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Faith-Based and Socially Responsible Investors Urge U.S. Retailers to Back Bangladesh Accord June 7th, 2013
People and rescuers gather after an eight-story building housing several garment factories collapsed in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, April 24, 2013.
Used under Creative Commons license; photo courtesy of rijans on flickr
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a group of socially responsible investors of which the Oblates are active members, has asked US retailers to be part of the Bangladesh Fire and Safety initiative, a global accord that promotes the safety of garment workers that would be legally enforceable. The initiative was proposed after more than 1,100 workers died in a building collapse on the outskirts of Dhaka on April 24. The collapsed building housed garment factories that supplied to several Western retailers.
At least 14 North American retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), Macy’s Inc (M.N), Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O), JC Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) and Gap Inc (GPS.N) have declined to sign the accord.
They have said the accord gives labour unions too much control over ensuring workplace safety and have proposed the alternative “Safer Factory Initiative”.
ICCR, which was part of the Divestment from South Africa campaign in protest against Apartheid, said the alternative plan could dilute the impact of the accord and may not be legally enforceable.
Retailers such as Zara parent Inditex S.A. (ITX.MC), H&M (HMb.ST), PVH Corp (PVH.N) and Britain’s Tesco Plc (TSCO.L) have supported the Bangladesh fire and safety initiative.
Read the ICCR Statement on the issue…
The Pope launches “Missio”, an “App” created by an Oblate June 6th, 2013
A new smartphone application, called “Missio”, is expanding the Church’s footprint in a digital world. The App can be downloaded for free, and is available in eight languages. The service was inaugurated by Pope Francis during the Audience with the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies and with the staff of Fides Agency, on May 17, at the Vatican. Pope Francis clicked on an iPad, launching the application, which was created by Fr. Andrew Small, OMI National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.
The app “Missio” contains news posted on the site “news.va”, photos, videos and the Pope’s homilies, the news of the Church in the world. “Holy Father, we want to put the Gospel in the pocket of every young person in the world,” said Fr. Small to the Pope, who touched a button on which “Evangelizantur,” was written, which in Latin means “May they be evangelized.” On the very first day, the App was downloaded by 1,140 people in 27 different countries. “Our goal is to help people see the world through the eyes of faith,” said Fr. Small. The application can be downloaded for free on iTunes App Store and Google Play. The Apps’ eight languages are: English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic. The App was developed by the company Little iApps.
Temperance: Another way to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint June 6th, 2013
“In his classic study of the cardinal virtues, Josef Pieper was quick to point out that the rich meaning of temperance is not captured by the concept of moderation. Moderation is only a small part of temperance—the negative part. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, temperance gives order and balance to our life. It arises from a serenity of spirit within oneself. The reasonable norm allows us to walk gently upon the earth. Temperance teaches us to cherish and enjoy the good things of life while respecting natural limits. Temperance in fact does not diminish but actually heightens the pleasure we take in living by freeing us from a joyless compulsiveness and dependence. Temperance therefore means a lot more than the so-called “temperance movement” regarding the consumption of alcohol!”
“E. F. Schumacher, in his most influential book Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, contrasted the consumerist way of life, which multiplies human wants, with the simple life, whose aim is to achieve maximum well-being with the minimum use of the earth’s resources. The “logic of production” that demands more and more growth in consumption is a formula for disaster, he argued. “Out of the whole Christian tradition,” Schumacher concluded, “there is perhaps no body of teaching which is more relevant and appropriate to the modern predicament than the marvelously subtle and realistic doctrines of the Four Cardinal Virtues” and in particular temperance, which means knowing when “enough is enough.”
Excerpted from The Good Life from a Catholic Perspective: The Challenge of Consumption by Msgr. Charles Murphy
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Pope Francis Urges Humanity to Cultivate and Care for Creation, Not Money June 6th, 2013
Pope Francis dedicated the catechesis of Wednesday morning’s general audience to the environment, noting that June 5th is World Environment Day promoted by the United Nations. The following is the summary of his address. The full text of the Pope’s catechesis is available in the link given below.
“When we speak of the environment, of creation, my thoughts go to the first pages of the Bible, to the Book of Genesis, where it is affirms that God puts man and woman on earth ‘to cultivate and care for it’. And the question comes to me:” the Pope said to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, “What does it mean to cultivate and care for the earth? Are we truly cultivating and caring for creation? Or are we exploiting and neglecting it?”
“Cultivating and caring for creation,” explained the Holy Father, “is God’s indication, given not only at the beginning of history, but to each one of us. It is part of his plan. It means responsibly making the world grow, transforming it so that it becomes a garden, a place that all can inhabit.”
“Benedict XVI recalled many times that this tasked entrusted to us by God the Creator requires that we understand the rhythm and logic of creation. Instead, we are often guided by the arrogance of dominating, possessing, manipulating, and exploiting. We don’t ‘take care’ of it; we don’t respect it; we don’t consider it as a freely-given gift to be cared for. We are losing the attitude of wonder, of contemplation, of listening to creation. Thus we are no longer able to read in it what Benedict XVI called ‘the rhythm of the story of God’s love for humanity’. Why is this happening? Because are we thinking and living ‘horizontally’; we are drawing away from God; we are not reading his signs.”
“But cultivating and caring for doesn’t just refer to our relationship with the environment, the relationship between humanity and creation. It also concern human relationships. … We are living a moment of crisis. We see it in the environment, but above all we see it in humanity. The human person is in danger. … This is the urgency of human ecology! The danger is serious because the root of the problem is profound, not superficial. It isn’t just a question of economics but of ethics and anthropology. … The dynamics of an economy and finance that lack ethics are dominating.”
Speaking off the cuff, the pontiff added: “What is in charge today isn’t the human person but money. Money is in command. And God our Father has given us the task of caring for the earth not for the money, but for us: for men and women. This is our charge. Instead, men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption. It is a ‘culture of waste’.“
The full text of the Pope’s remarks are available here… (Download PDF)
Zambian Oblates hold Justice and Peace Workshop June 5th, 2013
Fr. Kennedy Katongo OMI (far left) with Oblate Pre-novices
From February 4th to 8th 2013, a workshop on the spirituality of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation was held for Oblate pre-novices at the Oblate Formation House in Lusaka, Zambia.
Fr. Kennedy Katongo OMI, Director of the Oblate’s Justice and Peace Office in Zambia, convened the workshop. Fr. Katongo shared on the importance of preaching and living the Gospel. He called for JPIC awareness for global positive happenings and challenges facing the world today. ‘Positive happenings’ include industrialization, multiculturalism and intercultural dialogue, development of human rights, transportation and communication. Some of the challenges that require immediate actions include global warming, poverty violence and human rights abuses.
In the workshop closing remarks, the Oblate students were urged to live justly, promote peace and uphold the integrity of creation. Justice and peace work is a call to identify and respond to injustices in society. For Missionary Oblates, the scriptures, Catholic Social Teaching, and Oblate principles provide a background for how we need to respond.
This article first appeared in the OMI Zambia Delegation Newsletter for March 2013 and was written by Oblate Students Chikweto Chungu, Godwin Wali and Ackim Phiri, Lusaka, Zambia.
