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Justice Jottings September 2009 |
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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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| Global Economic Justice
Improvements for Bangladeshi Garment Workers
There's been an important breakthrough at a key garment factory in Bangladesh. Click here to read the hopeful update from the National Labor Committee. |
Racial and Immigrant Justice
Team Meeting in Camden NJ The Racial & Immigrant Justice Issue Team met the weekend of Sept. 11-13 in Camden NJ . The team members assessed their progress in the last year, especially related to the need for immigration reform legislation, and developed plans for the coming year. A summary of the team's meeting and next steps will be available in the October Justice Jottings.
Those who attended the team meeting - (seated, left to right) Pati Krasensky, Carol Weiss , Linda Flores-Tober; (standing, left to right) Manuel Sandoval, Arturo Alvarez, Carlos Flores, Fr. Ted Cassidy
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Death Penalty
Innocent But Executed "It was inevitable that some case in which a clearly innocent person had been put to death would come to light. It was far from inevitable that this case would be the one." So writes Bob Herbert in the New York Times, describing his reaction to David Grann's recent article in The New Yorker examining the case of Cameron Todd Willingham - executed in Texas in 2004 following a conviction for arson. The 1991 house fire killed his three small children. Lacking a motive but aided by a deeply flawed forensic analysis, the district attorney sought - and obtained - the death penalty. As Grann documents in the article, scientific evidence refuting the conclusion that the fire was arson was available before Willingham's execution...but it was ignored. Read more about Texas' response, and about reaction to Grann's article, on the Death Penalty's website. |
| Adele Social Justice Project
Cleveland - The Weekend So Nice They Asked For It Twice!
Adele's spirit is moving! Word of the recent June weekend reached a campus minister with Baldwin Wallace's Newman Center who contacted ASJP eager to hear more about how it went and how a similar experience could be created for the students at the school. They had been looking for a way to create a teaching/learning component on social justice in the Church and were very excited about what ASJP and MSJC could offer. May all our efforts be so multiplied!
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| GLBT Initiative
Always Our Children
The US bishops, in their pastoral letter, Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers, offer some sage advice to Catholics, whether heterosexual or homosexual, about the importance of the Church being open and welcoming to all people.
"Welcome homosexual persons into the faith community, and seek out those on the margins. Avoid stereotyping and condemning. Strive first to listen. Do not presume that all homosexual persons are sexually active...... To our homosexual brothers and sisters we offer a concluding word. This message has been an outstretched hand to your parents and families inviting them to accept God's grace present in their lives now and to trust in the unfailing mercy of Jesus our Lord. Now we stretch out our hands and invite you to do the same. We are called to become one body, one spirit in Christ. We need one another if we are to .... grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body's growth and builds itself up in love." (Eph 4:15-16).
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Steering Committee
A Seamless Garment Dialogue - March 5-7, 2010
A special committee of MSJC is planning a "Seamless Garment Dialogue" weekend with the goal of promoting dialogue among pro-life and social justice activists in order to foster better understanding and greater collaboration.
Resource person will be Fr. John Langan SJ, the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Professor of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown U. It will be held on March 5-7, 2010 in Baltimore MD. If you are interested in participating or know someone else who should be invited, contact Jim Vogt. |
| Events
Spiritual Accompaniment for Marianist Lay Communities - Oct. 31, 2009
A workshop for those seeking ways to deepen a community's understanding of itself and to assist the community's movement toward the fullness of what it can be and do. Oct. 31, 9:00-4:30 at Mt. St. John, Dayton OH. For more information, click here.
Global Solidarity - An Immigration Symposium - Oct. 9-10
The Mexican American Catholic College is sponsoring their third annual bilingual immigration symposium on "Global Solidarity" in San Antonio TX on Oct. 9-10. To get a copy of the brochure, click here.
Pray for Peace - Monday, Sept. 21
The UN International Day of Peace is Monday, Sept. 21. The Maryknoll Office for Global Affairs is working to collect one million pledges to pray for peace that day. Click here to watch an inspirational video and click here to make your pledge. For info on other observances on Sept. 21, click here. |
| Resources
The World as Our Neighbor This six part global justice reflection series from Catholic Relief Services and Renew International is ideally suited for use by Marianist communities that are interested in developing a greater sense of global solidarity. Click here for more information.
Marianist Online Courses
The North American Center for Marianist Studies (NACMS) is offering 4 online courses this fall, including one on social justice. Click here for more information.
Poverty in the US Increases
The US Census Bureau reports that the number of Americans living in poverty increased by nearly 2.6 million to 13.2 percent in 2008, a stark reminder of the toll the recession was already taking on families even before the economic picture worsened this year. In addition, the number of people without health insurance grew to 46.3 million. For a brief summary of key Census Bureau findings, click here. |
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A Thought to Ponder
 When asked what advice would he give to the next generation of church and civil leaders Jim McGinnis responded:
"Find "soul mates" - a life partner and close friends to nurture, challenge, and support you in your values. " Link your life with people whose witness will stretch you and with people
whose suffering and struggles will touch your heart. "Reach out beyond your own comfort zone and ally yourself with people and
groups from other racial/cultural groups, other faith communities, and people
whose life experience is different from your own.
"Make time for daily communion with Jesus and the Word of God, for beauty
and play, stay close to the earth and don't be afraid to try new stuff."
Jim McGinnis, longtime peace activist and founder of the St. Louis based Institute for Peace and Justice, died suddenly on August 13. | |
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