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Tomas Vyhnalek, OMI Appointed as Representative of VIVAT International in Vienna August 30th, 2010
Fr. Tomas Vyhnalek, OMI has been appointed as an official representative of VIVAT International at the UN headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The UN in Vienna focuses on Drugs and Crime and Fr. Vyhnalek intends to focus on Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, Criminal Justice, Prison Reform and HIV-AIDS. All of these are issues that are of prime interest to the Oblates as well as to VIVAT.
This July appointment to the UN in Vienna, coupled with that of Daniel LeBlanc at the UN in New York and the growing network of VIVAT Congregations with members in different countries, increases the opportunities for the “voices of the poor to be heard where decisions are taken affecting their lives” (CC.RR 9a) on the above issues as well as on the Millennium Development Goals. VIVAT has an International Executive Team working in New York and a regional office in Geneva.
Oblate to attend 2010 International AIDS Conference July 14th, 2010
The XVIII International AIDS Conference is taking place in Vienna from July 18-23, 2010 . The Conference is a major gathering of those working in the field of HIV, government leaders, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the AIDS pandemic. It is convened by the International AIDS Society (IAS), in partnership with government, scientific and civil society partners in Austria, as well as international partners from civil society and the United Nations. It is a chance to assess the current state of affairs, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward.
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Seamus Finn, OMI on Nightly Business Report: Discusses Impact of Derivatives on the Poor June 7th, 2010
Fr. Seamus Finn’s work on derivatives is profiled on PBS’s Nightly Business Report.
Watch the Nightly Business Report from June 7, 2010…
How does
the financial system affect the poorest of the poor? Watch the June 7th issue of the Nightly Business Report for a segment on faith-based investors and efforts to rein in the derivatives market – a cause of the recent instability that has affected nearly everyone.
In an interview with Darren Gersh, Seamus Finn, OMI clearly draws the connections between decisions made by bankers and the lives of the poor. Fr. Finn talks about the need for greater disclosure of derivative risk – disclosure that a significant number of other shareholders have favored in recent Resolutions with Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs. Up next is legislation on Capitol Hill that could force banks to spin off their derivatives business.
Watch the Nightly Business Report from June 7, 2010 on Vimeo…
Daniel LeBlanc, OMI Gives Briefing on Climate Change Conference at UN June 4th, 2010
Daniel LeBlanc, OMI gave a June 3rd briefing at the International Catholic Organizations Network (ICON) on the people’s climate change conference held last month in Bolivia . Titled the “World’s People Conference on Climate Change and The Rights of Mother Earth,” the gathering of some 35,000 civil society representatives was designed to send a strong message to governments that action is needed now to prevent a global climate disaster.
Later the same day he gave a report on the conference to the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development, of which he is an active member.
Daniel LeBlanc, OMI was representing VIVAT International at the conference. He is a newly elected Board Member of ICON.
Seamus Finn, OMI and Faith Consistent Investing Profiled in the Huffington Post May 27th, 2010
Fr. Seamus Finn, Director of the Oblate JPIC Office, along with three other ICCR members, will soon appear on The Daily Show, highlighting their work on banking and financial sector reform. Read this fine profile on Fr. Seamus in the Huffington Post written by Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University: Mission Improbable: Priests on Wall Street.
