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July/August 2008
J/P Alert is the newsletter of the Justice and Peace office of CMSM. It is intended to inform and stimulate discussion and involvement among the members. Its contents do not necessarily represent official positions of CMSM.
Catholic Social Justice Groups Launch Campaign for the Common Good
National convention draws over 800 Catholics to address key moral and political issues
Washington, DC- During an election year when Catholics are being aggressively courted by both political parties as key swing voters, national Catholic social justice organizations are launching a new campaign – Faith Can Move Mountains: Vote the Common Good– that will empower Catholics to put the common good before narrow partisan agendas. More than a dozen organizations including NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Pax Christi USA; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious have joined the campaign at www.votethecommongood.com/.
The web site includes voter education resources from several Catholic organizations, opportunities for media training and tools for disseminating common good messages. The Campaign was launched at an unprecedented Convention for the Common Good held July 11-13 in Philadelphia, attended by over 800 Catholics. The Convention delegates also affirmed a Platform for the Common Good that will be sent to both presidential candidates and national political parties. Over 2500 Catholics in more than 40 states contributed to the platform over the last several months.
The campaign will also include print, broadcast and online advertising this Fall that will highlight Catholic teaching about economic justice, humane immigration reform, universal health care, peace and building a consistent culture of life that honors human dignity at all stages.
Inspired by the values of Catholic social teaching, the convention was convened by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, and over 15 sponsoring organizations. The first-of-its kind gathering featured leading Catholics in public life including Senators Robert Casey Jr. and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania; Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio; former Rep. Charles Dougherty of Pennsylvania; E.J. Dionne, Jr. of the Washington Post; Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO. Delegates participated in panel discussions on a range of key moral and political issues, and pledged to disseminate common good messages in their local communities.
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good promotes awareness of Catholic social teaching and its core values of justice, dignity and the common good to Catholics, the media and Americans of all faiths. Through communications, grassroots outreach and strategic coordination, Catholics in Alliance works to advance the common good in the American public square. For more information please visit www.catholicsinalliance.org/.
NETWORK—a Catholic leader in the global movement for justice and peace—educates, organizes and lobbies for economic and social transformation. Founded in 1971 by 47 Catholic sisters, NETWORK is supported by thousands of groups and individuals committed to working for social and economic justice. For more information, see www.networklobby.org.
The National Religious Campaign Against
Torture, in alliance with Evangelicals for Human Rights and the Center
for Victims of Torture, launched an effort today that calls upon the
President to issue an executive order banning torture based on six core
principles embodied in a Declaration
of Principles. The groups are calling
this effort the "Campaign to Ban Torture." Prominent faith
leaders from Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh
communities, as well top officials from every Administration since the
1970s, have joined together to endorse the Declaration of Principles.
You can click
here to view the list of endorsees.
The success of this effort depends upon thousands of people of faith and other opponents of torture joining together to endorse the Declaration of Principles. Your endorsement will help end U.S.-sponsored torture. We urge you to endorse the Declaration. You can click here to do so.
We also ask that you:
- Urge five friends to endorse;
- Urge members of your congregations to endorse;
- Urge the governing body of your congregation, the regional body of your denomination or faith group and your local interfaith or ecumenical body to endorse.
You can click here for resources and suggestions for enhancing this effort.
With the combined efforts of people of faith
and military and national security leaders, we hope to develop a national
consensus that the
President should issue an executive order banning torture.
At its 2006 Assembly in Burlington, Vermont, CMSM passed a Resolution Condemning Torture. More recently, CMSM, in collaboration with the USCCB, LCWR, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and others has produced a study guide on torture, suitable for use by parishes, study groups, campus ministries and individuals.
Catholic Articles on Torture
U.S. Catholic "Is
torture losing its shock value?"
