Upholding human rights enables a society to put people at the center of all policymaking – political, economic and social – thus protecting the life and dignity of the human person whatever its condition or stage of development. In the year 2020, the world entered into the novel coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented crisis that impacts all aspects of life and presents new threats to upholding human rights.
December 10 is International Human Rights Day. Join us in reciting this prayer by Rabbi Brant Rosen. Explore our Lenten Reflection Guide on human rights.
To understand what our faith teaches about human rights, see “Catholic Social Teaching and Human Rights.”
To learn about Maryknoll mission experience honoring and protecting human rights and the life and dignity of the human person, especially those who are poor and vulnerable, read Maryknoll’s 100 Years of Mission.
To learn about human rights advocacy, watch a 30-minute webinar, “Human Rights Advocacy and the Legacy of Sr. Dianna Ortiz.” You will also find a corresponding page of resources on current human rights issues.
To learn about new threats to human rights, see our articles featured in Maryknoll Magazine:
Upholding Human Rights During the Pandemic
A “David and Goliath” Story of Water Defenders
On May 29, the Bishops’ Conference of El Salvador released a pastoral letter urging, among other things, an end to the state of exception that suspends civil liberties and an end to the detention of migrants from other countries.
The Trump Administration announced it will end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) early for about 500,000 Haitians living in the United States, exposing them to deportation as soon as Sept. 2. This comes three months after the Trump Administration revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the country under a humanitarian parole program.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined other faith based groups in a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate committees on foreign affairs urging support for accountability and peace in the Philippines, as the former president faces trial before the International Criminal Court.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and our partners in CIDSE express solidarity Catholic priest Charles Kitima of Tanzania, who was brutally attacked in Dar es Salaam earlier in the week.
The global policy-making body dedicated to promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls met at UN headquarters in New York in March.
Mass incarceration has expanded and democratic governance deteriorated in El Salvador since the state of exception began three years ago.
March 17 marked the 45th anniversary of the Refugee Act, the law which established the right of migrants to seek asylum in the United States. It was a somber milestone…
This reflection was published as part of the Lenten Reflection Guide: A Jubilee of Hope. In Myanmar, it is difficult for people to count on a steady income, land, even food or education. When their families, clan or communities cannot meet their basic needs, they rely on their faith in God and their deeply ingrained…
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined more than 40 members of the Interfaith Working Group on Foreign Assistance in this letter to Congress raising grave concerns about the sudden order to stop lifesaving foreign assistance work around the globe and the dismantling of USAID.
Human rights organizations in Peru win in court on behalf of the victims of a massacre at political protests more than two years ago.
Pope Francis took the unusual step of publishing an open letter to the Catholic Bishops of the United States to thank them for their work for migrants and refugees and urge their steadfastness in their defense of the dignity in the face of political pressure and initiation of a program of mass deportation. The letter and the response from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ President that came the day after, are below.
Burdensome public debt in the continent has induced African youth to migrate for employment driving greater risks of exploitation and modern slavery.
Join us for prayer this Lent with reflections on the readings from Ash Wednesday, March 5, through Palm Sunday, April 13. The 2025 Lenten Reflection Guide: Jubilee of Hope from the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns contains reflections, questions, prayers, fasts, and actions based on each week’s Gospel reading and the experience of Maryknoll missioners…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 1,051 faith leaderss and 176 organizations in writing to the Trump Administration asking for the resumption of refugee resettlement, restoration of humanitarian assistance, and assurance that the faith community can take care of newcomers according to their traditions. Read the letter as a PDF. February 13, 2025 Dear President…
Pope Francis addresses U.S. bishops, urging them to uphold the dignity of migrants. He criticizes policies that equate illegal status with criminality while acknowledging a nation’s right to security and calls for compassion, integration, and respect for fundamental rights. Read the letter as a PDF and on the Vatican website. February 10, 2025 Dear Brothers…
Sept. 5, 2023 Be sure to read Maryknoll Fr. Rick Bauer’s guest opinion piece in The New York Times about witnessing lives saved from HIV/AIDS in Africa thanks to access to treatment and prevention generously given by the United States over the last twenty years through a program called PEPFAR. “As a pro-life man of faith, I…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 21, 2025 WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the executive orders signed by President Trump on the first day of his second term, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns offered the following statement from its director, Susan Gunn. “The executive orders signed by President Trump make us ask how will the…
