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Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Denis Hurley, OMI December 12th, 2013
This story is written by Father Harry Winter, OMI and comes to us courtesy of the OMI US Province website.
The passing of Nelson Mandela on Dec. 5 reminds Oblates that it took three great leaders to accomplish the abolition of apartheid in South Africa: Mandela, Hurley, and the Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Now is a good time to recall what Paddy Kearney wrote in 2009 in his well received biography of Hurley: Guardian of the Light, about Hurley and Mandela working together.
When Hurley was hauled before a court in February, 1985 and threatened with jail for publishing “untrue facts” in relation to action by police (p. 211), Mandela wrote from his prison: “Archbishop Hurley is often in my thoughts, especially now. I would like him to know that” (p. 223).
In 1994, Mandela was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Hurley was a special guest. Kearney writes “He regarded it as the second great highlight of his life, after Vatican II. In a letter to his friend Petal O’Hara, he described the occasion:
The function of the Inauguration was magnificently performed, every person doing his or her part perfectly . . . The mood of the crowd rose to a joyous fever pitch. The final act was the firing of a twenty-one-gun salute and a flyover in tight formation of several SAAF squadrons, the last one consisting of six planes that left trails in the many colours of the South African flag. The crowd was ecstatic. ‘Our air force’, shouted the African citizens . . . Lunch followed, very well organized—plenty of food and drink, easy access to supplies and to tables. And by 3:00 p.m. we were climbing onto buses and heading for the airport full of the joy of having participated in perhaps the greatest day in the history of South Africa.
When Brother Jude Pieterse saw Hurley after the inauguration, he noticed ‘an excitement I had never really associated with him before . . . He was almost . . .bubbling over, you know. Normally he kept his emotions pretty well under control, but [that day] there was a real joy in his whole approach’. “(p. 306).
In 1999, President Mandela conferred on Hurley the Order of Meritorious Service (Class 1) (p. 309). When Hurley died on Feb. 13, 2005, Dominican Sister Marie-Henry Keane, who as a young nun had benefited from his special attention in explaining Vatican II to women religious, called him “the Nelson Mandela of the Church” (p. 325).
Now they are together, rejoicing at the continued growth of justice, truth and opportunity in South Africa.
On human rights day, investors affirm responsibility of business to safeguard human rights in global supply chains December 11th, 2013
Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility announce a month-long initiative during January, Human Trafficking Awareness month, to counter trafficking and slavery in high-risk sectors.
In commemoration of Human Rights Day 2013, members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of faith-based and socially responsible investors of which the Missionary Oblates are active members, announced a month-long campaign in January to urge fifteen companies in the food, agricultural and hospitality sectors to implement policies that will prevent human rights abuses in their global supply chains. The food/ag companies identified in the initiative are ADM, ConAgra, Costco, Darden Restaurants, Kroger, Mondelez Int’l, Target, Walmart. The hospitality companies are Choice, Delta, Hyatt, Starwood, US Airways, Wyndham, and Southwest.
The investors recently published a Statement of Principles and Recommended Practices for Confronting Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery which forms the basis of all their dialogues with companies on human rights issues.
Using International Human Rights Day as a platform to highlight potential abuses in global supply chains, the initiative will focus on a subset of companies in the food/ag and hospitality sectors and encourage the implementation of specific human rights policies.
Click here to read more »
Dialogue on Life and Mining from Latin America December 10th, 2013
Religious and Lay representatives from Latin America, “moved by the critical situation of our peoples vis-à-vis the extractive industry”, met in Lima in November 2013. Concerned that mining is a source of “constant and serious conflict” in many countries of Latin and Central American countries, the attendees wanted to develop a vigorous and supportive set of local and international networks to help address the destructive impacts of mining. The Missionary Oblates were represented by Fr. Gilberto Pauwels OMI from Bolivia, and Fr. Seamus Finn OMI from the United States and through their participation in VIVAT, a coalition of religious congregations with ECOSOC status at the United Nations.
There are a number of outcomes from the gathering that included reaching out to a larger number of communities affected by mining, engaging with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican and convening a broader consultation on the challenges of extractives in the second half of 2014.
Extractives, mining oil and gas exploration, play an important role across the world while also imposing great intrusion and damage in local communities and on the environment where they operate. The search for a way forward that addresses the most serious of those negative impacts has been taken up by a number of different initiatives in the academic, business, stakeholder and shareholder and NGO sectors. Hopefully gatherings like the meeting in Lima can make a constructive contribution to that process.
Read the statement: Dialogue on Life and Mining: Open letter from religious and lay stewards of the goods of creation in Latin America
Celebrate International Human Rights Day: December 10 December 9th, 2013
Celebrated since 1950, Human Rights Day is held on December 10 every year. This is the date on which the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaiming its principles as the “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.”
The principles are based on a statement developed by a committee made up of U.S. Catholic laity and bishops appointed by the “National Catholic Welfare Conference” (the national agency of the American Catholic Bishops). Learn more…
For more information on human rights and the United Nations, please see our webpage on Human Rights, which offers both information and links to additional material
Advent Reflections from VIVAT International December 7th, 2013
VIVAT International Ireland members have developed a powerful prayer reflection for Advent 2013, called “Let Your Light Shine”. Find the prayer resource here (Download PDF)
VIVAT International was founded in 2000 by the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) and the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) as an organization to lobby in favour of the poor, the marginalized and for the protection of creation at the United Nations. Since 2005, ten other congregations joined the original founders of VIVAT. These include the Spiritans (CSSp), the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), the Little Sisters of the Assumption (LSA), the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary (MSHR), Comboni Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MCCJ), Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SCJ), and the Religious of the Assumption (RA).
With a very wide distribution of congregations, it can be said that VIVAT has its finger on the pulse of the issues of the poor and marginalized worldwide. It is also a powerful voice as it is geared to bring their agenda to an international audience through lobbying on concrete issues presented by member congregations at the UN.
