October 2009

	Prominent Christian Leaders Support Comprehensive Middle East Peace   Hopes for the Second African Synod   Solidarity with the People of Iraq:  Statement of Pax Christi International Delegation to Iraq [excerpts]   U.S.-Mexico Border Crossing Deaths Are A Humanitarian Crisis   "Yes Africa Matters" Website Announced   NCC commitment to nuclear disarmament   New website of Promotio Iustitiae

Prominent Christian Leaders Support Comprehensive Middle East Peace

We come from varied ethnic backgrounds and religious faiths that are diverse.   We are Democrats and Republicans.  We are veterans of war and of the struggle for peace.  Together, we are all Americans.

We find common cause in supporting strong U.S. leadership to achieve a negotiated, sustainable resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - a fundamental American interest that crosses racial, ethnic and religious lines.

We support President Obama's determination to provide sustained, hands-on diplomatic leadership to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end through the creation of two viable, secure and independent states living side by side in peace and security.

This is a moment of great opportunity and urgency.  After decades of tragic conflict, many Israelis and Palestinians despair of the possibility of peace.  While the international community and majorities of the Israeli and Palestinian people are committed to a two-state solution as the best option for achieving peace and security, the window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

We express our support for U.S. leadership to chart a path to a better future and to the following principles:

• We support both Israel's right to exist in security and the right of the Palestinian people to a viable, sovereign and secure state of their own.
• A peace agreement will need to fulfill UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and resolve critical issues of importance to the parties including refugees, borders, Jerusalem, settlements, and security.
• The Israelis and Palestinians, however, have not - on their own - been able to reach agreement.  After nearly two decades of negotiations, we believe bold American leadership can help Israelis and Palestinians make the difficult decisions necessary to achieve lasting peace and hold the parties to account should they fail to honor their commitments.
• We support the sense of real urgency that the President brings to the issue and his determination to reach a negotiated resolution to the conflict during his first term in office.
• At the appropriate time, we will support the Administration if it decides to present proposals for a just and equitable solution that provides dignity, security and sovereignty for both peoples.
• Finally, we believe a peace agreement should be comprehensive - encompassing Syria and Lebanon as well as normalization of relations between Israel and the countries of the Arab world.  We support the idea of a comprehensive regional peace that builds on the Arab Peace Initiative, with its offer of recognition and normalization of relations between Israel and all Arab nations in exchange for resolution of all outstanding issues.

Both sides must take steps to move the process forward, and we support the President's efforts to end Israeli settlement growth and to halt Palestinian violence and incitement. It is now time to move to the next stage of diplomacy and to address the tough issues that must be resolved to bring this conflict to an end.

There are many who will attempt to block the path to peace.  They may believe that the status quo favors their interests or that time is on their side.  The President should know that we understand the status quo is unsustainable and time is of the essence.  We will stand with him as he promotes a fair and just resolution to this long-standing conflict and asks all parties to make the difficult but ultimately necessary compromises for peace.

We pledge to work with the President, to forge the path to peace and security for the Middle East.  We also pledge to work with those in both societies who seek peace, justice, and security, and to stand up for those who hope for a better future for themselves and for the generations that follow.

[The letter was signed by 29 religious and secular leaders, including Rev. Theodore Hesburg, CSC, Bishop Howard Hubbard, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. A complete list of signatories is available here.]

Hopes for the Second African Synod
By Peter Henriot, SJ

[The following article appears in the September 2009 issue of Hakimani, the e-newsletter of the Jesuit Hakimani Center, a peace and justice center in East Africa. Fr. Peter Henriot, SJ, is the director of the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection, Lusaka, Zambia.]

When some 200-plus bishops and advisers from all over Africa gather in Rome in October, a special focus will be on how the Catholic Church can best serve the people of this continent. The Second African Synod (officially called the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops) meets October 4-25, with the theme "The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace: 'You are the Salt of the Earth. You are the Light of the World' (Matthew 5: 13-14).

Preparations - Preparations for the Synod have been going on for the past three years, with efforts of mixed success to involve a cross section of Catholics to explore the significance of the theme and its implications for theological reflection and pastoral practices. I say "mixed success" because in many dioceses and parishes much activity has gone on and in many others very little activity.

In 2006, a set of discussion guidelines (in Latin, Lineamenta) was circulated to prompt early conversations about the theme, inviting an "examination of conscience" about our life as "family of God." The results of these conversations were then communicated to the Vatican for preparation of the agenda (Instrumentum Laboris) to focus the debates of the Synod. When Pope Benedict XVI visited Cameroon in May, he presented the agenda with a call for reflection and prayer to engage all of us in this important event.

Personally, I am struck by the relevance of the agenda topics to the life of the Church in Africa. There is an honest reflection on the difficulties of implementation of the First African Synod (1994), with clear recognition that many parts of Africa have in the past decade been severely wracked by armed conflicts and ineffective governance. The concrete experience of the Church in relating to this challenging situation is sketched with obvious questions regarding the effectiveness of our responses.