William Cavanaugh
Tidings Online "Faithful
Citizenship: Sharing Catholic social teaching"
Paula Doyle 7/11/08
The Catholic Voice "Bishops
issue new study guide on torture"
7/7/08
Center for American
Progress "Torture
is a moral issue"
Lindsay Barrett 7/7/08
The Curt Jester "Torture
is a moral issue"
Jeff Miller 6/28/08
Tidings Online "'Demonic" fear
drives U.S. torture, says Pax Christi head"
R.W. Dellinger 6/27/08
Catholic News Service
"USCCB
introduces study guide that examines torture as moral issue"
Dennis Sadowski
6/26/08
Inter Press Service "Anti-Torture
Campaign Wins Influential Backers"
Jim Lobe 6/25/08
Catholic News Service
" Pope
says values must focus on Jesus to avoid chaos, anarchy"
Carol Glatz
6/25/2008
UTNE Reader "Break
with Amnesty International Difficult for Catholics"
Lisa Gulya 6/25/2008
America Magazine "End
of a Partnership"
Jeffry Odell Korgen 6/23/2008
New Catholic Times "Anti-torture
Caravan includes Catholic youth"
Helena Robb 5/23/2008
Minnesota Monitor
"Torture
expert banned from speaking at Catholic church--
because he's pro-choice"
Paul Schmelzer 5/2/2008
California Catholic
Daily "Torture,
'from a moral point of view'"
3/27/2008
Catholic Online
"Waterboarding:
Catholic law professor says such torture methods
are intrinsically evil"
R.W. Dellinger 3/3/2008
Christian Post
"Religious
Leaders Urge Bush to Sign Anti-Torture Bill"
Katherine T. Phan 3/1/2008
Center for a Just
Society "Torturing
Terms: The Catholic View on Torture"
Geoffrey Turecek 5/7/2007
Catholic Culture "The
Church and Torture"
Fr. Brian Harrison, OS 12/1/2006
Catholic News Service
"Religious
groups, retired general back anti-torture amendment"
Patricia Zapor 5/7/2005
From Abortion to Assisted Suicide, the Death Penalty,
and War
Rachel M. MacNair (ed.), Stephen Zunes (ed.). Greenwood Press, 2008.
This work explains an increasingly popular view dubbed the Consistent Life Ethic, which holds that all life deserves reverence, so all social support for actions that destroy life should be withdrawn. The call is for opposition to abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia and other forms of killing to be consistent. Supporters of this view, shared widely in these pages, include figures from the Dalai Lama and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malread Corrifon Maguire to actor Martin Sheen and Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff. It is at once an ethical, religious and political ideology, explored here in its application to actions from treatment of unborn humans to infants, the disabled, the poverty-stricken, war combatants, and animals.
Sister Helen Prejean, Author of Dead Man Walking: "The societal wounds of racism, poverty, and a penchant for using violence to address problems are intimately connected to the death penalty, to war, to the killing of the old and demented, and to the killing of children, unborn and born. If more people were familiar with the consistent life ethic, as expounded in this book, then the voice of all unseen vulnerable people would be better heard."
Dr. Alveda King, Founder, King for America, Director of African American Outreach for Gospel of Life, and niece of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "The authors consistently and rationally support the position of opposition to murder in a society where wrong may seem right, to the detriment of life, liberty and justice for all. This is a recommended read for serious thinkers and for all seeking truth."
The
Catholic Coalition on Climate Change
The Coalition continues to expand. We welcome new partners in our efforts including The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, The Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Migration and Refugee Services of the USCCB and the Carmelite NGO. Each organization is sending representatives to the CCCC Steering Committee meetings to help us more effectively share Church teaching and develop programs and approaches that engage more and more their constituencies.
The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change has teamed up with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Environmental Justice Program, the Franciscan Action Network and St. Anthony Messenger Press to launch a new initiative: A Catholic Climate Covenant: The St. Francis Partnership to Protect Creation and People in Poverty. The initiative will be officially launched during the weekend of September 27-28, 2008 in anticipation of the Feast of St. Francis the following Saturday.
A Catholic Climate Covenant is an extension of the ongoing efforts by the CCCC and USCCB to more fully implement the bishops' statement on climate change and welcomes the resources and enthusiasm of our new partners from the Franciscan community. Together, this new partnership will seek to engage more thoughtfully and prayerfully and to share more extensively with all Catholics ways to respond to climate change consistent with Gospel values and Church teaching while embracing the heritage of our beloved St. Francis.
At the core of A Catholic Climate Covenant: The St. Francis Partnership to Protect Creation and People in Poverty will be the "St. Francis Care of Creation Pledge" to encourage individuals, parishes and schools to commit to caring for creation and protecting poor people from climate change impacts. The initial set of materials will be a mailer sent to all parishes in the US in late August announcing the new initiative. The mailer will contain an attractive poster for parish hall or school, a camera-ready bulletin insert outlining Church teaching on climate change and highlighting the St. Francis Pledge. A more extensive website will hold additional resources and ideas including homily suggestions, prayer and liturgy resources, and helpful links as well as a 2-3 minute reflective video. We'll notify you and all of our partners when this website is available and a link will be posted on the CCCC website.
Educational Tools
JustMatters Module
We continue to assist JustFaith in updating the very successful JustMatters
module, "God's Creation Cries for Justice." Dozens of small
faith groups used the 8-week program this year and offered feedback on
the materials and outline of the program. We are happy to say that it
received solid high marks this past year, but there was room for improvement.
For more information, go to: www.justfaith.org/JF1252.html.
This Is Your
Home
We continue to promote this wonderful, downloadable resource as a great
introduction to climate change, Catholic teaching and action. With a
grant from the USCCB's Environmental Justice Program, the Immaculate
Heart of Mary Sisters in Monroe, MI. produced this three-part series.
