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Catholic and Episcopal Bishops of Western New York Issue Joint Call for Shared Prosperity March 4th, 2015
The Right Rev. R. William Franklin, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, and Most Reverend Richard Joseph Malone, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo issued am inspiring joint pastoral letter late last year, which we would like to share more widely. Our thanks go out to Fr. Harry Winter, OMI for bringing the pastoral letter to our attention.
The western New York region is undergoing much-needed economic revival, after years of decline. There is a real danger though, as the two bishops point out, that many are being left out. “Yet at this time not everyone is benefitting. Blacks and Hispanics still live in poverty in greater proportion than do other groups in our population. Children still go to bed hungry. Jobs and security elude too many families. And because some are left out and locked out, the rest of us are poorer. We fail to benefit as much as we might from this new golden age. This must change.”
They go on to say, “This is our hope for Western New York, where the prosperity generated in one place of renewal must ripple throughout the region. The economic renewal of our region must be a renewal of the Gospel values and ethics that we share as sisters and brothers in the Christian faith. What we say and pray on Sundays must now go out into the world, into the workplace, to the ballot box and to the councils of government to ensure that Western New York becomes a more prosperous community, not only in dollars, but in our investment in each other. Jesus did not call for a society in which each person was out solely for personal gain. He called for a kingdom of shared prosperity, generosity and justice, a society that is more human because it is in conformity with the Kingdom of God.
Their letter urges government and business leaders to “further all efforts to make opportunities for employment, training, and advancement that grow out of this hopeful time of growth and expansion accessible to all.”
Read the Joint Pastoral Letter on the Renewal of Western New York here (Access PDF)
UN News… August 31st, 2012
DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY DAY THE UNITED NATIONS:
- Provides food to 108 million people in 74 countries
- Vaccinates 40 per cent of the world’s children, saving 2 million lives a year
- Assists over 34 million refugees and others fleeing war, famine or persecution
- Fights climate change and leads a campaign to plant 1 billion trees a year
- Keeps the peace with 116,000 peacekeepers in 17 operations on 4 continents
- Fights poverty and helped 300 million rural poor achieve better lives in the last 30 years
- Monitors, promotes, protects and develops human rights worldwide.
(From the Outreach Division, Department of Information of the United Nations)
ANNUAL MINISTERIAL REVIEW: PROGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL GOALS
Each year the UN Economic and Social Council holds an annual ministerial review, in which various countries share their progress on implementing international goals at a national level, including the Millennium Development Goals. Brazil and Kenya, two countries in which the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and VIVAT International minister, were included this year. Both countries focused on specific initiatives by which they have promoted full employment and productive capacity, essential for achieving poverty eradication, and acknowledged the many difficulties still ahead.
Bill Clinton Visits Haiti as Special UN Envoy July 10th, 2009
Former United States President Bill Clinton is finishing a three-day visit to Haiti today, his first since being appointed United Nations Special Envoy for the impoverished Caribbean nation.
During a visit to the country in March, Mr. Clinton and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assessed the situation in the wake of four back-to-back tropical storms that battered the country in 2008, killing nearly 800 people and affecting an estimated 1 million people.
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