News Archives » North America
Peace and Life Connections; January 4, 2013 January 4th, 2013
CL President Bill Samuel shares this message he sent to President Obama:
“Mr. President, when you spoke about the tragedy at the school in Connecticut today, you captured the feelings of millions. . . . What puzzles me is why you can’t understand that parents in Afghanistan, Pakistan and everywhere around the world feel for their children like you do for yours.
Yet you continue to order actions which kill many times the number of children that deranged man did today. Why are you so wedded to violence? Can’t you see that we must turn from the way of violence in all areas – foreign policy, treatment of the unborn, treatment of offenders, etc. – if we are to have a better world?”
Click here to read more »
All Creation Reveals the Glory of God December 19th, 2012
All Creation Reveals the Glory of God is a new photo-reflection book designed to encourage meditation on our relationship to creation, and the nourishment offered by its beauty and simplicity. This 36-page book features stunning photographs taken by Oblates mostly at the Oblate Novitiate in Godfrey, Illinois. It also includes quotes from Catholic tradition as well as from well-known ecologists.
It is available for purchase from the OMI JPIC Office for $10, plus $2 to cover shipping. Please email Mary O’Herron to place your order, or call the OMI JPIC Office at 202-529-4505.
National Migration Week 2013 December 18th, 2012
National Migration Week will be observed January 8 – 14. The theme for the 2013 observance is “We are Strangers No Longer: Our Journey of Hope Continues.”
The Missionary Oblate JPIC Office is inviting you to use this opportunity to raise awareness and educate your communities on the issue of immigration and Catholic Social Teaching.
The 2013 theme, “We are Strangers No Longer: Our Journey of Hope Continues,” commemorates the 10th anniversary of the historic joint pastoral letter of the United States and Mexico bishops conferences; Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope.
The observance of National Migration Week began more than twenty-five years ago by the bishops in order to provide Catholics an opportunity to take stock of the wide diversity of the Church and to work for justice for immigrants.
Resources for National Migration Week 2013:
Resources at the National Migration Week 2013 of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website. (Available in English & Spanish for parish commemorations)
Pope Benedict XVI’s message – World Day of Migrants that will be celebrated Sunday, January 13, 2013.
Shopping After a Factory Fire December 13th, 2012
Squeezed between the news reports of Black Friday weekend, when U.S. consumers spent more than $59 billion dollars, and a Cyber Monday that was the busiest online shopping day ever, came the tragic news of yet another horrible fire in a garment factory…
Read Fr. Seamus Finn’s latest blog on Huffington Post.
National Apology to Native Americans December 10th, 2012
On December 19, 2009, the United States government officially apologized to Native Peoples – but didn’t tell anyone.
A diverse group of citizens plans to change this with an historic public reading of the national apology to native Americans in Washington, DC on December 19th. The reading, which will be broadcast via live-stream video, will take place in front of the US Capitol.
Mark Charles, a member of the Navajo Nation, has created a compelling, short video about the apology from the perspective of native peoples (watch the video). What is truly needed, he says, is an opportunity for a new national conversation for reconciliation between Native America and the rest of the country.
The gathering’s intention is to invite the nation’s citizens and leaders, and members of the global community to “join our efforts to communicate as publically, as humbly and as respectfully as possible the contents of H.R. 3326 (and the apology enclosed therein) to the Native American tribes, communities and citizens of the USA.”
For more information about this event and to RSVP, please click here. You can also go to this site to watch a live-stream video of the public reading on December 19.
Thanks to the Sojourners Community for this information. Mark Charles is a member of Emerging Voices, a project of Sojourners.
