January-February 2012 Mercy justice highlights published every other month
EARTH Investors Release Recommendations for Fracking Mercy Investment Services is one of 40 organizations supporting new investor recommendations for core management goals, best management practices and key performance indicators for natural gas operations in shale formations, the site of hydraulic fracturing. Developed by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and the Investor Environmental Health Network, Extracting the Facts: An Investor Guide to Disclosing Risks from Hydraulic Fracturing Operations responds to corporations’ desire for clarity in investors’ expectations.
Concerns Expressed About Mining Lawsuit As participants in a D.C.-based working group on the extractives industry, the Sisters of Mercy are concerned about any precedents that restrict local communities’ rights in favor of mining companies. The Institute Justice Team was therefore alarmed to learn that a global mining corporation, Pacific Rim, is suing El Salvador under the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) rather than complying with the country’s environmental permitting process. The IJT signed onto a letter of solidarity with the communities that have been working through the democratic process to prevent the company’s proposed cyanideleach gold mining project, over fears that it threatens to poison the local community’s environment as well as the country’s most important river and source of water. You can read here about examples of Mercy’s work on the extractives industry.
Awakening the Dreamer Experience to be Deepened The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas’ Extended Justice Team (XJT) -- made up of the justice coordinators from each of the six geographic communities and members of the Institute Justice Team and Institute Leadership Liaisons -- drafted at its annual meeting a plan to further and deepen the experience of Awakening the Dreamer. They learned that more than 5,000 people have participated in the workshops through the Sisters of Mercy, and dozens of facilitators have been trained and adapted the presentation for audiences ranging from middle school to retirement centers, parishes to classrooms. The plan calls for a menu of programs appropriate for a diversity of audiences and settings. Program ideas include retreats based on Awakening the Dreamer themes, short educational modules culled from the Awakening the Dreamer materials, and action ideas for Mercy institution boards and staff and school classes.
Moving Mercy Targets Consumption Moving Mercy, an initiative of the West Midwest Community, most recently highlighted ways of changing consumption patterns to be intentional about caring for Earth and using resources. Examples include ethical consumption, which stresses the role of the consumer in preventing the exploitation of women and children in sweatshop factories overseas and considering the environmental costs of production. Another example is collaborative consumption, which includes traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting and swapping -- sometimes through the Internet and other technological means.
IMMIGRATION Leadership Thanks Bishops for Immigration Stance The Institute Leadership Team sent letters of gratitude and support to 33 Hispanic-Latino U.S. bishops and to the bishops of Wisconsin for their stance on immigration. The Hispanic-Latino bishops signed a statement expressing pastoral concern for undocumented immigrants and a commitment to work to fix our nation’s broken immigration system. The Wisconsin bishops wrote “Traveling Together in Hope,” a pastoral letter on immigration.
Midwest Sisters Promote Welcoming Communities
The Sisters of Mercy of the West Midwest joined nine congregations of women religious sponsoring a series of billboards across Iowa that proclaim Mathew 25:35. The congregations, who form Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi River Valley, also issued a statement calling on Congress and President Obama to make progress on just and humane immigration reform. You may read here an article on the initiative written by Sister Emily Devine of Mason City, Iowa.
Cincinnati Convent Assists Refugees McAuley Convent in Cincinnati is welcoming refugees through a work experience program in collaboration with Catholic Refugee Resettlement Services. Interactions with co-workers and sisters help the refugees develop language and work skills. “We want to hire them to help them get a job history,” says Sister Judy Gradel, director of McAuley Convent. Of the 56 full-time and part-time co-workers, seven are refugees from Rwanda, Bhutan, Liberia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Some have been working at McAuley Convent for as long as six years.
Vermont Sister Applauds Governor for Policy Sister Lucille Bonvouloir wrote to Gov. Peter Sumlin to affirm his “look the other way" policy on undocumented immigrants and share with him the Mercy stance on immigration. The new policy states that the Vermont State Police should not try to identify people whose only suspected
violation is that they are present in the United States without proper documentation. "Vermont farmers can't survive without workers from outside America," Shumlin said. Sister Lucille received a reply from the governor’s office, which expressed gratitude for the Sisters’ support and for the good work of the Mercy community in Vermont.
NON-VIOLENCE Shawl Ministry Promotes Healing The Sisters of Mercy Prayer Shawl Ministry in Pittsburgh has been asked by the Western Pennsylvania Fraternal Police Benevolent Society to provide shawls and prayers for the families of officers who have been injured or killed in action. The officers have presented 50 shawls in the past two months to the families. The presenting officers and families find this a healing experience.
