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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.
National Migration Week January 5th, 2012
A reminder that National Migration Week will be observed in dioceses around the country January 8-14. This year’s theme, “Welcoming Christ in the Migrant,” and the artistic renderings in the week’s materials depict the disciples welcoming a stranger on the road to Emmaus.
“Just as on the road to Emmaus, Christ’s disciples met him in the guise of a stranger, this year’s theme helps remind us that Christ makes himself present to each of us in the lonesome traveler, the newcomer, and the migrant,” said Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles. “We are called to open our hearts and provide hospitality to those in need, especially for migrants who find themselves far away from home and in vulnerable situations.” Archbishop Gomez is the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration.
Resources for National Migration Week can be found on the USCCB website. Posters, prayer cards and booklets can be ordered through the USCCB publishing service or by calling 800-235-8722.
Additionally, the U.S. bishops continue to encourage advocacy efforts by the Catholic community on comprehensive immigration reform. Visit the Justice for Immigrants Campaign website for more information.
Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI also unveiled the theme for the 98th World Day of Migrants and Refugees to be celebrated January 15, 2012: “Migration and the New Evangelization.” In his message the pope says that the present time calls upon the Church to intensify its missionary activity both in the regions where the Gospel is proclaimed for the first time and in countries with a Christian tradition.
“Proclaiming Jesus Christ the one Savior of the world ‘constitutes the essential mission of the Church’ … Today we feel the urgent need to give a fresh impetus and new approaches to the work of evangelization in a world in which the breaking down of frontiers and the new processes of globalization are bringing individuals and peoples even closer,” said Pope Benedict.
Internal or international migration, in search of better living conditions or to flee from the threat of persecution, war and violence, has led to an unprecedented mingling of individuals and peoples, with new problems not only from the human standpoint but also from ethical, religious and spiritual ones, the pope said. And, he added, “Christian communities are to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity, as well as by fostering new political, economic and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person.” World Day of Migrants and Refugees was instituted by Pope Pius X in 1914.
Pope’s 2012 World Day of Peace Message January 2nd, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI’s Annual World Day of Peace Message focused on “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace”.
Reflections on Business and Human Rights January 1st, 2012
Read Fr. Seamus Finn’s latest Huffington Post blog on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights recently endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council. The principles were developed to offer guidance for the implementation of the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework, first introduced by Special Representative John Ruggie in 2008. They provide very practical and concrete recommendations on how to operationalize the framework, which was built around the following three central pillars:
- States have a responsibility to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including corporations;
- Companies have a responsibility to respect human rights;
- Victims of human rights abuses must be free to access effective remedies.
Catholic Sisters launch billboard campaign for immigration reform December 22nd, 2011
Ten communities of Catholic Sisters based in the Upper Mississippi River Valley have launched a public awareness campaign called: “Welcoming Communities.” The campaign is to insure that delegates to the Iowa caucuses, potential candidates and voters remember the critical issue of comprehensive immigration reform. The campaign is calling also the White House and U.S. Congress to work together to enact immigration reform.
The billboards with the message, “I was a stranger an immigrant and you welcomed me” are being posted on December 12 and will remain up through early January 2012. The message, based on the words of Jesus, is taken from the Gospel of Matthew.
“We declare ourselves ‘Welcoming Communities’ in affirmation of our Catholic tradition that holds sacred the dignity of each person,” the Sisters said in their statement, “and we invite other communities and people of faith to join us in becoming ‘Immigrant Welcoming Communities’ through prayer, reflection, education and action.”
For more information visit, http://www.clintonfranciscans.com/news-and-events.html OR www.facebook.com/catholicsisters
