Maryknoll missioners have worked with migrants and people on the move for decades. They have served Burmese refugees in Thailand, Thai workers all over Asia, Burundian and Rwandan refugees in East Africa, and have accompanied Guatemalans, who, after years in Mexico, returned home to start anew in a more peaceful country. Our faith compels us to stand in solidarity with migrants.
Here in the United States, we are profoundly affected by the contribution of migrants in our society, and we have a responsibility to treat them, like all the rest of God’s creation, with dignity and respect.
The following statement was released on January 29, 2020 regarding the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the changes to the public charge rule which bars immigrants who are recieving certain government benefits from gaining legal immigration status.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns remembers Jakelin and calls on the U.S. government to end the inhumane treatment of migrants.
The plan to admit only 18,000 refugees in 2020 is a moral failure for the United States.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns condemns President Trump's emergency declaration and calls on Congress to enact immigration policies that protect human rights.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined thirty-six national, faith-based organizations calling on Congress to rein in funding for unchecked, unaccountable detention, deportation, and border enforcement policies.
We call on Congress to reverse the course of the Trump administration.
A call for compassion and transformation.
Leaders of faith-based organizations oppose the historically low resettlement goal for Fiscal Year 2019 and urge the Trump administration to resettle 75,000 refugees.
As the leadership of the Maryknoll Sisters, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and the Maryknoll Lay Missioners, we denounce the cruel and immoral “zero-tolerance” immigration policy enacted by the Trump Administration which has resulted in the separation of over 2,300 children from their parents, the criminal prosecution of anyone who crosses the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, and severe restrictions on asylum applications.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns issued the following statement on January 16, 2018.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns issued the following press statement on September 5, 2017.
On November 20, 14 Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, sent a statement to members of Congress regarding the Syrian refugee crisis and the need to welcome Syrian refugees.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns issued a statement on the Syrian refugees.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns congratulates President Obama for his Nov. 20 announcement to take executive action to provide protection from deportation for possibly five million undocumented persons.
The following statement was approved on September 6, 2006 by Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers General Council, the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic Congregational Leadership Team, and the Maryknoll Lay Missioners Association Leadership Team.
We call on Congress to step in immediately and create a permanent solution for Honduran TPS holders.
Catholic bishops from eight dioceses in Texas, Arizona, and California issued a statement criticizing President Donald Trump's announcement on April 4 that he would deploy National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.
On March 21 and 22, 2018, the Maryknoll office for Global Concerns led a one-hour presentation on human trafficking entitled "Modern Slavery at Sea: Connections between Migrants and Our Faith, Food, and Economy" at Maryknoll, New York.
Click here to watch the presentation.
Click here to download the handout.
Civil society organizations at the UN concluded their consultations on the proposed “Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration” in December with a 15-page report entitled “Ten Acts for the Global Compact.” The report lists actions needed to ensure that human mobility, envisioned as a normal and inescapable fact of life, will be safe and provide migrants with opportunities for human development. The following are excerpts from the report which has been given to UN member nations participating in negotiations scheduled for February to July 2018.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined the legal effort to keep the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program alive by writing about the lived experiences of Maryknoll missioners in an amicus brief supporting a case on behalf of 42,000 DACA recipients in the state of New York.
Maryknoll Father Jack Sullivan reflections on the Holy Family and the call to recognize holy families today.
Maryknoll Sister Miriam Frances Perlewitz in Bangladesh reflects on the need for a clean heart and steadfast spirit when facing life's challenges.
Kevin Carroll, nonviolence and peace fellow at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, reflects on his students who have awakened him to hope and peace on this first Sunday of Advent.
The following reflection was prepared by Judy Coode in 2014, while working with the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. Ms. Coode is the coordinator of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, a project of Pax Christi International.
Alfonso Buzzo, former Peace Fellow, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, writes about seeing Jesus in the suffering migrants and refugees along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Father John Northrup writes about his mission experience in Mexico in this week's reflection.
Father Jack Northrup is a Maryknoll missioner serving in El Salvador.
Fr. Mike Gilgannon, who served in Peru, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.
Sr. Carol Marie McDonald serves as a missioner in Central America, most recently in El Salvador.
Fr. John Sivalon, MM, who served in Tanzania, wrote the following reflection. It is also published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.
The following reflection was prepared by Fr. Dave Schwinghamer, who spent much of his mission life in Tanzania. He currently serves with the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
The following reflection was prepared by Judy Coode who works at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
The following reflection was prepared by Cecelia Aguilar Ortiz, a former Maryknoll lay missioner in Thailand
Fr. Paul Masson has served as a missioner in Chile and on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Br. John Beeching has spent years in Thailand, and share many beautiful reflections about living his Christian life surrounded by Buddhism.
