Fourth Sunday of Lent

Fourth Sunday of Lent

The Parable of the Prodigal Son, this Sunday’s gospel reading, is a story so familiar that it is easy to feel immune to both the breadth and depth of its message. It is the story of three people, a father and his two sons, and the actions and reactions of each of them in an…

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

The people praised David for his bravery in defeating and slaying Goliath. We know through scripture that King Saul was very jealous of David’s success and eventually sought to kill him. David had to run. But, in today’s reading, David is given the chance to turn the tide and slay King Saul. He refuses to…

Maryknoll OGC Joins Letter to Trump Urging Improvement in U.S. Relations with North Korea

Maryknoll OGC Joins Letter to Trump Urging Improvement in U.S. Relations with North Korea

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 38 other faith and civic organizations in a letter to President Trump urging him to work on improving relations with North Korea, including by formally ending the Korean war. Read this letter as a PDF. January 29, 2025 Dear President Trump, The undersigned coalition of national organizations write to…

UN Mulls Permanent African Security Council Seats

UN Mulls Permanent African Security Council Seats

The international body that addresses peace and security currently has no permanent seats for the often underrepresented and historically marginalized continent. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. On September 13, 2024, the United States declared to the UN General Assembly its support of the creation of two…

U.S. Policy Toward Sudan Under Trump

U.S. Policy Toward Sudan Under Trump

The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined a letter to Trump nominee for Secretary of Sate, Senator Marco Rubio, requesting he prioritize ending the violent crisis in Sudan through nonviolent interventions. The Sudanese American Physicians Association, an organization made up of physicians of Sudanese descent living and working within the United States, organized a letter…

Korea Peace Advocates Confront Challenging Future

Korea Peace Advocates Confront Challenging Future

Peace Advocates from around the United States gathered in Pennsylvania to discuss goals and strategies for bringing about an end to the Korean War and peace with justice on the Korean Peninsula. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. Korea peace advocates are organizing for an uncertain future….

Pope Francis Offers Three Actions for Peace in 2025

Pope Francis Offers Three Actions for Peace in 2025

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…

Maryknoll OGC Joins Letter to Congress Cautioning Against Sanctions for the ICC

Maryknoll OGC Joins Letter to Congress Cautioning Against Sanctions for the ICC

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 OGC Joins 50 Groups in Letter Opposing Reauthorization of the House Committee on China

Maryknoll OGC Joins 50 Groups in Letter Opposing Reauthorization of the House Committee on China

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,…

Maryknoll OGC Joins Letter to Biden Adminitration for Protections for Haiti and Haitians

Maryknoll OGC Joins Letter to Biden Adminitration for Protections for Haiti and Haitians

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…

Third Sunday of Advent

Third Sunday of Advent

This reflection was originally published in the 2024 Advent Reflection Guide: One Family of God. God indeed is my salvation; I am confident and unafraid. ISAIAH 12:2 What should we do? A people “filled with expectation” pose this question to John the Baptist. How often do our own hearts burn with the same question? Look…