Home / January – February 2025
Fifty Years of NewsNotes
Michael Gable, editor of NewsNotes from 1980 to 1988, recalls the best and worst of times working for the Maryknoll offices for Peace and Justice to commemorate fifty years of NewsNotes editions.
Advocacy as a Pathway to Sustainable Peace
Iqbal Ahmad, Kroc Institute Fellow from the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, shares what he has learned as a peace and nonviolence intern for the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. In many parts of the…
Pope Francis Offers Three Actions for Peace in 2025
In his annual World Day of Peace message, Francis urges the forgiveness of international debt, the abolition of the death penalty, and the reallocation of military funds toward ending hunger. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. Every New Year’s Day since 1968, popes have issued a World…
Jubilee Campaign 2025: “Turn Debt into Hope”
Sign the petition and join the global call to cancel and remedy unjust and unsustainable debts. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the ceremonial door, the Porta Sancta, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to launch the 2025 Jubilee Year. Jubilee…
Korea Peace Advocates Confront Challenging Future
Peace Advocates from around the United States gathered in Pennsylvania to discuss goals and strategies for bringing about an end to the Korean War and peace with justice on the Korean Peninsula. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. Korea peace advocates are organizing for an uncertain future….
Immigration Concerns Under Trump Administration
President-elect Trump has promised sweeping changes to immigration policy under his new administration starting on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. Some of the second Trump Administration’s proposed immigration policies risk severe consequences, including the separation of families and the emotional and…
USCCB Statement of Solidarity with Immigrants
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, USCCB president, Bishop Mark Seitz, chair of the Committee on Migration, and Bishop Jaime Soto, chair of Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., issued a statement of pastoral concern on November 14, 2024. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. Compelled by the Gospel of Jesus…
Tanzanian President Meets with Maasai
Indigenous Maasai community leaders met with the Tanzanian president in their ongoing to struggle to defend their land and human rights. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. On December 1, 150 Maasai delegates from Ngorongoro, Loliondo, and Sale met with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the…
U.S. Policy Toward Sudan Under Trump
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined a letter to Trump nominee for Secretary of Sate, Senator Marco Rubio, requesting he prioritize ending the violent crisis in Sudan through nonviolent interventions. The Sudanese American Physicians Association, an organization made up of physicians of Sudanese descent living and working within the United States, organized a letter…
UN Mulls Permanent African Security Council Seats
The international body that addresses peace and security currently has no permanent seats for the often underrepresented and historically marginalized continent. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. On September 13, 2024, the United States declared to the UN General Assembly its support of the creation of two…
UN Biodiversity Conference Lets Indigenous Lead
Sara Kennel, climate advocacy intern, shares the outcomes of the UN conference on biodiversity. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. In the very last hours of the 16th bi-annual UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, a celebration ensued with enthusiastically raised hands, tears, hugs, and chants…
Finance Feud Clouds UN Climate Change Conference
The UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, will be remembered as the moment climate advocates stayed strong in the face of weak commitments from wealthy, polluting nations. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. The global association of 198 member states that gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan…
Report Reveals Global Healthcare Inequity
A Population Reference Bureau report shows a global dearth of primary care and its effects on life expectancy. The following article was published in the January – February 2025 issue of NewsNotes. Roughly 50 percent of the world’s population lacks access to good primary health care, according to the Population Reference Bureau, a non-profit organization…
Resources
Webinar: “Guantánamo Uncovered” A conversation with the New York Times’ Serial Podcast and staff from the Center for Victims of Torture on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7pm et. https://mogc.info/GU-1-9-25 Op-ed: Deportation plan must not raid churches, separate families, by Christian leaders published by The Arizona Republic. https://mogc.info/RF-Deportations Statement: “Rabbis Call on U.S. to Stop Transfer…
