Maryknoll and its international affiliates have been engaged in the struggle for peace and justice in the Middle East for many years. We support the work of Muslims, Christians, and Jews around the region who challenge of racism, political and economic inequality, military occupation, and who promote inter-religious dialogue. In Washington D.C., the Office for Global Concerns analyzes issues affecting the Middle East in its cultural and historical contexts so that U.S. citizens and law makers can make informed decisions about foreign policy and better understand this important and diverse region of the world.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns was among the eighteen signatories of an ecumenical letter organized by Churches for Middle East Peace sent to House and Senate offices in support of War Powers Resolutions and in opposition to U.S. war with Iran.
This weekend, on June 21, President Trump announced that the U.S. had bombed three separate nuclear facilities in Iran using bombs that have never been deployed before. The bombing is…
Like Jesus, we are weeping … in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, in Sudan, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Myanmar, in the United States, in schools, homes and public spaces around the world. But this week, even as we prepare to retell the story of his Passion and Death, we hear Jesus say:…
Two State Department programs that helped Afghans refugees were halted when the new administration froze foreign aid. Now they are terminated.
The people praised David for his bravery in defeating and slaying Goliath. We know through scripture that King Saul was very jealous of David’s success and eventually sought to kill him. David had to run. But, in today’s reading, David is given the chance to turn the tide and slay King Saul. He refuses to…
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…
Tuesday, December 10, we celebrate Human Rights Day, an opportunity to advocate for the full enjoyment of human dignity by everyone everywhere. Human Rights Day falls in Advent as Christians…
Art Laffin offers the following reflection on the experience on March 21 of being arrested alongside twelve other members of Christians for Ceasefire while wearing pictures of the destruction in Gaza and singing hymns of peace in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office building. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue…
Iqbal Ahmad, Kroc Institute Fellow, writes of how, three years since the Taliban’s takeover, Afghanistan has devolved into one of the most repressive regimes in the world resulting in severe hardship and a third generation of Afghan refugees. The following article was published in the November-December 2024 issue of NewsNotes. More than two decades after…
October 7 marks the one-year anniversary of the brutal and ongoing Israel Hamas conflict. Peace remains far from sight and the conflict appears to be spreading. To mark the heartbreaking anniversary,…
August 2024 marked the third year since the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. Since then, over 76,000 people were evacuated as the Taliban took over. Evacuees were granted a temporary…
Watch the webinar Afghan Refugees: Three years out from Taliban takeover. August marks three years since the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover that followed. The upheaval…
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.
Thousands of U.S. Catholics have signed an open letter to Pres. Biden calling for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza as threats of starvation grow in the Palestinian enclave.
Our hearts go out to the many thousands forced to flee Rafah and the dozens killed there on Tuesday, May 28, after Israeli missiles set fire to camps in a…
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined a letter organized by Alliance for Middle East Peace with 160+ other peacebuilding organizations and His Holiness Pope Francis calling on G7 leaders to prioritize civil society peacebuilding at the G7 Summit.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and other Christian groups stand with Muslims, Jews, and others in praying, demonstrating, and advocating for a ceasefire and sustainable, just peace in the Middle East.
More than 200 Catholic leaders, including a cardinal, an archbishop and numerous nuns, have put their names on a letter urging President Joe Biden to push for a cease-fire in Gaza, secure the release of hostages and halt the shipment of weapons to Israel.