Pray for Those Executed and Their Victims There were 4 state-sponsored executions in November 2011 of people convicted of murder. We invite you to pray for those executed, their victims and all of their family members. You may find here a list of those executed and their victims, and the state in which they were executed.
Honduran Associate Inspires at SOA Watch Rally
The Institute Justice Team invited Nelly del Cid, a Mercy Associate from Honduras, to come to the annual vigil calling for the closing of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as the School of the Americas). She spoke passionately about the struggle for human rights in Honduras throughout the weekend: at the annual Pax Christi gathering, at a “teach in” for the Mercy family, as part of a SOA Watch panel discussion and during the main rally outside the gates of Fort Benning, GA., the home of WHINSEC. She writes about the experience here. She was among about 30 Sisters, Associates, students, Mercy Volunteer Corps members and co-workers who participated in the weekend. Among them was Sister Michelle Gorman (in photo), a member of the West Midwest leadership team who
delivered a statement of solidarity to the gathering.
POVERTY NETWORK Seeks Videos from Young Adults
NETWORK, the social justice lobby that the Sisters of Mercy work closely with on justice advocacy and education, is inviting 18- through 25year-olds as part of its Mind the Gap! campaign to create a short video (5 minutes or less) demonstrating why wealth disparity in the United States is an issue for all of us. Winners will receive a trip to Washington, D.C., to showcase their video at NETWORK’s 40th anniversary celebration.
Educational Conference Calls Offered South Central Justice Director Rose Marie Tresp organized two social justice-oriented conference calls for Sisters, Associates and co-workers this past fall. The first one focused on developing a just framework for the federal budget, with Anne Curtis from the Mercy Institute Leadership Team and Kathy Saile, director of the Office of Domestic Social Development for the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops. The second one focused on growing income inequality, with NETWORK and Mercy Ministries of Laredo, TX.
Joplin Hospital Keeps Workers Employed St. John’s Regional Medical Center (now known as St. John’s Mercy Hospital) in Joplin, MO, made a commitment to keep its 2,200-member workforce employed after a May 2011 tornado destroyed the hospital and a quarter of the town. Most of the commitment was fulfilled through a talent-sharing program with more than 30 companies, which provided employees with meaningful work and their regular hospital hourly wage, and Mercy covered benefits and travel and housing expenses for those who took jobs further away. Administrators said that they learned from the experience of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when many healthcare professionals left the city and never returned, and they expect that St. John’s commitment will encourage most workers to return when they are needed.
Rochester Interfaith Group Supports Occupy Principles The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester (TIAR) commended the Occupy Movement and two other groups that are focusing public conversation on corporations having too much influence over governmental policies that are not in the interests of the people and are increasing the income disparity between the top very rich 1% and the other 99%, especially the millions of unemployed and poor Americans among them. Sister Gratia L’Esperance is a member of the TIAR board and is a past board president.
Preserving Food Sovereignty Critical The principles of food sovereignty must be followed if people are to retain their right to decide what food they consume and how they produce it in this age of global agribusiness, Sister Ana Maria Siufi writes in the recent newsletter of the CCCASA (Caribbean, Central and South America) community. She suggests, among other things, promoting cheap and clean energy, consuming locally produced food, safeguarding seeds, rejecting speculation on seeds and foods, and educating people about the need to not be captive consumers of monopolistic corporations.
WOMEN Addressing Human Trafficking at the Super Bowl The Coalition for Corporate Responsibility for Indiana and Michigan (CCRIM) will be contacting over 200 hotels in the Indianapolis area prior to the Super Bowl on February 5. Since major sporting events are associated with increased trafficking activity, they will ask the hotels if they provide training for staff on the issue of human trafficking and if they have procedures in place for staff to report suspected instances of trafficking. They will also offer information on local resources that are prepared to respond to the needs of trafficking victims and ask if the hotel would be willing to make information on human trafficking available to their guests. The former Detroit Regional Community was a founding member of CCRIM. The Sisters of Mercy now belong to CCRIM through Mercy Investment Services. Several Sisters of Mercy will be contacting some of the hotels. All of Mercy is invited to pray daily through Feb. 5 for an end to human trafficking.
Marriott Asked to Sign Code of Conduct In December at a gathering of NyPPaW Sisters of Mercy and Associates at the Marriott Hotel in Erie, 120 letters were signed asking the corporation to sign onto the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.
Workshops to Lead to Network Against Human Trafficking Mercy Sisters in the Caribbean, Central America and South America are participating in training workshops organized through the International Network of Consecrated Life Against Human Trafficking, in collaboration with the International Organization of Migration. They hope eventually to help form a Caribbean and Central American network against human trafficking. Read the CCASA newsletter, page14, to learn more.