Challenges - Of many points that can be emphasized about the significance of Synod debates and decisions, here are three that seem to me to be very important: First, is the necessary formation that needs to be done in the church social teaching (CST) across all of the Church bishops, clergy, religious, laity. There still is too much ignorance of the content of the CST and/or reluctance to take seriously its call for prophetic stances by everyone in the Church. Many lay people, including those in important positions of government and business; simply do not know about the CST because many priests and pastoral leaders have never communicated its content and challenge in homilies, workshops, catechetical programs, etc.

Second, priority is to put high emphasis upon promotion of the dignity of women in both Church and society. As the agenda clearly notes, "Women and the laity in general are not fully integrated in the Church’s structures of responsibility and the planning of her pastoral programs." Anti-evangelical cultural and ecclesial attitudes, patterns and structures must be challenged head on by the Synod if any true reconciliation is to be possible.

Third, priority that Synod discussion and decision must address is something which is surprisingly absent from the agenda. This is the topic of environmental concern touching issues such as climate change (global warming), ecological integrity, life-style adjustments, and industrial pollution by new investors coming to the Continent (e.g., in the extractives sector). Aside from one passing reference to multinational corporations’ not paying adequate attention to the environment, this topic that is so much in the forefront of problems in Africa is not explored. Surely, the actual Synod deliberations will take up the topic!

Solidarity with the People of Iraq:  Statement of Pax Christi International Delegation to Iraq [excerpts]

An international Pax Christi delegation visited Iraq with the generous welcome and assistance of Patriarch Cardinal Emanuel Delly; Bishop Rabban Al-Kass, Chaldean Bishop of Amadya-Shamkan and Erbil; Bishop Louis Sako, Chaldean Bishop of Kirkuk; Bishop Georges Casmoussa, Syriac Bishop of Mosul and Qaraqosh; Father Nageeb Mikhail, OP; the Chaldean Seminary in Erbil and many other religious leaders and representatives of civil society groups in the north of Iraq.

The situation for the Iraqi people is very uncertain and more violence is expected in the period leading up to the elections in January 2010. On the one hand are forces that are aggravating divisions along ethnic and religious lines; on the other are those who promote dialogue, understanding, reconciliation and non-violence. 

The delegation encountered many good examples of work for peace. The extraordinary efforts among religious leaders in the oil city of Kirkuk made it possible for them to visit Sunni and Shiite mosques and to interact with Muslim leaders. In Dohuk they learned about the program of Bishop Rabban’s coeducational, interreligious International School which brings together Muslims, Christians, Yezidie and Turkman to provide a base of human values and an introduction to human rights. They learned from the Dominican sisters of Mosul about their commitment to peace education at a primary level and met dedicated health care professionals in Kirkuk who serve Muslims and Christians alike. In Erbil the delegation met with Iraqi Non-Violence group LaOnf, an Iraqi nongovernmental organization building a network on nonviolence.

Christians and other minority groups continue to feel threatened in Iraq and to leave the country. This fact is of deep concern to many people the delegation met, who believe that reconciliation is the way forward and that the loss to Iraq of the Christian community, which was established there in the second century, would be a great tragedy. At the same time, the delegation was told that the conflict in Iraq is political rather than religious, with violence erupting over the balance of power. Minority groups are faced with the choices to join the struggle for power, to remain neutral or to work for a society where everybody has a place.

Finally, they heard from many people about the destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure during the first Gulf War that had still not been repaired and about the impact of the long-lasting harsh sanctions that punished ordinary people.  They were told that the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 destroyed security and created many new problems for the Iraqi people. The delegation agrees with the Iraqi non-violence network that refuses occupation and war as a way to build democracy and establish rule of law, even when it is presented as the only possible option.

Pax Christi International is enormously grateful to the Christian bishops and communities as well as the civil society of the region for their warm welcome and excellent hospitality and remains committed to the original goals of this important Pax Christi delegation to Iraq: to express solidarity with all Iraqi people; to gain a better understanding of Iraq’s complex reality; and to propose concrete actions that support the ongoing efforts of Iraqi people for peace and reconciliation in their country based on what was seen and heard.

U.S.-Mexico Border Crossing Deaths Are A Humanitarian Crisis

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - September 30 - U.S., Mexican and international officials must recognize the deaths of migrants occurring during unauthorized crossings of the U.S.-Mexican border as an international humanitarian crisis and respond with reforms that make human life a priority, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties and Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH). The report, Humanitarian Crisis: Migrant Deaths at the U.S.-Mexico Border, finds that border deaths have increased despite fewer unauthorized crossings due to the economic downturn.

The release of the report marks the 15th anniversary of the border enforcement policy Operation Gatekeeper that concentrated border agents and added walls and fencing along populated areas, intentionally forcing migrants to hostile environments and natural barriers that increase the incidence of injury and death.

"The current policies in place on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have created a humanitarian crisis that has led to the deaths of more than 5,000 people," said Kevin Keenan, Executive Director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. "Because of deadly practices and policies like Operation Gatekeeper, the death toll continues to rise unabated despite the decrease in unauthorized crossings due to economic factors."

