April 2010
U.S. Bishops Welcome Signing of New START Treaty, Call for Bipartisan Senate Ratification
Washington, DC—"The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) welcomes the signing of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and the Russian Federation," said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, President of the USCCB, in an April 8 letter to President Barack Obama.
"The horribly destructive capacity of nuclear arms makes them disproportionate and indiscriminate weapons that endanger human life and dignity like no other armaments. Their use as a weapon of war is rejected in Church teaching based on just war norms," Cardinal George wrote. The cardinal cited teaching from both the U.S. bishops and Pope Benedict XVI calling for a world without nuclear weapons.
"Based on a moral imperative to rid the world of nuclear weapons," Cardinal George said, "the Conference of Bishops will be a steadfast supporter of strong and bipartisan action on the new START Treaty as an important and essential step toward a nuclear-weapons-free future."
Cardinal George acknowledged that "the path to a world free of nuclear weapons will be long and difficult," but listed steps that would help, such as ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, securing nuclear materials from terrorists, and strengthening the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor nonproliferation efforts and ensure access to peaceful uses of nuclear power.
The full text of Cardinal George's letter to President Obama can be found online at www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/2010-04-08-let-card-george-pres-obama.pdf. Other resources on nuclear weapons are at www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/nuclear.shtml.
Pax Christi USA Mourns the Passing
of Bishop Leroy Matthiesen
Washington, D.C.—Pax Christi USA mourns the loss of one of its most outspoken and prophetic bishops, Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen, retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo, Texas. Bishop Matthiesen died on Monday, March 22, 2010, after a brief illness. In the summer of 2009, Pax Christi USA honored him as the recipient of the Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Award.
"Bishop Matthiesen was an incredible witness and an inspiration to all of us in Pax Christi USA," stated Dave Robinson, Pax Christi USA Executive Director. "We have lost one of the great voices in the movement to rid the world of nuclear weapons."
In the 1980s, Bishop Matthiesen received what he has said was his own "personal wake-up call" when the Reagan administration announced that Pantex, the factory outside of Amarillo that is the final assembly point of all nuclear weapons in the U.S., would begin assembling neutron bombs. Bishop Matthiesen wrote a column in his diocesan newspaper, asking the people of his diocese to reconsider their continuation at the plant and to seek employment in peaceful pursuits. Because of his stance, he suffered personal attacks and angry denunciations locally and nationally. But his stand for peace also energized the Catholic peace movement and garnered support from the Texas bishops, who ultimately influenced the U.S. bishops in writing their watershed pastoral letter on the nuclear arms race, "The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response."
Bishop Matthiesen's work for justice began in his years as a young parish priest. In the 1950s, he saw first-hand the injustice of racism when a waitress refused to serve one of the young girls with whom he was celebrating a victory following their basketball game because she was black. Fr. Matthiesen decided that the entire group would leave. Later, as editor of the diocesan newspaper, he initiated a series of articles on the racial situation in the Texas Panhandle. The series won an award from the Catholic Press Association, but also engendered the resentment of some white Catholics in the diocese.
"He was a great man, rooted in his belief that it was the responsibility of people of faith and conscience to change the world in which we live," stated Robinson.
Spinning the Bottle: New Food & Water Watch Analysis Scrutinizes Bottled Water Industry's Eco-Friendly Claims
Washington, D.C.—As bottled water sales declined for the first time in twenty years, the bottled water industry accelerated its marketing efforts to "bluewash" bottled water, reveals a new report released today by the consumer advocacy organization Food & Water Watch. Bluewashing: Why the Bottled Water Industry's EcoFriendly Claims Don't Hold Water highlights the ways in which bottled water companies try to market their products as environmentally responsible, while they actually damage the environment.
"The bottled water industry is taking a page from the playbook of big tobacco in promotion of its product," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. "As activists around the world today observe World Water Day, it is especially important to draw attention to these misleading tactics that are distracting consumers from the most responsible water source there is: the tap."
Recent advertising campaigns by bottled water companies such as Nestle, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo have cited their respective contributions to water-related charities as evidence of their commitment to sustainability, yet the bottled water industry has financial incentive to sell as much water as possible. Some 8.7 billion gallons of bottled water were sold in the U.S. in 2008, but their production used an estimated 26 billion gallons of water.
