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
“Our sacred texts are clear: violence is never the answer,” say more than 100 faith leaders in statement denouncing political violence and attacks on free speech and nonprofit independence in the United States.
“Our sacred texts are clear: violence is never the answer,” say more than 100 faith leaders in statement denouncing political violence and attacks on free speech and nonprofit independence in the United States. October 1, 2025 As faith leaders, we denounce all forms of political violence. Just this year alone, our country mourned the horrific…
Maryknoll Fr. Frank Breen reflects on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Today’s gospel from Luke, about the rich man and Lazarus the poor man, is one of many passages that highlight a major thematic issue in Luke, namely the relationship between wealth and poverty. The gospels in general do not give a…
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Gabe Hurrish in South Sudan reflects on the Parable of the Unjust Steward. Today’s Sunday readings struck me right in the face. I live in South Sudan where almost everything written in the readings resonates with the current struggles of the people. The leaders of this extremely poor East African country have…
Take action for Palestinian Children. Join the Let Children Live campaign. Today, children in Gaza are enduring unimaginable devastation: Hunger is widespread and worsening. Bombs are falling without warning. Even…
The executive branch is waging legal warfare against the legal designations that protect people from deportation back to the dangerous countries they have fled. Immigration Advocacy Intern Rehema Klueg reports.
As new frontlines in the Sudanese civil war worsen the humanitarian crisis, U.S. and U.N. agencies cut international humanitarian funding. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Program Associate Fellow Mark Joyce reports.
Ninety-six civil society organizations sent the following letter on August 26, 2025, to the leaders of the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security asking for immediate action to stop the flow of illegal weapons from the United States to Haiti.
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…
