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Celebrate Human Rights Day: December 10th October 28th, 2013
On December 10, 2013, the world community will commemorate the 65th anniversary of the adoption and proclamation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On this day, we are being encouraged by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) – as people of faith, who acknowledge the dignity of every human being – to reaffirm the Universal Declaration’s statement that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s theme for Human Rights Day 2013 is “Confronting Solitary Confinement in an Age of Mass Incarceration.” NRCAT developed a Human Rights Day toolkit to help congregations and religious organizations observe the day. The 2013 toolkit includes:
- A bulletin insert with educational material and an interfaith prayer
- A poster for the promotion of Human Rights Day
- Talking points for integrating the reality of solitary confinement into sermons and prayers during worship
- Links to other worship resources, as well as to educational and advocacy activities that congregations can do to commemorate Human Rights Day
We encourage you to observe Human Rights Day during worship services, as a part of your religious education efforts and through advocacy activities during either the weekend of December 6-8, December 13-15, or another time of your choosing. If your congregation plans to commemorate Human Rights Day in any way, please let NRCAT know.
Access the NRCAT Human Rights Day Toolkit (Download PDF)
CEO Pay Goes Through the Roof October 23rd, 2013
The Guardian newspaper in London reported, “For the first time ever, the 10 highest-paid chief executives in the US received more than $100m in compensation last year, and two took home billion-dollar paychecks, according to a leading annual survey of executive pay.”
The studied showed that the top 10 CEOs in this year’s poll took home over $4.7bn between them, and “for the first time ever, none earned less than $100m.”
“I have never seen anything like that,” said Greg Ruel, GMI’s senior research consultant and author of the report. “Usually we have a few CEOs at the $100m-plus level but never the entire top 10.”
“Father Seamus Finn, a corporate governance expert at Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, said the numbers were ‘ridiculous’.”
“It’s an amazing number. Who knows how compensation committees come up with them?”
Finn, who has campaigned against what he sees as excessive remuneration at companies including Goldman Sachs, said boards often argued that they would lose talent unless they paid top management huge sums.
“But I’ve seen no evidence of that,” he said. “These huge pay deals are seldom linked to shareholder returns.”
Nearly all the outsized gains came from stock options and other share-related compensation. The top 10 made $3.3bn in 2012 on stock option profits and the vesting of restricted stock. Cash bonuses totalled $16.2m.
See the full article at The Guardian Newspaper
October: Celebrate “Respect Life” Month October 4th, 2013
The annual Respect Life Sunday Mass is October 6. This is an opportunity for Catholics throughout the United States to come together to worship, reflect and witness to the dignity of the human person. The 2013 Respect Life Sunday theme is Open Your Hearts to Life. Catholics are being invited to check with local parish and diocese for Respect Life Sunday and the month’s events and schedules. Program information materials are available in English and Spanish at http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/
World’s Scientists Issue urgent Warning on Climate Change October 3rd, 2013
Late rains in Bangladesh stress crops and livestock.
Last week, the highly esteemed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest assessment of the science behind human-caused climate change. For the first time, the IPCC has offered guidance on the amount of CO2 that can still be put into the atmosphere and still stay below the temperature rise of 2 decrees Celsius: about 1 trillion tons more. The IPCC—which is made up of thousands of the world’s leading climate scientists from more than 120 countries—is now 95% certain that human activities are causing climate change. Previously, the scientists had been 90% certain.
In response to this report, Dr. Kevin Ahern, assistant professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, wrote The Moral Imperative to Act for Climate Justice. There, Dr. Ahern says that [t]he IPCC report draws attention to two facts that call Catholics and all people of good will to action, and highlights the work of the Coalition as an example of how Catholics are faithfully addressing climate change. It should be noted that the U.S. Catholic bishops used the third IPCC report as the basis for their call to action by the Catholic community when they wrote their 2001 statement, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good.
The UK charity, Christian Aid, is urging governments to heed the warnings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). According to Independent Catholic News, Christian Aid’s Senior Climate Change Advisor, Dr. Alison Doig, warns that people in developing countries are already facing the grim reality of a changing climate [and says that t]his report demonstrates the urgent action needed to stop climate change in its tracks by committing to rapidly reducing global carbon emissions.”
Thanks to the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change for this information.
Mea Minima Culpa October 2nd, 2013
Rev. Seamus P. Finn, OMI has written a new blog on Huffington Post, called Mea Minima Culpa.
“There is more than a little irony in the long list of stories about the major CEOs of banks negotiating settlements with government regulators and agreeing to fines before going to court to settle…” Read more….
