News Archives » North America
Oppose Senate Amendment to Expand Federal Death Penalty July 20th, 2009
Take Action TODAY:
Oppose a Senate Amendment to Expand the Federal Death Penalty
Today, Monday July 20, 2009 the Senate will again take up the Defense Department authorization bill. Three amendments threaten to weaken the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Prevention Act that was accepted by the Senate last week.
Please forward a link to this alert to your community members, friends & concerned groups: The vote is expected Monday afternoon by 3pm.
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Wal-Mart to Measure Sustainability of its Products July 18th, 2009
Wal-Mart is known for its rock-bottom prices, but customers soon will also be able to choose what products to buy on the basis of their social and environmental impacts – or at least that is the idea, according to the company. Wal-Mart announced today that it is launching a Sustainability Index – an electronic indexing system that will provide information about a product’s carbon footprint, the gallons of water used to create it, the air pollution left in its wake and social impacts related to production.
The company has recruited scholars, suppliers, and environmental groups to help it create the index – a universal rating system that scores products based on how environmentally and socially sustainable they are over the course of their lives. The goal is to have other retailers adopt the indexing system, which will be created over the next five years.
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Father Dwight at a Crossroads- A Mission for Life July 7th, 2009
For the 15th summer in a row, students from colleges and universities across the country are walking with Crossroads on THREE simultaneous pro-life walks across America. Fr. Dwight Hoeberechts, OMI, is the only priest among them.
Father Dwight started “the Southern Walk” in Los Angeles on Friday, May 22nd and will complete the walk across America when he arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on August 15th. Crossroads also has a Canadian walk starting in Toronto on July 31st and ending in Ottowa at the Canadian Parliament on August 15th.
From the Pacific coast to the Atlantic, these simultaneous walks for life will cover over 11,000 miles, pass through 38 states, 2 provinces and thousands of towns and cities.
“Crossroads was started in response to the late John Paul II’s call to the youth of America at the World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado to ‘build a Culture of Life'” said Jim Nolan, president of Crossroads. “He challenged the youth of America and the world to ‘Be not afraid’.
Learn more:
Read Fr. Hoeberechts’ blog
Find out about Crossroads
Report on Oblate International Congress on Ministry with Migrants Now Available July 6th, 2009
L to R: Maurizio Giorgianni (Italian OMI in Korea), Gen Oliveira (Brazilian OMI in Japan), Andrzej Jastrzebski (Polish OMI in the Oblate General Administration in Rome) and Daniel LeBlanc, Oblate representative at the United Nations.
The symposium, titled “Together on a Journey of Hope” was held in Mississauga, Ontario, from June 8-12, 2009. Oblates from North five continents gathered to learn, strategize and sensitize themselves on the challenges of migrants and immigrants in areas where Oblates are working. This was the first Oblate international symposium on migration.
Bishops of G8 Nations Call On Their Leaders to Assist the Poor in Developing Nations July 1st, 2009
The Catholic Bishop’s Conferences from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Scotland and USA are urging their leaders, members of the Group of Eight (G8) major industrialized countries, to adopt a set of shared actions designed to protect and assist poor people in developing nations who are suffering from the economic meltdown.
The appeal is contained in a joint statement to the G8 summit 2009, the next meeting of which takes place in Italy on July 8-14. The bishops’ letter refers to an earlier message from Pope Benedict XVI addressed to a G20 meeting where the Holy Father called for more development aid to poor countries. The Pope remonstrated that poor nations did not generate the crisis hence should not be its victims.
Following is the full text of the letter
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