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Comboni Press Network JPIC Calendar of Events September 1st, 2010
The Comboni Press Network issues a Calendar of Events on the first of each month, listing justice & peace-related events in the US and around the globe.
Read the September 2010 issue here. (Download PDF)
Tomas Vyhnalek, OMI Appointed as Representative of VIVAT International in Vienna August 30th, 2010
Fr. Tomas Vyhnalek, OMI has been appointed as an official representative of VIVAT International at the UN headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The UN in Vienna focuses on Drugs and Crime and Fr. Vyhnalek intends to focus on Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, Criminal Justice, Prison Reform and HIV-AIDS. All of these are issues that are of prime interest to the Oblates as well as to VIVAT.
This July appointment to the UN in Vienna, coupled with that of Daniel LeBlanc at the UN in New York and the growing network of VIVAT Congregations with members in different countries, increases the opportunities for the “voices of the poor to be heard where decisions are taken affecting their lives” (CC.RR 9a) on the above issues as well as on the Millennium Development Goals. VIVAT has an International Executive Team working in New York and a regional office in Geneva.
Archbishop Miller Issues Plea on Behalf of Tamil Refugees in Canada August 30th, 2010
Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver Diocese issued a statement on August 25, 2010 on the situation of the 492 Tamil refugees that arrived in Vancouver in early August seeking asylum.
The arrival of the refugees-laden ship has generated controversy within Canada. Canadian Tamils, the largest Tamil community outside Sri Lanka and India, have urged authorities to accept the asylum seekers, saying that the minority group faces continued discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canada has asked the country to reject their refugee status due to alleged links to the Tamil Tiger separatist movement. The Tamil Tigers or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) as the military wing of the separatist Tamil movement and was brutally wiped out in the spring of 2009. Tens of thousands of Tamils are believed to have died in the final months of the conflict, trapped as they were between the two warring armies. War crimes are reported to have been committed by both sides.
“Keep the dignity of Tamil refugees in mind during immigration debate”
Statement by Archbishop J. Michael Miller who served on the Vatican Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants.
Click here to read more »
World Youth Conference in Mexico: August 23-28, 2010 August 23rd, 2010
The World Youth Conference opened today in Mexico City. It is an initiative of the Government of Mexico, in partnership with the United Nations system and civil society organizations designed to bring together government representatives and civil society organizations to identify priorities of action on youth to be addressed in the international development agenda beyond 2015. With five years to go before the deadline set by the international community to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, Mexico, in partnership with the United Nations system, has invited all countries to participate in the World Youth Conference 2010.
For more information please visit: http://www.youth2010.org/
Unprecedented Governance Agreement Signed in Peruvian Amazon August 17th, 2010
The Oblate parish in Santa Clotilde, in the Peruvian Amazon, organized a gathering of political authorities and leaders from nearly 50 communities – religious, health, education, indigenous – for a three day workshop on the upcoming elections. At the end of the meeting, a “governance” agreement was signed by all, including the candidates for the upcoming elections. In this statement, it was agreed, amongst other things, that all civil society and indigenous groups would monitor the work of whoever is ultimately elected. The agreement is the first of its kind in Peru!
