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Walking with the People of the Amazon September 26th, 2019
Why the Amazon Merits a Synod
By Cardinal-designate Michael Czerny, SJ & Msgr. David Martínez de Aguirre Guinea O.P.
The next Synod of Bishops, to be held in Rome, October 6-27, 2019, is on the Amazon and has as its theme “New paths for the Church and for integral ecology.” It will examine issues that are important to “every person living on the planet” as Pope Francis wrote in the introduction to his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (3).
Why is the Amazon so important that a synod is dedicated to it? What is “integral ecology,” and what might be “new paths” for the Church? Finally, what is a synod really all about? [1]
The Amazon
A few key facts about the Amazon region:
- Its size is 7.8 million square kilometers, approximately the same size as Australia.
- It includes areas of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
- There are approximately 33 million inhabitants, of whom 3 million are indigenous belonging to 390 diverse groups or peoples.
- Impact on the planetary ecosystem: the Amazon River basin and the surrounding tropical forests nourish the soil and regulate, through the recycling of moisture, the cycles of water, energy and carbon at the planetary level.
Access the full article at La Civiltà Cattolica.
Oblates Host 2019 McLean Center Scholars September 17th, 2019
The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy held its 2019 Annual Seminar from August 18-September 20 under the theme The Meaning of Democracy: Foundations & Contemporary Challenges. The seminar is an interdisciplinary and intercultural initiative with 15 scholars from different countries around the world participating. One objective of the seminar is for participants to practice mutual understanding and so achieve lasting forms of academic friendship and cooperation.
Participants twice visited the Oblate community in Washington DC during the month of September. On September 8th they participated in liturgy at the chapel and on September 10th they joined the community for lunch and listened to a lecture, “Issues of Justice/Democracy and Finance Today” presented by Fr. Séamus Finn OMI.
On Monday September 16th Fr, Séamus Finn, OMI also served on a panel of scholars and practitioners at a public event –Contemporary American Economic Culture and Its Values– organized by the McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values.
Rev. George F. McLean, OMl (1929-2016), was the Founder of Catholic University of America’s (CUA) Center for the Study of Culture and Values, and the International Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP, www.crvp.or
g). He taught philosophy at CUA from 1956-1993 but devoted his entire life to promoting dialogue and cooperation among different peoples, cultures and religions around the globe.
In 2017 to honor Fr. McLean the university officially inaugurated the CUA McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values (MCSCV). Fr. McLean initiated an annual seminar in 1984 to invite scholars and philosophers from diverse cultures and civilizations to participate in five to ten week seminars in Washington, D.C. to discuss current and urgent philosophical issues.
For more information about the Center visit http://www.crvp.org/McLean/McLean.html
(Click photos twice to increase size)
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- Mass: Chapel at Oblate residence
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- Fr. Séamus Finn presents to the group
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- Fr. Séamus Finn makes a presentation to 2019 McLean Scholars
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- 2019 McLean Scholars listen to presentation at Oblate residence
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- Group picture at Oblate residence
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- 2019 McLean Scholars & Staff with National Shrine in background
2019 Amazon Synod: Common House in Rome September 13th, 2019
By Roberto Carrasco, OMI – Peruvian Oblate Missionary
In view of the Synod for the Amazon, an articulation process has begun that brings together several Church institutions and organizations with the aim of generating a space for dialogue and listening, that walks alongside the Synod Fathers this October 2019 in Rome. The Amazon Synod will take place in in Rome from October 6-27, 2019.
As we remember what the experience of the Martyrs Tent in Aparecida was – in Brazil in 2007, we all seek to enrich this space of interaction and communication between persons, with the spirit of the Amazon. It is not just presenting various activities, it is rather an exercise in communication and intercultural dialogue, an interaction with the new, the diverse, the still unknown.
Amazon: Common House, is an effort to make present the life of the Amazon and who inhabits it. In the Amazon, maloca is the place where indigenous communities sit to simply be, listen, celebrate and be able to discern what happens in the life of the community. Read the full article here.
Shareholders Commend Walmart for Stepping Out to Promote Gun Safety September 5th, 2019
Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) are highlighting gun safety measures announced by Walmart on Tuesday as an example of how companies can show leadership in responding to gun violence when legislators fail to act.
The investors urged the company to publicly commit to lobby for reasonable gun laws and press Congress to ban assault weapons, tighten background checks and institute gun licensing, among other policy changes, and were encouraged to see that Walmart is using its influence to press for these reforms. You can read the full statement here.
Presenting Our 2019 Summer JPIC Report With a Fresh New Look! August 16th, 2019
We are excited to share the 2019 Summer JPIC Report with a fresh new look: we hope you like the new design. Please share your feedback and story ideas by emailing us at jpic@omiusa.org.
A PDF version of the newsletter can be downloaded here.
Past issues can be found in the Resources section of the website.
JPIC Report is the twice-yearly newsletter of the US Oblate JPIC Office. It is an informational resource about and for Oblates and others involved in the work of promoting justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
