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Justice Jottings December 2009 |
 A
Seamless Garment Dialogue March
5-7, 2010 in Baltimore
MSJC
is planning a "Seamless Garment Dialogue" weekend to promote
dialogue among Catholics concerned with social justice,
including those involved in issues such as abortion and
euthanasia as well as those involved in issues such as war,
poverty and the death penalty. The goal is to lessen divisions
and foster better understanding and collaboration. Featured
resource person will be Fr. John Langan SJ, the Joseph Cardinal
Bernardin Professor of Social Thought at Georgetown U. and
an expert on Christian ethics. To see the flyer, click
here.
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Check
Out on our Website
Social Justice Programs - For Your
Marianist Community or Group. Click
here to view the page.
We've added a new category, titled
Consistent Life Ethic, on the Links
page of our website to include organizations who are
working to protect life on several fronts. Click
here to view the page.
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Death
Penalty
There Is No 'Humane' Execution
That is the editorial judgment of the New
York Times, rendered after Ohio - one of the Issue Team's
target states - executed Kenneth Biros on December 8.
Biros was, in effect, a human guinea pig, being the first
person on whom a newly developed one-drug protocol was ever
used. "Ohio should not have used it without a more public
airing of its strengths and weaknesses, with input from
medical and legal authorities," wrote the Times. They
went on to say that, in the words of Justice Harry Blackmun,
the state was simply "tinkering with the machinery of death."
Read more about the execution, and one Team member's response
to his local
paper, on the Issue Team's page.
New Report Shows States Can Save Hundreds of
Millions By Abolishing the Death Penalty
Recently released results of a poll of 500 randomly selected
police chiefs from across the country show that the police
chiefs ranked the death penalty as the least
efficient use of taxpayers' money.
They rated expanded training
and more equipment for police officers; hiring more police
officers; community policing; more programs to control
drug and alcohol abuse; and neighborhood watch programs
as more efficient uses of taxpayers' dollars.
In addition, they ranked the
death penalty last among their priorities for crime-fighting
and they do not believe the death penalty deters murder.
Read
more about the poll and what the Death Penalty Information
Center said about it. Visit
the Issue Team's webpage as well.
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Alternatives
to Violence
Peoples' Peace Initiative Document Now Available!
Pax Christi USA announces the completion of The
Peoples' Peace Initiative. It was an
unprecedented and far-reaching project that included the
input of thousands of U.S. Catholics from twenty-one national
Catholic organizations, as well as parishes, diocesan
offices, small faith communities, campuses and other
ministries within our Church, including input from many
Marianist communities and groups! Click
here to download a copy (in English), titled
"Called to be Peacemakers: The Challenge and Promise of
Peace in the 21st Century." Click
here for the Spanish version and click
here for the 4 page summary.
Men's Nonviolence Project
Click
here to learn more about a project that seeks
to encourage men to take an active role in ending men's
violence against women. MNP provides information, resources,
and connections to inspire and support the involvement
of men and boys in preventing domestic violence.
Israeli Crossing Ban Halts UN Programme
Beyond the worsening shortage of food, mattresses,
blankets and clothes for Gaza's 1.4 million beleaguered
residents, Israel's continued closure of most access
points is depriving the United Nations of paper to
print out a human rights programme to teach children
to eschew violence. Click
here to read more.
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| Racial
and Immigrant Justice
National Migration Week - Jan.
3-9
US Catholics will celebrate National Migration Week on
January 3-9, 2010. The theme this year will be "Renewing
Hope, Seeking Justice," with the focus on migrant and refugee
children, following the lead of Pope Benedict XVI,
who has chosen the theme "Minor Migrants and Refugees" for
the 2010 World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Why not
focus on this important issue at your next community meeting?
Click
here for more information.
San Antonio Update
Students, faculty and staff gathered on Nov. 19 at St. Mary's
U. for a luncheon and discussion about immigration and how
we can support and affect positive changes in attitudes
and legislation. Carla Aguilar has recently joined the Racial
& Immigrant Justice Team and will act as liaison to the
San Antonio Marianist region for important issues and action
items. The groups that met hope to be active in raising
awareness about the need for immigration reform and providing
additional education about migrant issues. Special
thanks to Sr Grace Walle for sponsoring the luncheon and
working with the Racial & Immigrant Justice Team to coordinate
the event.
Pictured, left to right, are
Andrew Caruso, Liza Sanchez, Celine Jacquemin, Paula Borrero,
Armando Urrutia, Ragini Tripathi (back), Claudia Carrete,
Carla Aguilar. Also attending - Fr Rudy Vela, Pati Krasensky.
Immigration Reform
Postcard Campaign - ACT NOW!
The Justice for Immigrants
program is initiating a campaign to send millions of
postcards to Congress in support of comprehensive immigration
reform. We encourage Marianist communities and
groups, parishes, campus ministry programs, and schools
to get involved. Materials available include preprinted
postcards click
here, an order form for postcards click
here, instructions for how to use the postcards
click
here, and a calendar click
here that identifies opportunities for action on
this issue during the coming months. Please consider
getting involved in this critical issue.
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GLBT
Initiative
Persecution of Gays in Uganda - ACT NOW!
A proposed bill under consideration
in Uganda would impose the death penalty for
some gays, and their families
and friends could face up to seven years in jail if they
fail to report them to
authorities. Homosexuality
is currently illegal in Uganda. For more information,
to read a New York Times article.
To take
action, click
here to sign a petition to urge Congressman Bart Stupak,
a member of an influential evangelical
network known as "The Family", to condemn the bill. The
network has very close ties to both Parliamentarians and
the President in Uganda, who are
currently championing the Anti-Homosexuality
Bill.
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Adele
Social Justice Project
Celebrate Adele Days!
Don't stop partying at New
Years! The Adele Social Justice Project invites
you to add "Adele Days" to your holiday calendar.
Celebrated January 10 and June 10 on the anniversary of
founder Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon's
death and birth, Adele Days are a chance to celebrate
and be inspired by Adele's spirit of joy, friendship,
and commitment to service with all God's
people.
Gather with friends and family
and have a day of service or reflection, a letter writing
party to those in power and more. Party for a purpose
and consider taking funds that would
have otherwise been spent on
a night out and donating to ASJP or other Marianist groups
doing Adele's work. For more information check out
the website - click
here - or join us on Facebook to find a community near you.
Can't make January 10th? Well,
keep right on celebrating though Fr. Chaminade's day on
January 22nd!
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Events
Catholic Social Ministry Gathering - Feb. 7-11
The 2010 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering will be Feb.
7-11 in Washington DC. To view the schedule of events
and to register online, visit
their website.
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| Action
for Advocates
Help Close Guantanamo - Jan. 11 and 22
Join the National Religious Campaign against Torture
in urging Congress and the Obama Administration to move
quickly in closing the detention facility at Guantanamo
Bay. January brings two important anniversaries that
offer good opportunities for local organizing: January 11th
and January 22nd. Click
here for more info.
Global Write-a-Thon
Amnesty International is sponsoring their annual "Global
Write-a-Thon" on behalf of prisoners of conscience throughout
the world. The goal - 350,000 letters during December!
To sign up, click
here. |
 A
Thought to Ponder
Hope
is the presentiment that the imagination is more real,
and reality less real, than we had thought....
It is the suspicion that reality is far more complex
than realism would have us believe,
that the frontiers of the possible are not determined
by the limits of the present,
and that miraculously and surprisingly, life is readying
the creative event that will open the way to freedom and
resurrection.
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