In his annual World Day of Peace message, Francis urges the forgiveness of international debt, the abolition of the death penalty, and the reallocation of military funds toward ending hunger. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. Every New Year’s Day since 1968, popes have issued a World…
Iqbal Ahmad, Kroc Institute Fellow from the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, shares what he has learned as a peace and nonviolence intern for the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. In many parts of the…
Michael Gable, editor of NewsNotes from 1980 to 1988, recalls the best and worst of times working for the Maryknoll offices for Peace and Justice to commemorate fifty years of NewsNotes editions.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 75 human rights organizations, faith-based groups, legal associations, and academic institutions in an open letter to Congress and the incoming US Presidential administration decrying sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). As the House of Representatives is scheduled to review this legislation among its first orders of business, we…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined a letter to the leadership of the House of Representatives, organized by Asian Americans Advancing Justice with the partnership of fifty faith and civil society groups, in opposition to the reauthorization of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party,…
The following was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 33 other faith and civil society organizations in a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris requesting protections for Haiti and Haitians, namely ending the mass deportation of Haitians, stemming the flow of guns to Haiti, sanctions against the specific individuals responsible for human rights abuses, and encouraging…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined thirty faith and civil society groups in a letter to Senator Marco Rubio, Trump nominee for Secretary of Sate, requesting he prioritize ending the Sudan crisis through diplomatic efforts, appointing a special envoy, support for local aid providers, and support for atrocity documentation. Read as a PDF. December 5,…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns was among over thirty civil society and faith organizations calling on members of the Senate and House committees on foreign affairs to pass a “clean” five-year renewal of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Read letters to House and Senate committees as a PDF. Dec. 2, 2024 Dear Chairman/Ranking…
Thirty-eight faith groups, including Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, signed a letter to U.S. senators expressing concern about the Energy Permitting Reform Act (S. 4753). While the legislation contains some provisions to speed up deployment of renewable energy, it also includes too many measures extending the life of the fossil fuel era. Read as a…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined over a hundred civil society and faith based organizations in a letter to President Biden in support of restoration of United States funding of the United Nations Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Read the letter as a PDF. September 23, 2024 Dear Mr. President: We, the undersigned 104 civil…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 15 faith groups in a letter to Congressional staffers with an invitation to Congressman Jim McGovern’s Special Order focusing on the pressing issues surrounding nuclear weapons. Read as a PDF. November 5, 2024 Subject: Invitation to Participate in Special Order on Nuclear Weapons on November 13 Dear [name of…
The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. Download the 10-page guide produced by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. The guide offers reflections, small group questions, prayers, and actions based on each week’s Gospel reading and concerns raised by Maryknoll missioners and affiliates who attend to the needs of migrants…
The Catholic Nonviolence Initiative’s new institute held weekly seminars in Rome throughout the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative (CNI) launched a new project on September 29 in Rome: the Catholic Institute for Nonviolence. The institute’s…
The 2024 Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Awards were given to Rabbis for Ceasefire and the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), and the Concejo de Autoridades de 48 Cantones de Totonicapán of Guatemala; and a slain former awardee was honored. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. The Institute for Policy…
More than 40 organizations working for peace and justice in Haiti came to Washington, DC for Haiti Advocacy Days. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. More than 40 organizations working for peace and justice in Haiti came to Washington, DC for Haiti Advocacy Days on September 25-26 to meet…
The Nobel Committee’s recognition of the Japanese hibakusha organization Nihon Hidankyo comes at a crucial moment for addressing the nuclear threat. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on October 11 that it has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 to the Japanese organization…
Art Laffin offers the following reflection on the experience on March 21 of being arrested alongside twelve other members of Christians for Ceasefire while wearing pictures of the destruction in Gaza and singing hymns of peace in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office building. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue…
