Distance Learning Program in mid-August of this year. For more information, please see our earlier post or go to: http://www.duq.edu/jpic.
