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.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joins over 40 U.S.-based faith, human rights, foreign policy, humanitarian, immigrant rights and border-based civil society organizations in a statement to express deep concern over the Trump Administration’s latest actions on Central America including the wholesale cutoffs of assistance to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns condemns President Trump's emergency declaration and calls on Congress to enact immigration policies that protect human rights.
We call on Congress to reverse the course of the Trump administration.
A call for compassion and transformation.
As the leadership of the Maryknoll Sisters, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and the Maryknoll Lay Missioners, we denounce the cruel and immoral “zero-tolerance” immigration policy enacted by the Trump Administration which has resulted in the separation of over 2,300 children from their parents, the criminal prosecution of anyone who crosses the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, and severe restrictions on asylum applications.
The Trump administration announced plans to renegotiate NAFTA.
The following article, published in the March-April 2016 issue of Newsnotes, is an update on the environmental crisis in Brazil caused by a dam that burst in November, killing 17 people, displacing thousands, and polluting the River Doce with toxic mud.
In February, voters in Bolivia rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed President Evo Morales to run for president for a third term. Maryknoll Fr. Gene Toland, director of the Maryknoll Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia, wrote the following reflection on this historic vote..
After almost thirty years of impunity, there may finally be some measure of justice for the six Jesuit priests and two women murdered by the Salvadoran military in San Salvador in 1989.
Since his inauguration in January, former comedian and now President Jimmy Morales has faced an intense Congressional transition and renewal of mass protests in Guatemala.
In February, Maryknoll Sister Ann Braudis joined fellow Maryknoll Sister Eva Canales in Guatemala to investigate human and land rights violations perpetrated against poor and indigenous people.
In February, Pope Francis completed a six-day pastoral visit to Mexico. With five key moments, the pope addressed the full spectrum of Mexican society and delivered a clear moral message about corruption and poverty, violence, and migration that transcends national boundaries and speaks to the whole world.
Urge the State Department to assist the government of Honduras in finding and holding accountable the murderers of Berta Cáceres.
Ask President Obama and Congress to commit to humane policies that respond to the realities of migration.
In early January, Guatemalan police arrested 18 people on charges of crimes against humanity, as part of an ongoing investigation into forced disappearances that occurred between 1981 and 1988 against indigenous communities.
In November, a report was presented by the Social Network for Justice and Human Rights, a human rights organization in Brazil, and GRAIN, a food sovereignty NGO, about land grabbing in Brazil by TIAA-CREF, at the International Seminar on Land Grabbing, at City University of New York Graduate Center.
Southeastern Brazil has been devastated by toxic mud due to a dam that burst at an iron-ore mine in November. Brazil is calling it the worst environmental disaster in its history.
Ten Maryknoll Sisters joined the SHARE Delegation to El Salvador for the 35th Anniversary of the martyrdom of the four churchwomen from November 28 – December 5.
The U.S. and Mexican governments have not addressed the root causes of the flow of migrants from Central America to the U.S.; rather, they have worked together to stop the flow by force.
Despite the growing political volatility in Honduras, President Juan Orlando Hernandez has managed to remain in office by negotiating with the Organization of Americans States (OAS) to adopt a plan to facilitate national dialogue.
On October 25, former comedian and television celebrity Jimmy Morales won Guatemala’s presidential election after a rising anti-corruption citizens’ movement helped bring down President Otto Pérez Molina. The underlining challenges and the political views of Jimmy Morales signal major troubles ahead.
Ted Miles, Executive Director of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners, reflects on the power of love to heal our broken relationships and bind us together as God created us to be.
Maryknoll Father John Spain in El Salvador reflects on the lessons we can learn from the early Church.
This week's reflection was written by Maryknoll Father Ray Finch in 2016. Father Finch lived and worked in the Andean regions of Latin America for many years, and is currently Superior General of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
Kathy McNeely, a returned Maryknoll Lay Missioner who lived and worked in Guatemala, reflects on the important gifts offered by the prophets among us.
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Marilyn Kott in Brazil reflects on the lessons the Scriptures offer on experiencing and responding to anger.
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Kathleen Bond in Brazil reflects on the saints among us on this holy day.
Phil and Kathy Dahl-Bredine, who served as Maryknoll Lay Missioners and continue to live in Mexico, reflect on the urgent need to proclaim a Gospel of peace and simplicity.
Maryknoll Sister Madeline "Maddie" Dorsey, wrote the following reflection on caring for God's goodness amid great suffering.
Jean Walsh, a returned Maryknoll Lay Missioner who served in Mexico, reflects on the relationship between humans and the natural world, what Pope Francis calls integral ecology.
Returned Maryknoll Lay Missioner Dan Moriarty reflects on the importance of inclusion and encounter in our church and society.
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Heidi Cerneka, currently on mission in Kenya after many years in Brazil, reflects on Jesus' instructions to the disciples to go out in the world.
Maryknoll Father Bill Donnelly reflects on the faith of the people of Guatemala who have endured years of violence and oppression yet live in hope that justice will prevail.
Maryknoll Sister Melinda Roper in Panama reflects on the struggles of small farmers to survive.
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Tim Ross in El Salvador reflects on God's answer to the cries of all those who are suffering.
The following reflection was prepared by Maryknoll Sr. Efu Nyaki, who works with women in Brazil.
