News Archives » Integrity of Creation
Bangladeshi Conference on Indigenous Peoples and the Environment a Great Success January 27th, 2012
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) sponsored a successful major conference on Indigenous Peoples and the Environment in Sylhet, Bangladesh January 12-14, 2012. Amidst cultural exhibitions and art displays, hundreds of participants attended workshops on environmental, social and economic issues affecting the indigenous peoples and the tea plantation workers of the Sylhet region in Northeast Bangladesh.
BAPA works closely with the Adivasi and indigenous efforts to protect their land and livelihood. The conference emphasized the importance of the need for enforcement of their rightful ownership of land and of access the courts to defend their rights and limit harassment. In light of government statements in the past year that have failed to recognize the presence of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, the conference was also a bold statement to political leaders and government authorities about the reality of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, the dignity of their culture and traditions, and their rightful ownership of land.
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Updates on Events and Resources from the JPIC Commission Office in Rome January 26th, 2012
The following is a list of useful upcoming JPIC events and resources:
A course on Catholic Social Teaching (in Spanish): A comprehensive written course on Catholic Social Teaching, prepared for University students, was written and published in Latin America. It can be downloaded at: http://www.kas.de/sopla/es/publications/29414/
JPIC Promoter’s Formation Course in the USA: An intensive week-long seminar for JPIC Congregation promoters takes place at Saint Mary’s Notre Dame, Indiana from June 3-10. The brochure is due out in February. For more information, go to http://www.holycrossjustice.org/JusticeCraft/JusticeCraft.asp
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Corporations, Taxes and Responsible Investors January 23rd, 2012
Read the latest from Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI on Huffington Post.
He highlights the responsibility of corporations that “…rely on numerous public resources and services to operate their businesses and maintain their profitability…[to] contribute their fare share to the public coffers that enable governments to develop the foundation and provide the services that corporations and all citizens count on to survive.”
He ends with a clear call: “Shareholders, and especially faith based and socially responsible investors, will need to consider how to engage companies that are identified as the most aggressive in developing legal strategies to either avoid or evade the payment of approved taxes. The use of such tools and action that are clearly designed to profit by avoiding responsibility to contribute appropriately to the revenue streams, that are essential to the fulfillment of the government’s mandate to safeguard the public welfare and protect the common good, deserves much closer evaluation and scrutiny.”
2012 promises to be an interesting year as societies across the globe struggle with financial and environmental sustainability in the context of justice.
Responsible Purchasing and Investing: A Catholic Priority January 12th, 2012
From buying toothpaste to managing a portfolio – Catholics across the country are taking action to avoid buying from or investing in companies that fail to respect human dignity.
In the 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that the economy should be at the service of people, and not the other way around.
“Profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end that provides a sense both of how to produce it and how to make good use of it,” the pope wrote. “Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.”
Going further, Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI has argued that faith-based investors should demand accountability from the companies they invested with or they should divest stock in companies engaged in morally objectionable practices. “With ownership comes responsibility and rights.”
Catholic Health System Eliminates Styrofoam January 5th, 2012
Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, South Carolina has completely eliminated its use of Styrofoam plates, cups, and bowls in cafeterias at both Greenville campuses as part of a 3-year-old, system-wide green initiative and as a way to be a model to the wider Greenville community.
Karen Schwartz, the hospital system’s vice president for facilities, says that the move was inspired by the fact that as a petroleum-based product, Styrofoam doesn’t decompose or go away over time in a landfill. It stays forever and it takes up space. If you throw it in the ocean, it floats and it can kill sea life. If you burn or incinerate it, the chemicals that were used in the manufacturing of it aerosolize and again has a negative impact on the environment…
“We really couldn’t find a redeeming quality other than the fact that it held stuff.” Schwartz added: “We are all responsible for caring for God’s creation and we are interdependent on one another. It is really short-sighted of me to think that my actions and behaviors don’t impact someone in Haiti, Peru, Africa or China – because they do.” (Story from The Greenville News, 12/30/2011)
We’d like to give a shout out to the Catholic Climate Covenant for sharing this story in their Weekly E-Update. For more information, and to sign up, visit their website at: http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/
Catholic Climate Covenant is a project of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change.
