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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty October 17th, 2012
At a time of economic austerity, the UN Secretary-General is urging countries not to forget about the poor. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued the following message for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Secretary-General’s Message for 2012 on the Eradication of Poverty
Poverty is easy to denounce but difficult to combat. Those suffering from hunger, want and indignity need more than sympathetic words; they need concrete support.
We mark this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty at a time of economic austerity in many countries. As governments struggle to balance budgets, funding for anti-poverty measures is under threat. But this is precisely the time to provide the poor with access to social services, income security, decent work and social protection. Only then can we build stronger and more prosperous societies – not by balancing budgets at the expense of the poor.
The Millennium Development Goals have galvanized global action that generated great progress. We have cut extreme poverty by half and corrected the gender imbalance in early education, with as many girls now attending primary school as boys. Many more communities have access to clean drinking water. Millions of lives have been saved thanks to investments in health.
These gains represent a major advance toward a more equitable, prosperous and sustainable world. But more than a billion people still live in poverty, denied their rights to food, education and health care. We have to empower them to help us find sustainable solutions. We should spare no effort to ensure that all countries reach the MDGs by 2015.
At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in June of this year, leaders from around the world declared that poverty eradication is “the greatest global challenge facing the world today.”
We are now developing the UN development framework for the period after 2015, building on the MDGs while confronting persistent inequalities and new challenges facing people and the planet. Our aim is to produce a bold and ambitious framework that can foster transformational change benefiting people now and for generations to come.
Rampant poverty, which has festered for far too long, is linked to social unrest and threats to peace and security. On this International Day, let us make an investment in our common future by helping to lift people out of poverty so that they, in turn, can help to transform our world.
Ban Ki-moon
This message, as well as those form previous years, can be found on the UN website.
Oblate Newsletters from Iquitos, Peru Highlight Work with Indigenous October 11th, 2012
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI on a recent visit with children at the parish of Santa Clotilde
An interesting and informative series of newsletters from the Oblates in Iquitos, Peru, is now available on the Spanish section of this website.
The Oblates are working in the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, located in Santa Clotilde, a town on the Rio Napo in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. It has a population of about 2,000 people and serves as the capital district for about 23,000 people in 100 villages, spread over 400 km. of the Napo River and its tributaries. All transport is river water, with occasional planes. Most are native peoples who continue to live through hunting, fishing and subsistence farming.
Today in the parish, Oblate Fathers Edgar Nolasco OMI, and Roberto Carrasco Rojas OMI, with the Pastoral Coordination, Apostolic Vicariate, San Jose of the Amazon, are working with Norbertine priest and medical doctor, Jack MacCarthy, O. Praem, and many lay workers and volunteers.
For more information and to access the newsletters, please visit http://omiusajpic.org/espanol/global/america-latina-y-el-caribe/peru/peru-iquitos/
Peruvian Archbishop Appointed to the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace October 11th, 2012
- Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno, SJ., Archbishop of Huancayo, Peru
Pope Benedict XVI last week appointed Monsignor Pedro Barreto Jimeno, SJ., Archbishop of Huancayo and First Vice President of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, as a new member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace of the Vatican.
This nomination is added to the responsibility that the Archbishop already performs as President of the Department of Justice and Solidarity of the Latin American Bishop’s Council (CELAM).
Click here to read more »
Immigration News from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops September 24th, 2012
Consider attending a National Conference entitled “Migration Policy and Advocacy in 2013 and Beyond: New Challenges and New Opportunities.” The conference will examine migration from both federal and state/local perspectives and will discuss methods for advancing the migration policy agenda of the Church in 2013 and beyond. Sponsored by USCCB and Catholic Legal Immigration Network – more details click here.
Read and Reflect on God’s Call: “Labor priests’ being trained to help immigrant, low-wage workers
Elections 2012 September 24th, 2012
The Justice and Peace Office of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) sent the following election materials for our consideration:
USCCB Faithful Citizenship Guide and resources
Core Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
CMSM JPIC urges us to consider which party more consistently upholds the fuller range of Catholic Social Teaching as we seek to promote the Common Good and Reign of God:
- Libertarian: Platform and Principles
- Republican: Platform and Romney on Issues
- Democrat: Platform and Obama on Issues
- Green: Platform and Ten Key Values
They also provided this link to encourage the Republicans, Democrats, and television networks to open the debates to other candidates.
