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…
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…
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…
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 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 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…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined thirty faith and civil society groups in a letter to Senator Marco Rubio, Trump nominee for Secretary of Sate, requesting he prioritize ending the Sudan crisis through diplomatic efforts, appointing a special envoy, support for local aid providers, and support for atrocity documentation. Read as a PDF. December 5,…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns was among over thirty civil society and faith organizations calling on members of the Senate and House committees on foreign affairs to pass a “clean” five-year renewal of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Read letters to House and Senate committees as a PDF. Dec. 2, 2024 Dear Chairman/Ranking…
Thirty-eight faith groups, including Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, signed a letter to U.S. senators expressing concern about the Energy Permitting Reform Act (S. 4753). While the legislation contains some provisions to speed up deployment of renewable energy, it also includes too many measures extending the life of the fossil fuel era. Read as a…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined over a hundred civil society and faith based organizations in a letter to President Biden in support of restoration of United States funding of the United Nations Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Read the letter as a PDF. September 23, 2024 Dear Mr. President: We, the undersigned 104 civil…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 15 faith groups in a letter to Congressional staffers with an invitation to Congressman Jim McGovern’s Special Order focusing on the pressing issues surrounding nuclear weapons. Read as a PDF. November 5, 2024 Subject: Invitation to Participate in Special Order on Nuclear Weapons on November 13 Dear [name of…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined a group of 18 faith and human rights organizations in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlining areas of concern with the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti, specifically: that it support the development of Haitian democracy and autonomy; that it clearly state a priority for the protection of Haitian lives; and that there be concrete, public mechanisms for accountability.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 63 other organizations joined at letter urging the Senate to reject these cuts and instead safeguard and invest in international climate finance as well as critical funding for peace building, human rights, humanitarian aid, migration and poverty-focused development assistance.
Prior to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the U.S. Congress in Washington, DC, more than 200 global bishops and Christian leaders, including Sr. Teresa Hougnon, president of the Maryknoll Sisters and Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, call for world leaders to institute a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, halt of offensive arms sales to Israel, and prevention of a broader regional war.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 34 other faith organizations in a letter to the trade representatives negotiating trade in the Western Hemisphere asking for the removal of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms from existing trade and investment agreements.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 65 other organizations in a letter to the Chair and Ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senators Christopher Coons and Lindsey Graham, requesting funding for peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian aid, migration, international climate finance, poverty-focused development assistance in the upcoming Fiscal Year of 2025.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 25 other organizations in a faith letter to President Biden expressing concern for the dire situation in Sudan and requesting further action.