Furthermore, in 2007 Coca-Cola announced plans to go "water neutral" by offsetting its water use in one area by contributing to water conservation efforts in another. Yet reducing water taken from one watershed will not compensate for the loss of water in another.
In 2007, bottled water production in the U.S. used the energy equivalent of 32 to 54 million barrels of oil. In 2006, only one out of every four water bottles in the U.S. was recycled. Responding to negative publicity on these and other environmental impacts, the International Bottle Water Association released information in February of this year highlighting the fact that the average weight of a plastic bottle used by the industry had recently decreased 32.6 percent. Similar public relations efforts have been made at Coca Cola, who recently developed a bottle whose plastic is partially derived from sugar cane rather than petroleum.
"At the end of the day, the bottled water industry's efforts to reduce its use of water and petroleum still do not make its products environmentally-friendly. Improving our nation's water infrastructure systems and safeguarding public access to clean, safe water is the green choice-not bottled water," noted Hauter.
Bluewashing: Why the Bottled Water Industry's EcoFriendly Claims Don't Hold Water is available at www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/report/bluewashing/
Food & Water Watch is a non-profit organization working with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future. Through research, public and policymaker education, media, and lobbying, we advocate policies that guarantee safe, wholesome food produced in a humane and sustainable manner and public, rather than private, control of water resources including oceans, rivers, and groundwater.
Churches launch major humanitarian alliance
The ACT Alliance, bringing together over 100 church-backed relief and development organizations worldwide, has been formally launched on 24 March with celebrations in Geneva and around the world.
The new ACT Alliance is one of the world's largest humanitarian bodies working in 125 countries with a combined budget of 1.5 billion US dollars. It provides emergency food aid, shelter, water and sanitation facilities, and poverty reduction programs in the world's poorest countries.
The new body is a merger of the disaster relief network ACT International and its sister organization ACT Development.
Both ACT International, established in 1995, and ACT Development (2007) were created through the leadership of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The two bodies coordinated the work of agencies related to the member churches of the WCC and the Lutheran World Federation in the areas of humanitarian emergencies and poverty reduction respectively.
Through ACT, the worldwide fellowship of churches has been at the forefront of life-saving work in Haiti since 12 January, the day a massive earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince. On that day nine ACT organizations were operating in Haiti and able to begin relief efforts immediately. ACT's global strength means it was also able to assist survivors of the Chile earthquake six weeks later.
Acts of justice, a form of worship
"The work for another and better world is an intrinsic part of the worship of the Church to God. When we are doing the acts of justice, the acts of peace, and the acts of feeding the hungry we are doing the acts that magnify God, because these acts magnify the dignity of each human being," WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in his sermon at the prayer service at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland, on 24 March.
Tveit added that "the ACT Alliance is a genuine expression of the ecumenical movement, the call to be one so that the world can believe that God is a loving and caring God for all humankind." The service, which was attended by staff of ACT and WCC as well as other humanitarian and church-related organizations, celebrated the formation of the new alliance. The launch was also celebrated by the members of the new alliance with local events on every continent.
The alliance works for the world's poorest people, fighting the causes of human suffering and injustice. ACT members are long-standing organizations already working in the communities. When disaster strikes, these organizations are ready to work and are at the forefront of the emergency response.
At the central event in Geneva, ACT Alliance general secretary John Nduna said the creation of the alliance provides the opportunity "to better link emergency humanitarian assistance and sustainable development."
"When the emergency is over, and the funds run out, churches continue to be present; they are the organization at the end of the street or village, which remains when all others have gone," Nduna pointed out. "The ACT Alliance, with our faith to guide us and the continued support of all our partners and friends to sustain our work, can continue to bring relief to the needy, support to the oppressed and development to the impoverished."
Full text of the WCC general secretary's sermon
CLINIC Applauds Bipartisan Efforts for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
[The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), a subsidiary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is the nation's largest network of charitable immigration services with 173 affiliates in 260 field offices around the country. CLINIC advocates for transparent, fair and generous immigration policies.]
