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.
Maryknoll lay missioner Rick Dixon challenges us to take on the humble qualities of Christ, our king. On this feast day of Christ the King, I rush to read John 6, where Jesus withdraws to the mountain alone after a miracle when he knows the crowd is about to take him by force to make…
Maryknoll representatives are in Belém, Brazil, in the Amazon rainforest, for the crucial UN Climate Change Conference, COP30. Scroll down to find four ways you can take action in solidarity…
Maryknoll Sr. Janet Srebalus in Tanzania offers hope amid suffering. As we approach the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year, many of us are looking forward to Advent, and the Christmas Season, Christ’s birth among us, and the hopeful message of “peace on earth, goodwill to all.” However, before we start preparing for a…
November 3, 2025 Sixty-four lives lost. That is the horrifying toll of the 15 military strikes the Trump administration has launched against 16 boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific…
Maryknoll Seminarian Joe Odundo in Chicago reflects on God’s temple. One of my favorite African theologians, John Mbiti, said in his book, African Religion and Philosophy, “Africans are notoriously religious.” This is neither an exaggeration nor a coincidence. Regardless of the religion people convert to, wherever Africans are, they carry their religiosity with them. This…
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Kathy Bond reflects on God’s love for us all. “Brothers and sisters: Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5) Today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans speaks to us…
Maryknoll Sr. Maureen Hanahoe reflects on God’s merciful love. How do we evaluate the quality of our lives? Is it through our comparison with others and a sense of self- righteousness, or is it through the willingness to accept who we are with honesty and transparency, embracing both our strengths and limitations, knowing we are…
Maryknoll Fr. Joseph Healey works with small Christian communities in Africa and online. He invited members of one such community, the St. Isidore of Seville International Online Small Christian Community, with members in Ireland, Kenya, Tanzania and the United States, to write this week’s reflection. Here is a personal witness story. I am 22-year-old Mary…
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Sarah Bueter reflects on the power of God’s grace. In this week’s readings, those explicitly on the “outside”–the Syrian, the Samaritan, the foreigner– show us that God desires healing for all, and teach us about a faith that “saves”—a surrender of the self, a disposition of humility and trust, and gratitude that…
Returned Maryknoll Lay Missioner Kathy McNeely tells a story from Guatemala. We all have our stories. These stories are shaped by our cultural experience, by what our parents teach us and by the way we choose to respond to the world around us. While living and working in Guatemala among indigenous Qeqchi’ people the stories I…
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….
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and 95 organizations sent the following letter to the leaders of the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security asking for immediate action to stop the flow of illegal weapons from the United States to Haiti. August 26, 2025 We, the undersigned 96 organizations, are writing to express our…
On August 15, 2025, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 36 civil social organizations in signing this letter to members of the U.S. Congress asking them to use their power to prevent the Trump administration from taking military action in Latin America. We, the undersigned good governance, veterans, immigration, human rights, protection of civilians,…
As the violent crisis in Haiti deepens, Haitians in the United States are going to court to protect their right to Temporary Protected Status.
This Sunday’s gospel story of Mary and Martha has long been one of the passages of scripture I have identified with the most. Martha complains to Jesus that her younger sister, Mary, has chosen to sit at his feet listening to him instead of assisting in the chores of serving their guest. “Tell her to…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 11 religiously-affiliated organizations that provide support to immigrants in writing to the U.S. Court of Appeals on the side of Plaintiffs, immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who are challenging Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s decision to end humanitarian parole.
On May 29, the Bishops’ Conference of El Salvador released a pastoral letter urging, among other things, an end to the state of exception that suspends civil liberties and an end to the detention of migrants from other countries.
The Trump Administration announced it will end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) early for about 500,000 Haitians living in the United States, exposing them to deportation as soon as Sept. 2. This comes three months after the Trump Administration revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the country under a humanitarian parole program.