The report analyzes deadly border enforcement policies and practices and their impact on individuals, families and communities and offers concrete recommendations to significantly decrease and possibly end the humanitarian crisis at the border.
Some of the report's major findings include:

• Border deaths have increased despite the economic downturn, fewer migrant crossers and a steady drop in apprehensions.
• In the last 15 years, the deaths occurring during unauthorized border crossings have been a predictable and inhumane outcome of border-security policies like Operation Gatekeeper.
• Migrants' risk of death during unauthorized crossings has increased in spite of government programs that attempt to reduce the harmful effects of border enforcement policies and strategies.
• The ongoing deaths of migrants have exposed government incompliance with international law obligations in the treatment of the dead and their families.
• Since Operation Gatekeeper went into effect in 1994, an estimated 5,600 migrants have died while attempting unauthorized border crossings. In response to government failures to prevent migrant deaths, many organizations have set up water stations, desert medical camps, humanitarian-aid patrols and other rescue and recovery operations in an attempt to save lives along the U.S.-Mexican border area. As the report details, these activities have been increasingly met with government opposition and punishment.

"By any measure, Operation Gatekeeper is a failure. It didn't reduce unauthorized border crossings, the economy did. It has, however, cost thousands of people their lives," said Andrea Guerrero, Field and Policy Director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. "Instead of policies that foster fatalities, we need sensible, humane immigration and border policies that prioritize human life over death."

The report recommends actions that the U.S. and Mexican governments should take to protect and advance the human right to life of migrants, including:

• Recognize border crossing deaths as an international humanitarian crisis.
• Adopt sensible, humane immigration and border policies.
• Shift more U.S. Border Patrol resources to search and rescue.
• Support nongovernmental humanitarian efforts at the border.
• Direct government agencies to allow humanitarian organizations to do their work to save lives and recover remains.
• Establish a binational, one-stop resource for rescue and recovery calls and convene all data collecting agencies to develop a uniform system.
• Invite international involvement.

Javier Garcia, whose testimony about his brother who died while crossing the border is featured in the report, said, "I hope that my brother's case is taken as an example of what should not happen, that things change."

"Yes Africa Matters" Website Announced

The Catholic Task Force on Africa announces the new website www.yesafricamatters.org.  The Task Force uses the occasion of the Second Special Assembly for Africa, popularly known as the Second African Synod of Bishops, to offer this website.  The Synod will take place in Rome from October 4th to 25th in Rome.  The theme of the upcoming Synod is "The Church in Africa in service to reconciliation, justice, and peace:  You are the salt of the earth you are the light of the world."

As an exercise in solidarity with the Church in Africa, the Task Force provides this website as a one-stop shop.  On the site there is some background on the connections that exist between our churches and peoples, our shared values, the presence of Africa Diaspora here, and the many partnerships and twinning relationships that bind the USA and Africa. There is a listing of the many missionary communities from the USA that are present in Africa as well as a section that focuses on the Synod itself. It is hoped that there will be reflections from the Churches on the continent as the Synod nears.  There are also resources and links with universities and other advocacy groups that can help readers better their understanding of and engagement with Africa.

With this website the hope is to put flesh on the two feet of Catholic Social Outreach:  informing people of ways to exercise direct service/outreach to those in Africa as well as advocacy for systemic social change.

Put simply, Yes, Africa Matters! The more people know and share can only strengthen that belief. If after reviewing this website you have comments or additional contributions or links,  send these  to Fr. Rocco Puopolo (director@afjn.org).

NCC commitment to nuclear disarmament

New York, September 22, 2009 -- The National Council of Churches, which has been relatively silent about nuclear disarmament since the end of the Cold War, has firmly renewed its opposition to proliferation with a ringing resolution.

The NCC Governing Board, meeting here September 21 and 22, unanimously adopted a statement called, "Nuclear Disarmament: The Time is Now." The resolution was drafted by the Council's Justice and Advocacy Commission.

The resolution quotes Jonathan Granoff, author of "The Fire Next Time: Faith and the Future of Nuclear Weapons" in Reflections. "Nuclear weapons are of no value against terrorists, they're suicidal to use against a country that has them, and it's patently immoral to use against a country that doesn't have them," Granoff declares. "So why do we have them?"

"True security and authentic freedom," the resolution states, "derive only from our sovereign Creator."

The resolution calls on NCC member communions to make their voices heard in Congress and the White House to "reaffirm the goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons."

Communions are also urged to support the work of the NCC "in carrying out an effective program advocating for nuclear disarmament."

The NCC resolution will be shared with the Board of Directors of Church World Service. If the board approves it, the resolution will come before the NCC/CWS General Assembly November 10-12 in Minneapolis for action as a General Assembly resolution.

The full text of the NCC resolution is here.

New website of Promotio Iustitiae

The new website of Promotio Iustitiae, the journal of the Social Justice Secretariat of the Society of Jesus, was launched on 15 July 2009:

www.sjweb.info/sjs/pjnew/index.cfm?LangTop=1.

It includes a search engine, RSS feed, and archive of past issues. You can read the full version as well as the single articles online ("Read online") or offline ("Download pdf").  Subscribe to the newsletter to receive all future issues by email.

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