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.
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…
Environmental leaders face intimidation and violence around the world for speaking out in defense of their communities, the water and the land. Central America, and Honduras in particular, remained the…
Sarah Bueter, a 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. 27 September 2024 It was only when I saw his photo up on the wall,…
Send a message to Congress as part of Haiti Advocacy Days: Stop Illegal Arms to Haiti calling for an end to the flow of guns to Haiti. On Thursday, September…
Maryknoll Father Joe Towle draws on two mission experiences that deepened his understanding of nonviolence.
Lisa Sullivan, 30 year-resident of Venezuela and organizer of over 20 delegations to the country, shares an update since the July 28, 2024, election.
The security expedition in Haiti faces uphill battle against well-armed gangs.
Register for Haiti Advocacy Days: Stop Illegal U.S. Arms to Haiti, held on Wednesday and Thursday, September 25-26. This Sunday marks the second month since Kenyan forces arrived in Haiti…
Maryknoll Father John Northrop remembers his years of service in Cuidad Juárez.
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.
José Bayardo Chata, Maryknoll mission partner at Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente (DHUMA) in Puno, Peru, tells of the progress that is needed to meet the first goal of the SDG’s–the eradication of poverty, in all its forms, everywhere.
Wednesday, August 7, 2024 Protest and repression have erupted in Venezuela following President Maduro’s pronouncement of victory for which official results are yet to be released. The Venezuelan opposition claims that their candidate doubled Maduro’s votes. Latin America is on edge as a new wave of migration appears imminent in the face of violent crack…
