News Archives » Peace
Fr. Carl Kabat Returns to Kansas City Plant for a July 4th Nuclear Weapons Protest July 12th, 2012
Fr. Carl Kabat, omi with fellow anti-nuclear activist, Joshua Armfield
Fr. Carl Kabat, omi entered the property at a nuclear bomb plant under construction in Kansas City on July 4, as he did last year. He named his action the 85% Pruning Hooks action – the title stems from the fact that the plant produces approximately 85% of the non-nuclear components for our nation’s nuclear weapons. Fr. Kabat also has re-styled Independence Day as “Interdependence Day” in honor of the interconnection of all nature.
Fr. Kabat faces three criminal charges after cutting through a fence and entering the grounds of the Kansas City Plant, a major new nuclear weapons facility under construction, to call attention to its building. The priest’s action represents the latest in a years-long campaign by activists to call attention to the facility’s construction.
Protests at the site, construction of which is estimated to cost $1.2 billion and scheduled to be partially operational by early 2013, have been led in part by area Catholics who have also been leading petition campaigns to remove funding from the site. One of the petitions, focused on developing a plan for reuse of the facility should it be abandoned in light of weapons cuts, was unanimously passed by the local city council in March.
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South African President Zuma Visits Archbishop Denis Hurley’s Tomb July 5th, 2012
South African President, Jacob Zuma visited Durban’s Emmanuel Cathedral on 19 April to pay tribute to Archbishop Denis Hurley’s contribution to South Africa’s liberation struggle by laying a wreath on his tomb. This was part of a national program of visits throughout South Africa to mark the centenary of the ANC’s foundation. The brief ceremony at the Cathedral began with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, OFM, and other religious leaders greeting the President and his party at the entrance to the Cathedral and then escorting them to the Archbishop’s tomb in the Lady Chapel.
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Celebrating the Summer Solstice on the Bluffs! June 28th, 2012
Each year, the Oblate Ecological Initiative celebrates the Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year, when the sun is at its farthest point north of the equator.
This event is an opportunity to welcome the summer season and to heal our separation from the Earth by immersing ourselves in the heavens and the natural world. The OEI celebration connected the participants in many ways:
Viewing the prominences on the sun through solar scopes provided by two local astronomers
Photographs of the Sun!
Participating in a scavenger hunt that taught ecological principles. For example, they were to find something that eats the sun, something that is not connected to anything else (trick question), and evidence of the presence of animal life
Marking the change of season with a ritual "turning of the sun staff" by our youngest participant who has had this honor for many years!
Sharing food - watermelon and herbal drinks made from fennel and mint growing near the OEI office.
Rio+20 – the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development May 25th, 2012
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, is to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 20 to 22 June 2012. This also mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
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Maryland Becomes the Second State to Pass Legislation on Congo Conflict Minerals May 25th, 2012
The state of Maryland has taken a definitive step toward curtailing the use and trade of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On May 2, Governor Martin O’Malley signed the Maryland State Procurement and Congo Conflict Minerals Bill into law. Maryland is now the second state to adopt such legislation, following California’s example in September 2011. A similar bill is under consideration in Massachusetts.
Under the Maryland State Procurement and Congo Conflict law, the State of Maryland is prohibited from doing business with companies that do not comply with federal disclosure requirements on conflict minerals. Section 1502 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 is a disclosure requirement that calls on companies to determine whether their products contain conflict minerals by carrying out supply chain due diligence and to report this to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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