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No Safe Haven for Tamils in Sri Lanka January 23rd, 2009
A major military campaign by the Sri Lankan government to defeat the LTTE – the Tamil Tigers – is causing immense suffering and increasing civilian casualties among the Tamil population. Fleeing their homes to avoid the fighting, men, women and children have been forced into an increasingly small area in the northeast of the country, near Mullaithivu. With humanitarian workers told by the government to leave the Vanni (north) in September, food and medical supplies are in short supply and information is limited.
We continue to hear from priests and others who have remained in the area, and they are appealing for United Nations intervention to stop the bloodshed. Read the Open Letter to UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon from the Priests and Religious in the Wanni
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Cardinal George, OMI writes President Obama, Articulates Priorities of the Catholic Church January 23rd, 2009
Francis Cardinal George, OMI – as President of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops – has written President Obama counseling him not to “…reverse current policies against government-sponsored destruction of unbom human life”. (Download PDF of the letter)
In a second letter focusing on a broader range of issues, Cardinal George outlines the principles and priorities that guide the public policy efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In it, he outlines an agenda for dialogue and action, and expresses the desire to work together with the new Administration “…to defend human life and dignity and build a nation of greater justice and a world at peace”. The focus is on the needs of the poor, the marginalized and the unborn, and included a call for the renewal of responsible international leadership. (Download PDF of the letter)
Europeans Call for a Moral Economic System January 22nd, 2009
Non Governmental Organizations meeting in Paris issued a declaration on the financial crisis that those working with the poor will find very useful. It is a concise and clear call for engagement in the forthcoming debate on the financial system, its purpose and governance.
Paris Declaration (PDF available in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian)
European leaders have stressed the need for Europe to play a significant role in the G20 Summit scheduled for April in London. There, the group of leading and emerging countries will hammer out ways of reinforcing the architecture of global regulation. Speaking at a conference in Paris on the future of capitalism, the leaders of the EU’s powerhouse member states agreed on the need to make long-term changes to the old financial order, which Sarkozy said had been “perverted” by an “amoral” form of unbridled finance capitalism.
Funds Available to Help Victims of Modern Slavery January 22nd, 2009
Are you involved in a program to help victims of modern slavery?
The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery allocates project grants (for a maximum of US$15,000), for programs of humanitarian, legal and financial assistance to individuals whose human rights have been severely violated as a result of contemporary forms of slavery. Contemporary forms of slavery include trafficking, sexual slavery, child labor and child servitude, debt bondage, serfdom and forced labor, forced marriage and sale of wives etc.
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Vatican Dossier on Immigration Available January 21st, 2009
Agenzia Fides, the Vatican’s information news service of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples has issued a 12-page dossier on “The Question of Immigration in the United States of America.” The dossier, published in November 2008, examines the history and economic spurs for immigration in American history. The dossier makes a specific example of current immigration policy along the U.S.-Mexico border and praises the U.S. Catholics Bishops for their leadership on behalf of immigrants.