Washington, DC—On March 18, 2010, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC) announced their blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform in The Washington Post. They outlined four pillars of their plan:
- Enhanced security measures, including biometric Social Security cards and an employment verification system for the dual purpose of ensuring that benefits are appropriately distributed and that employers only hire documented workers. Under this framework, employers will be held accountable for failure to comply with these measures.
- Strengthening the country's commitments to border security and a zero tolerance interior enforcement policy for gang members, smugglers, and terrorists. The Schumer Graham plan would also implement an entry-exit system to track individuals who enter on legal visas and report those who overstay.
- A process that would admit additional lower skilled workers to the U.S. when there are jobs available to them and would award green cards to immigrants who receive a PhD or master's in science, technology, engineering or math from a U.S. university
- A tough but fair path to legalization for the estimated 12 million undocumented individuals already living in the United States. Undocumented immigrants would be required to: admit to breaking the law, pay fines and back taxes, perform community service, pass background checks, and demonstrate English proficiency before taking their place at the back of the line for lawful permanent residence.
"We applaud the Senators for their bipartisan efforts on this important issue," said Maria M. Odom, CLINIC's Executive Director.
[Matthew Myers, the author of this piece, is an M.A. student in theology at the Washington Theological Union. He is interning this year in the CMSM Justice and Peace Office.]
Members of Christian faith communities from throughout the nation gather every year for worship, study, and dialogue near Washington, DC, at Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD). This year's convocation was held on March 19-22 and was entitled "A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Persons." Several hundred people of faith participated in this gathering through plenary sessions, numerous issue-specific workshops, table fellowship, and a public rally in support of immigration reform on the National Mall.
Just a few examples of EAD workshops include "People and Policy: A Faith Mandate to Heal a Broken Immigration System", "Global Connections: Understanding the Push and Pull Factors of Migration", "Immigration and Eco-justice Intersect at the U.S./Mexico Border Wall", and "Building the Movement in Your Community." I particularly enjoyed the workshop entitled "AFRICOM and How It Contributes to Migration in Africa," sponsored by the Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN). This workshop powerfully illustrated the devastating effects of persistent military activity on civilian populations and the ensuing migrations of people caused by regional conflicts. Also discussed were the newly established U.S. military command on Africa (AFRICOM), how it contributes to the overall instability of the continent, and growing resentment toward the U.S. among African and European allies due to US military interventions. I deeply appreciate the expert information and first-hand perspective provided by AFJN on U.S. government involvement in Africa because it is a narrative rarely found through contemporary media outlets. I believe this evaluation is true of many EAD speakers and workshops.
As an individual involved in social justice advocacy, I was edified by my experience at EAD. I met so many good people who are working for a more just and peaceful world through various non-profit organizations and religious congregations. Their witness and support help to sustain my spirituality and my work. In particular, it is good for me to occasionally take a broader view and to remind myself that I am not working alone. Indeed I am a small part of a much larger and more diverse movement working for justice. I will continue to offer my small contribution to greater struggle for justice and, with everyone else, will continue to nurture hope for a better tomorrow. For more information about Ecumenical Advocacy Days and/or to inquire about the 2011 gathering, visit the EAD website at www.advocacydays.org.
Consistent Life weekly newsletter
Consistent Life (formerly called Seamless Garment Network) is a network uniting many organizations and individuals who support the consistent ethic of reverence for life. Its mission statement can be found on its web site, where you can also sign up for its new weekly newsletter.
Ways to Celebrate Earth Day - April 22, 2010
The Catholic Climate Covenant: The St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor was launched one year ago, the day before Earth Day. Since then, thousands of Catholic individuals, families, schools, parishes and organizations have pledged to Pray, Learn, Assess, Act and Advocate as part of their commitment. As Earth Day 2010 approaches, you are encouraged to spread the word about the Catholic Climate Covenant and to help generate thousands more pledges. Download and share these "Ways to Celebrate Earth Day" resources with your networks.
Papal Teachings on Economic Justice
A new resource is available on the CMSM web site. New Hampshire attorney Brian T. McDonough compiled Papal Teachings on Economic Justice as a tribute to James Malley, SJ, in whose honor Boston College Law School created the James Malley, SJ, Award For Extraordinary Service.
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