News Archives » Integrity of Creation
Beware of Tricolsan in Cleaning Products June 4th, 2013
The Environmental Working Group is warning us to beware of a toxic chemical that we encounter in cleanup products on our supermarket and drugstore shelves: Triclosan.
Why do we need to be concerned about Triclosan?
Triclosan is an antibacterial chemical found in many consumer products, especially liquid hand soap and dishwashing detergent. It is also an ingredient in some toothpastes, face washes, deodorants, and even antibacterial plastics and fabrics used for things like cutting boards, gym mats and shoe insoles.
Triclosan is linked to liver and inhalation toxicity. Even low levels may disrupt thyroid function. It can end up in lakes, rivers and other water sources, where it is very toxic to aquatic life.
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Setback for Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Prior Consultation in Peru May 29th, 2013
The Peruvian government is refusing to publish a database on indigenous peoples and has excluded from the consultation process, coastal and mountain communities, where mining activity is concentrated.
The implementation of the Law of Prior Consultation of Indigenous Peoples over legislative or administrative measures that directly affect them — in effect for a little over a year — is facing huge setbacks in Peru. In late April, in the context of falling metals prices and slowing economic growth in China and Europe, the government temporarily waived prior consultation on 14 mining projects located on the coast and in the mountains and that are currently in exploratory phase.
OMI JPIC office welcomes intern Br Terence Chota OMI May 23rd, 2013
The Oblate JPIC office is proud to welcome our intern Brother Terence Chota OMI. We are excited to have Br Terence join our staff for the summer. He will be focusing on Human Rights and Integrity of Creation issues. The following is an introduction to Br Terence:
I am Terence Kasonde Chota. I come from Zambia, which is in the southern part of Africa. Upon completion of my High School Education, I trained as a Primary School Teacher. I joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 2003. I did two years of my initial formation in Zambia, followed by a spiritual year and Oblate Charism in Namibia. I then went to study French and Philosophy in Cameroon where I completed with a Bachelor’s Degree. I went back to Zambia for youth ministry in both Education and ecclesiastical circles. In 2010, I went to South Africa to do my Bachelor in Theology. I am currently at the Oblate School of Theology pursuing a Master of Divinity and a Master of Art in theology.
I have had a unique experience of formation. I have been in at least 3 different houses of formation. I believe God provided this opportunity for me, not because I am strong, but because am actually weak and feeble enough to lean on him. Adapting to different cultures is not easy but it is very enriching. With the challenges and joys that I have faced in everyday life experiences I have realized that I have holistically developed in my spiritual life and the Oblate way of Life. I have learnt that to strive for holiness and maturity in my own personal life is extremely important, but it is only half the picture; the other half is our God-given responsibility to the world around us. My areas of interest in issues of justice are in integrity of creation, human trafficking and human dignity. This is very vital for me because the OMI Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) initiative works to promote human dignity and respect for God’s creation through faith-consistent investments principles, advocacy with corporations and governments, educational outreach, and grassroot organizing in Oblates parishes.
I would sum up my experience as an Oblate with constitution 32 of the Oblates Constitution and Rules: “it is as missionaries that we worship, in the various ways the Spirit suggests to us. We come before him bearing with us the daily pressures of our anxiety for those to whom he sends us. Our life in all its dimensions is a prayer that, in us and through us, God’s Kingdom come.”
MidWest Aquifers Drying Up May 21st, 2013
The High Plains Aquifer, a once-bountiful water source that covers broad swaths of the Midwestern United States, has been drained to dangerously low levels, especially in the south. The aquifer, according to the The New York Times, no longer supports irrigation on hundreds of miles of farmland in Texas and Kansas.
Learn more about the growing crisis of water in America…
Oblates and other Faith-Based and Socially Responsible Investors Work to Clean up Garment Industry Supply Chain May 16th, 2013
The Missionary Oblates, Oblate Investment Pastoral and GS-JPIC Rome have joined with more than 100 other institutional investors, with over $1.2 trillion in assets under management, in a statement condemning the broken supply chain system in the garment industry, especially in Bangladesh. This system, much of which urgently needs fixing, continues to result in huge loss of life in unsafe factories, as well as unfair remuneration for workers, many of whom are young parents.
This large coalition of religious groups and investors is pressing major American retailers to join a sweeping plan to improve safety in Bangladesh apparel factories, calling on them to act together to force changes in overseas workplaces.
Read the article about investor activism in the garment sector in the New York Times…
List of Signatories to the investor statement…
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