An accompanying study guide can also be downloaded. It makes for a great
one-night or several night series for parishes. It is geared towards
a younger audience, but works well with adults, too. Go to: www.ihmsisters.org/www/Justice_Peace_and_Sustainability/
Ecological_Integrity/globalclimate.asp.
Catholic Approach to Climate Change Question and Answer
Resource
Answering difficult questions about the Church's involvement in social
justice issues have always been part of the work of those engaged in
social ministry. Undoubtedly, you have encountered some tough questions
about climate change. We have developed a tool to help answer some of
those questions for your use. This nine-page resource is divided into
five sets of questions and answers: faith, science, political, economic
and poverty. To download your copy, go to: catholicsandclimatechange.org/resources/index.html and click on "A Catholic Approach to Climate Change" under "Education".
Other Climate Change Tools
Be sure to look at the resources page on our website for more educational
tools: www.catholicsandclimatechange.org.
Coalition Partners
More and more national Catholic organizations are joining the Catholic
Coalition on Climate Change. We encourage you to visit their climate
change related information on their websites as well:
- Catholic Relief Services: www.crs.org
- National Council of Catholic Women: www.nccw.org
- Catholic Health Association of the United States www.chausa.org
- Catholic Charities USA www.catholiccharitiesusa.org
- National Catholic Rural Life Conference www.ncrlc.com
- Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities www.accunet.org
- Franciscan Action Network www.franciscanaction.org
- Migration and Refugee Services: www.usccb.org/mrs
- Leadership Conference of Women Religious: www.lcwr.org
- Conference of Major Superiors of Men: www.cmsm.org
- Carmelite NGO: www.carmelitengo.org
Elements
for Fair and Just Trade Policies
The Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment offers the following statement as a guideline toward what we envision is necessary in order to make the current trade model more fair and just. We encourage you to read our alternative policies document, "Trade as if People and the Earth Mattered: a working document on alternatives". We offer these suggestions as part of the debate over the future directions of international trade.
International trade can be one engine of economic progress for developing countries. But the United States and developing countries alike need fair and just trade agreements that are genuinely shaped to meet the goals of sustainable development and poverty reduction.
In this statement, Elements for Fair and Just Trade Policies, the undersigned members of the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment (IWG) – a coalition of religious and faith-based organizations, many of whom have members living and working with the poorest communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America – enumerate the key elements we believe must be part of a new framework for U.S. trade policy.
Trade policies and agreements must put people first! They should further genuine social and economic development for our neighbors around the world while preserving and creating good jobs here at home. They must support – not hinder – governments in adopting policies to protect public health and the natural environment. Trade policies must strike a balance between creating a predictable structure for international trade and preserving the policy space necessary for governments to foster and secure economic, social and human development for all their citizens.
A new trade framework should include the following key elements:
- Ensure that trade agreements are formulated with full democratic accountability and citizen participation both in the United States and U.S. trading partners.
- Require (pre and post) country impact evaluations to assess the effects of provisions in trade agreement on key issues such as poverty eradication, job growth, food security and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
- Respect the right of peoples and nations to democratically determine their own agricultural and food policies.
- Fully respect the right of developing countries to safeguard and nurture their own domestic economies and the livelihoods of their people through the implementation of trade policies, regulations and mechanisms which promote and protect their own small-holder farmers, urban workers, and domestic manufacturers.
- Prioritize long-term ecological sustainability and the stability of the climate, and protect and conserve the richness and diversity of the natural world.
- Exclude provisions that require the liberalization or deregulation of essential public services, such as water, heath care and education.
- Reject intellectual property rights restrictions which make it more difficult for people in developing countries to have access to affordable essential medicines, as well as intellectual property provisions involving patents on seeds and other life-forms.
- Exclude the undemocratic provisions known as "investor-state" law suits, in which international investors are able to sue host governments in unelected international tribunals over actual or potential loss of future corporate profits resulting from democratically enacted domestic policies and regulations.
Crafting trade policies that will foster the wellbeing of our global neighbors and the natural environment will also improve American’s well-being. We call on the new President and Congress to look to long-term U.S. interests in a more secure, stable and just world, in which poverty and inequality are declining and all people have the resources needed for lives of dignity, sufficiency and community participation.
American Friends Service Committee
Agricultural Missions
Center of Concern
Church of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office
Church World Service
Columban Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Office
Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
Holy Cross International Justice Office
Justice and Witness Ministries United Church of Christ
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Medical Mission Sisters, Alliance for Justice
Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
PLANT (Partners for the Land and Agricultural Needs of Traditional
Peoples)
Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office
Quixote Center
Saint John's Abbey
Sisters of Notre Dame Justice and Peace Network
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
Witness for Peace
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
How
can the Justice and Peace Office help you get involved?
T. Michael McNulty, SJ, editor
mmcnulty@cmsm.org
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8808 Cameron St., Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: 301-588-4030
• Fax: 301-587-4575 • www.cmsm.org