Mercy Addresses Human Trafficking Globally Reg McKillip of the Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team is participating in a new committee on human trafficking organized by Mercy International Association. The task force aims to join Sisters of Mercy around the world in efforts to combat human trafficking and to educate people about this form of modern day slavery.
ARISE Empowers Women in Texas ARISE, a grassroots organization of women for women in the colonias of south Texas, was founded by a Sister of Mercy and is now a ministry sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, the Daughters of Charity and the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. You may read more about the latest activities in the organization’s recent newsletters.
PROMOTING CRITICAL CONCERNS “Mercy Justice” T-shirts Available The Institute Justice Team has ordered more Mercy for Justice T-shirts. They are available in both English and Spanish. The cost is $10 each, plus postage. To order a shirt or shirts, email justice@sistersofmercy.org
Social studies teacher Jessica Robinson greets Sister Deirdre Mullan at the new center
High School Launches Global Education Center Mercy High School in Baltimore school culminated more than a decade of education for global awareness with the opening of its new Center for Global Education to facilitate the integration of global education across the curricula and to serve as a resource for students’ resource projects. The announcement of the formation of the Center took place during a special assembly marking the 180th anniversary of the founding of the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland. Sister Deirdre Mullan, former director of Mercy Global Concern at the United Nations, was the day’s main speaker.
MERCY ADVOCACY UPDATES Mercy Voice Heard on Unemployment, Amendment A few hundred Mercy advocates contacted Congress before the holiday adjournment to call for extending unemployment insurance (UI) and rejecting a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA). 294 people wrote their Senators against the BBA 296 people wrote to their members of Congress on unemployment, which was extended, along with the payroll tax cut, for another two months with hopes of an extension of another 10 months when Congress reconvenes in January
SUGGESTED RESOURCES Book Group to Discuss World on the Edge Sisters in Omaha are planning on discussing Lester Brown’s book World on the Edge, which explores the environmental, economic, social and political factors at work today that could tip the balance between chaos or a brighter future. Click here for access to a free slideshow presentation that summarizes the book’s contents.
Trying to Understand Climate Change Deniers A Quaker social justice educator reflects on an article that explains, in part, why some people are so set against making changes to address climate change. Her piece is one of the articles posted once or twice a week on the website maintained by Faith, Economy, Ecology Transformation, a coalition that includes the Institute Justice Team.
Bioneering as a Follow-Up to Awakening the Dreamer Some Awakening the Dreamer facilitators suggest that people who have participated in the workshops might like to learn more about bioneers, visionaries who look at applying nature’s operating instructions and wisdom from indigenous cultures to contemporary life. The National Catholic Reporter’s EcoCatholic blog features bioneering, including mention of workshops offered by a Catholic priest and IHM Sisters.
SAVE THE DATES SOA Watch Days of Action SOA Watch is hosting a week of trainings, strategy sessions and legislative advocacy to get anti-militarization on the national agenda. The Days of Action include a skills training camp, strategy sessions for the election year and meetings with members of Congress to urge them to co-sponsor HR 3368, which calls for closing the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as the School of the Americas). SOA Watch particularly invites college students to participate.
April 2012 Immigration Conference The publishers of National Catholic Reporter are hosting a conference in Tucson April 11-13, 2012, for pastors, preachers, liturgists and social activists. The conference, "Eucharist Without Borders: God's Welcoming Table and Comprehensive Immigration Reform," acknowledges that
the Church cannot celebrate Eucharist and ignore the plight of undocumented immigrants. It will make evident that what happens in worship is directly linked to what happens on our nation's borders and in our communities. They are offering a special rate for Mercy Sisters.
Ecumenical Advocacy Days The Sisters of Mercy are among the co-sponsors of this annual gathering. March 23-26, that examines social justice issues through the lens of faith. This year’s conference will explore the economy and the budget through theologically grounded presentations and workshops on topics that cover dozens of topics including the privatization of prisons, the moral implications of mountaintop removal and hydrofracking, modernday slavery and the extractive industry, and alternatives to Wall Street capitalism. Participants also will learn about effective advocacy and get the chance to meet with their members of Congress or congressional staff.
ADVOCACY TIP: Responding to Legislators’ Replies Many people express dissatisfaction with the form responses they receive from their legislators after sending a message about an issue. A seasoned advocate suggests that you continue the conversation with a follow-up letter or email message with additional questions and concerns to let the legislator know that you are paying attention. It might be appropriate in some cases to let the legislator know that the response you received didn’t answer your questions.
Tell Us How You are Working on the Critical Concerns Please send newsletter items and photos to Marianne Comfort of the Institute Justice Team at mcomfort@sistersofmercy.org Also, read the Institute blog and check out the Sisters of Mercy Facebook page to learn more about what’s going on in Mercy.