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
President Barack Obama’s second safari (“travel” in Swahili) to Africa as head of state – scheduled June 27-July 2 – raises several interesting questions: Who will accompany him and his family to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa? With whom will Obama meet while in Africa? What issues will be discussed in public and in private? These questions may be a guide to what to look for in the Obama visit.
From April 18-May 4, Maryknoll Society Superior General Fr. Ed Dougherty and Maryknoll Fr. Jerry Hammond joined a small delegation that delivered medical supplies to people in North Korea who suffer from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
While it was progressive organizations like the Free Pass Movement (MPL) that organized the marches, this year, with complaints about public services, as the protests grew in size, conservative forces tried to take control of the marches to make them appear to be a generalized clamor against President Dilma Rousseff.
Indigenous peoples of Guatemala urge Sec. of State Kerry to hold the state of Guatemala accountable for unjust actions.
Earlier this year, when the 113th Congress passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, they included important language (PL 113-4, Sec. 1207) that requires the Secretary of State to establish and implement a multi-year, multi-sectoral strategy that includes both diplomatic and programmatic initiatives to prevent child marriage and empower girls globally.
Erica Olson recently returned to the U.S. after serving as a Maryknoll lay missioner in El Salvador.
Fr. Gene Toland has served the people of South America for many years; he writes this Sunday’s reflection.
This week’s reflection is written by Christine Perrier, a former lay missioner who continues to live and work in Peru.
In this reflection, Sr. Theresa Baldini remembers women she encountered in South Sudan.
Fr. Jack Northrup is a Maryknoll missioner serving in El Salvador.
This week’s reflection is written by Kathleen Bond, a Maryknoll lay missioner who lives with her family in São Paulo, Brazil.
Anne Termini served as a lay missioner in rural Guatemala.
Learn more about NETWORK’s Nuns on the Bus summer tour, highlighting the need for humane and just immigration reform.
Fr. Joe Healey, MM, wrote the following reflection on Kenya’s recent election for the May-June 2013 NewsNotes.
This large scale social arts project will also include a lobby day to raise awareness of ongoing genocides and mass atrocities.
The following update is from our colleagues with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.
Ted and Maruja Gutmann-González served as Maryknoll lay missioners in Chile.
In most of the world, May 1 is the day to celebrate workers. This year’s commemoration included memorials for the at least 1,127* people who were killed in the terrible collapse on April 24 of a factory in Bangladesh, a disaster that could have been avoided had the building’s owners not shirked their responsibility to provide a safe environment for workers. *Death toll updated from printed version.
