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Faith Groups Call for Increased Poverty-Focused Foreign Assistance May 11th, 2012
The Missionary Oblates joined 35 multi-faith U.S.-based religious institutions in urging Congress to pass a faithful budget that increases funding above current levels for poverty-focused international development, humanitarian assistance and global health programs in the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. The letter points out, “Using less than one percent of the federal budget, poverty-focused foreign assistance saves lives, lays the groundwork for economic growth around the world and fosters global human security. Its programs alleviate hunger and malnutrition, help communities access clean water and sanitation, facilitate rural development, educate children, combat deadly but preventable diseases and promote global health.”
Read the full letter (Download PDF)
Impacts of Mining Exhibit at the UN hosted by VIVAT International May 1st, 2012
The Missionary Oblates and VIVAT International will host a multi-media exhibit on the impacts of mining operations on people and ecosystems around the world on May 8th at the United Nations. This unique exhibit will be up for viewing from 11:00-3:00 pm in the Chapel at the Church Center for the United Nations. May 8th is the second day of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the theme of which is the Doctrine of Discovery. The exhibit organizers have reached out through their global faith-based networks for stories and images from local communities affected by mining operations. If you are in New York on May 8th, please attend!
Goals of the exhibit include:
- Bearing witness to the suffering of the Earth and its peoples as a consequence of extractive industry abuses;
- Underscoring the necessity of industry standards in preventing mining abuses; and
- Revealing the courageous resistance of peoples all over the world to inadequate extractive industry standards.
At 2:30, there will be a special 15 minute commemoration of those who have been murdered around the world as a result due to their community resistance against the consequences of extractive industry on their communities.
Developing a Multi-Faith Global Statement on Extractives Industries April 27th, 2012
On April 24, Philippine Bishop Dinualdo Guttierez, D.D. and Bishop Bejoy D’ Cruze OMI from Bangladesh joined the JPIC staff in attending a conference designed to develop a multi-faith global statement on extractives industries. The meeting was held at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
Participants came from major faith groups and leading international NGOs from all continents. A multi-faith global statement on extractives will serve as a shared common document that people of faith can use when dealing with issues of extractives. The meeting was initiated and facilitated by the Bank Information Center and the Oblate JPIC office.
Participants in the April 2012 Multifaith Conference on Extractives Industries
Socially Responsible Investment Coalition Celebrates 30th Anniversary! April 20th, 2012
The Socially Responsible Investment Coalition (SRIC) celebrated its 30th anniversary in the new Whitley Theological Center Facility on the campus on the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio recently. Seamus Finn, OMI presented, using a video and powerpoint presentation in a panel titled “Impacting Investments in a Sustainable World.”
SRIC is a non-profit religiously sponsored organization headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Institutions and individuals belonging to SRIC work to balance their economic policies and practices with their fair and social concerns. As investors and shareholders, members act to influence corporations toward social responsibilty.
Oblates Participate in 10th Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance April 20th, 2012
Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI participated in the 10th Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 24-25, 2012. He was a panelist in the plenary session on Faith-Based Investment and Social Responsibility.
The Forum brochure offered this summary of the proceedings:
The Tenth Forum features three main parallel sessions, which reflect three major themes within the topic of economic development. These include the Islamic financial sector’s contribution to global economic development, Islamic finance and the development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and faith-based investment and social responsibility. Apart from these three main sessions, there are also parallel sessions on Islamic finance and the Arab Spring movements, global perspectives on Islamic finance, Islamic finance and alternative economic thinking, and current academic research on product development in the Islamic finance industry. With over 50 speakers and 30 nationalities represented, the forum attracts the leading practitioners from academia and the industry to critically discuss the issues highlighted above with a view to proposing sustainable developmental plans for the Islamic finance industry in general. There is no doubt that this rapidly developing field of the global financial system requires a close scrutiny to maximally harness it for the development of the global economy.