The history of Maryknoll in Latin America is rich and deep. Our commitment to the promotion of social justice and peace in the region cost several of our missioners their lives during the years of oppression, including Fr. Bill Woods, MM in Guatemala (1976), and Sisters Ita Ford, MM, Maura Clarke, MM and Carla Piete, MM in El Salvador in 1980. Some, like Fr. Miguel D’Escoto in Nicaragua, have served in public roles in support of those who live in poverty. Countless others have accompanied the Central American people in their daily struggles for survival, for social justice, for an end to the violence that destroys their communities; for new life.
Among the particular concerns of Maryknoll in Latin America are poverty, its causes and consequences; migration and refugees; health care, especially holistic care that includes good nutrition and preventative care; access to essential medicines for treatable or curable illness; HIV and AIDS; the rights and dignity of women and children; the response of authorities to the growth in gang violence; mining concessions; just trade agreements; debt cancellation; small and subsistence farming and other work accessible to people who are poor; and environmental destruction.
Ask your senators to support accountability for the treatment of migrants and inmates imprisoned in El Salvador, using the form below. Since March 15, when the Trump Administration sent 238…
Mass incarceration has expanded and democratic governance deteriorated in El Salvador since the state of exception began three years ago.
On March 18, church leaders in El Salvador presented 150,000 signatures of citizens to the Legislative Assembly on March 18, urging the restoration of the metal mining ban.
Nearly a year into the US-backed, international police mission in Haiti, the island nation is still mired in violence.
What should “love your neighbor” mean for U.S. policy toward Haiti? In honor of Pope Francis, who consistently emphasized the importance of “love your neighbor” as a fundamental aspect of…
The setting: Jesus riding in to Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds loudly shouting their hosannas.It is a time of rejoicing but at the same time, those of us who know the story realize that Jesus is on the way to his eventual execution. The Pharisees, scandalized by the scene that Jesus’ disciples are…
Write to your members of Congress on behalf of Haitian immigrants. Nine months into the U.S.-backed, Kenyan-staffed police mission to restore peace and order to Haiti, the mission is floundering….
Human rights organizations in Peru win in court on behalf of the victims of a massacre at political protests more than two years ago.
This reflection was originally published in the 2024 Advent Reflection Guide: One Family of God. “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” LUKE 1:43 Sometimes an encounter with a person fills me with wonder and gratitude and opens my heart to a long-lasting friendship. It…
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…
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…
This reflection was originally published in the 2024 Advent Reflection Guide: One Family of God. A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight God’s paths… Isaiah 40:3 A voice of one crying out in the desert… What is the prophet Isaiah trying to say to his…
In the midst of a history of suffering, Saint Oscar Romero lived and shared with the poor his unshakeable faith in the Lord of Life, the hope of seeing in El Salvador the Christian reality of new heavens and a new earth, and a charity not simply announced, but embodied in the fate of the…
The 2024 Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Awards were given to Rabbis for Ceasefire and the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), and the Concejo de Autoridades de 48 Cantones de Totonicapán of Guatemala; and a slain former awardee was honored. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. The Institute for Policy…
More than 40 organizations working for peace and justice in Haiti came to Washington, DC for Haiti Advocacy Days. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. More than 40 organizations working for peace and justice in Haiti came to Washington, DC for Haiti Advocacy Days on September 25-26 to meet…
The murder of Juan Lopez, environmental leader in Tocoa, Honduras, is not an isolated incidence, but rather, one more link in a pattern of violence. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. The assassination of Juan López on Saturday, September 15, as he left his church has left the network…
Sarah Bueter, Maryknoll Lay Missioner in El Salvador, reflects on the murder of Honduran environmental defender Juan Lopez and her recent visit to his grieving community of Tocoa as part of an emergency delegation organized by the SHARE Foundation. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. It was only when…
There are several key themes in today’s Gospel that speak to the “signs of our times” and give us, in Jesus, an example of how we are to respond. Mark tells us of the crowd that was traveling with Jesus, and that Jesus “stood still” at the cry of Bartimaeus, a blind man. The scriptures…
