DRC map

DRC: Violence must end

In early September, faith-based organizations issued a statement citing the “recent surge in violence in eastern Congo with the mutiny and rise of the March 23 movement, or M23,” and their alarm at UN reports revealing Rwanda’s role in supporting and perpetuating violence by orchestrating and bolstering M23 with both military and financial support. The following article was published in the September-October 2012 NewsNotes.

Javier Sicilia and the Caravan for Peace

Mexico: Caravan for peace with justice

In the past six years, Mexico’s “war on drugs” has led to as many as 60,000 deaths and 10,000 disappearances, and has displaced 160,000 people. Characterized by an intense militarization, including the deployment of over 50,000 troops and federal police, this strategy has undermined the country’s social fabric and security even more deeply, but has done little to address the painful iniquities of drug trafficking in Mexico. Some victims are saying enough, and demand an alternative to militarization and the war on drugs. Their message is not only directed at the government and people of Mexico: This summer they will bring their message to the U.S. to raise awareness around the U.S. connection to Mexico’s war on drugs. The following piece was written by Brennan Baker and published in the July-August 2012 NewsNotes.

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Africa: Concerns about increased militarization

In late June, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined with other colleagues in signing the letter below to the U.S. Senate; it asks the Senate to reconsider the increasingly militarized relationship the U.S. has been fostering with African nations. In the next few weeks we might learn more about the recent resignation of Scott Gration from his position as U.S. ambassador to Kenya; initial analysis points to Gration’s preference for a more conciliatory tone led to disagreements with the administration’s larger plan for the region.

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Torture: End prolonged solitary confinement

On June 19, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights held the first-ever Congressional hearing to reassess the use of solitary confinement. Attendance was so high the hearing room filled and an overflow room contained over 100 more spectators. Following the hearing, Kathy McNeely, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (MOGC), spoke at an interfaith press conference held by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT). The following article was written by Ainsley Rossitto, an intern with the MOGC, for the July-August 2012 issue of NewsNotes.

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Nuclear energy: Its dangers outweigh its benefits

March 2012 — As the world prepares to mark the first anniversary of the tragic tsunami and nuclear accident in Japan, Maryknoll missioners convey their continued sympathy for all those directly impacted by the disaster, and present a new statement that expresses their deep reservations about the continued reliance on the use of nuclear power and the development of nuclear weapons.

Children at the Mavambo Trust program in Zimbabwe

Together with Africa: Mavambo Trust gives children a new beginning

In 2002, Maryknoll Sister Kathleen Barbee, who has lived and worked in Africa for many years, and a Redemptorist colleague responded to the profound needs of Zimbabwean children living in poverty and established the Mavambo (“genesis”) Trust. Mavambo programs assist children who live in Zimbabwe’s Mabvuku, Tafara and Goromonzi districts; many of the children who…