The work of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns on peace is focused on identifying and eliminating the root causes of violence and conflict with a focus on specific regions, expressions of violence and areas of conflict affecting Maryknoll missioners, and U.S. aggression and national security policy (e.g. war on terrorism). The nexus of violence and poverty is clear. Unless we dedicate ourselves to building true human security for all, nations – especially poor ones – will continue to fall victim to an unending cycle of economic, political and social violence.
Maryknoll Leadership Statement on Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti
Maryknoll Leadership Statement on U.S. elections 2012: Sustainable peace and security for all
Maryknoll Leadership Statement: A call for the abolition of torture
POLICY BRIEF: Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Invest in Peace
WEBINAR: Nonviolence and the Web of Creation
WEBINAR: Human Rights Advocacy and the Legacy of Sr. Dianna Ortiz
WEBINAR: Rethinking Security in a Pandemic: No Justice, No Peace
WEBINAR: Sanctions — Nonviolent Tool or Lethal Weapon?
WEBINAR: Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Invest in Peace
This week’s Middle East Notes include materials which focus on “price tag” targeting of Christians, the viability of the two-state solution, the plight of Christians on the West Bank and the detrimental effect of the continuing occupation of Palestinian territories on the Israeli people.
Fr. Joe Towle writes this week’s reflection, and shares some memories from his time as a missioner in Latin America.
Between July 2 and 27, the world’s nation-states met at the UN headquarters in New York to negotiate an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to regulate the multibillion dollar international trade in conventional arms. Throughout the month most parties supported a new treaty to cover all conventional arms including ammunition, but in the final hours of negotiations, consensus was procedurally blocked by countries that asked for more time – including the U.S., Russia, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. The following article was published in the September-October 2012 NewsNotes.
The following article, contributed by Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International, and published in the September-October 2012 NewsNotes, is based on a longer piece written for the Center of Concern’s Education for Justice Program. For more information about how Catholic social teaching relates to the present situation please visit the Center of Concern’s Education for Justice site, www.educationforjustice.org.
In early September, faith-based organizations issued a statement citing the “recent surge in violence in eastern Congo with the mutiny and rise of the March 23 movement, or M23,” and their alarm at UN reports revealing Rwanda’s role in supporting and perpetuating violence by orchestrating and bolstering M23 with both military and financial support. The following article was published in the September-October 2012 NewsNotes.
“Estamos hasta la madre! [We are fed up]” is the rallying cry of Mexican poet and author Javier Sicilia, who has mobilized people on both sides of the border to stop the bloodshed caused by drug violence. The following article was published in the September-October 2012 NewsNotes.
The following piece was written by Marie Dennis, former director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and current co-president of Pax Christi International.
The September-October 2012 issue of NewsNotes includes a report of a recent toxic spill at a mining town in Peru; a small shift in policy by the U.S. toward Honduras; a report on new concerns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; a more expansive explanation of the necessity for a Financial Transaction Tax; and much more. Read the entire issue in PDF format (link at the bottom of page.)
Momentum 2012The Challenge of Peacemaking with Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Pax Christi USA’s founding bishop-president, Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and the 1991 Teacher of Peace and Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas and Pax Christi USA’s 2012 Teacher of Peace award recipient September 7, 2012 from 6-9 p.m.at Trinity University125 Michigan Avenue NEWashington, D.C. $50 contribution per…
Join the U.S. Caravan for Peace and Justice! From the Americas Program at Center for International Policy: Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity set off from San Diego on August 12 to traverse the country with a message: To end the war on drugs in the U.S. and Mexico. The caravan description reads: “Led by…
Join the annual vigil to close the School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, Nov. 16-18, 2012, in Columbus GA at the gates of Ft. Benning. Learn more about workshops and other events that weekend at the SOA Watch website.
This week’s reflection is from Sr. Madeline Dorsey, who spent many years of her mission life in war-torn El Salvador.
Fr. Jack Northrup reflects on his ministry in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ is constantly drawing all of us to life, no matter what bleak prisons we may have made for ourselves. Because of God’s choice to constantly offer the free gift of grace to the most needy, we can wake from our sleep, from the illusions of happiness that this world offers. At this very moment we can choose life in its fullness.”
Susan Weissert, who worked as a lay missioner for many years in South America and at the Maryknoll center in New York, asks: Can we look back on our actions/words/decisions today and see that they were shaped by love of God and love of neighbor?
In the past six years, Mexico’s “war on drugs” has led to as many as 60,000 deaths and 10,000 disappearances, and has displaced 160,000 people. Characterized by an intense militarization, including the deployment of over 50,000 troops and federal police, this strategy has undermined the country’s social fabric and security even more deeply, but has done little to address the painful iniquities of drug trafficking in Mexico. Some victims are saying enough, and demand an alternative to militarization and the war on drugs. Their message is not only directed at the government and people of Mexico: This summer they will bring their message to the U.S. to raise awareness around the U.S. connection to Mexico’s war on drugs. The following piece was written by Brennan Baker and published in the July-August 2012 NewsNotes.
In late June, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined with other colleagues in signing the letter below to the U.S. Senate; it asks the Senate to reconsider the increasingly militarized relationship the U.S. has been fostering with African nations. In the next few weeks we might learn more about the recent resignation of Scott Gration from his position as U.S. ambassador to Kenya; initial analysis points to Gration’s preference for a more conciliatory tone led to disagreements with the administration’s larger plan for the region.
On June 19, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights held the first-ever Congressional hearing to reassess the use of solitary confinement. Attendance was so high the hearing room filled and an overflow room contained over 100 more spectators. Following the hearing, Kathy McNeely, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (MOGC), spoke at an interfaith press conference held by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT). The following article was written by Ainsley Rossitto, an intern with the MOGC, for the July-August 2012 issue of NewsNotes.
Learn more about the ongoing conflict in the DRC and sign a petition at Change.org to urge Sec. Clinton’s response.
