Saturday, July 4, 2026
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Young People Invited to be the Next Generation of Nobel Peace Laureates Because The World Can Not Afford War
The
world can no longer afford war. The newly released Global Peace
Index 2026 reveals that we are at a critical point and things are
getting worse. In terms of building peace in the world, the US ranks 134
out of 163 countries in the world. This is the time to encourage young people in the heroic work of
building compassion, justice, and peace in the world.
They
can begin getting to know other young people through participating and/or
presenting in the CFC Global
Youth Conference 2026 - Radical Compassion in Action for Justice
Young
people about 15 to 35 years old are invited to be with about 30 Nobel Peace
Laureates Dec. 2 to 4, 2026, in Rome at the Nobel Peace
Summit and to learn from these ordinary people who grew to do
extraordinary things in the world.
Sister
Martha Ann Kirk now has part time job with the Charter for Compassion as the Coordinator of Compassionate
Colleges and Universities Initiatives. The Charter has a partnership with the
Nobel Peace Laureates Secretariat which wishes to educate youth as much as possible.
She
is to recruit 30 to 70 young people to be with about 30 Laureates for three
days and learn. We do not have funding for the young people to get there, but we are
giving them what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity of LEARNING FROM
LAUREATES. You can say thatis is expensive to go to Rome, but it is
only a tiny fraction of what we are spending and will spend on war. A glimpse
of the cost of war. Things
are getting worse. Global Peace
Index 2026.
Please
contact Sr. Martha Ann who will be happy to explain more. Write kirk@uiwtx.edu and a virtual meeting can be
arranged or call 210-883-5934.
Get information on the CFC Global Youth Conference 2026 - Radical Compassion in Action for Justice
July Events World Day Against Human Trafficking
Bio-Psycho Social Vulnerability in Child Trafficking
Webinar on July 29 at 1 PM - 5 PM ET
This workshop will provide an extremely comprehensive view into the developmental etiology of child trafficking, demonstrating how the development of certain infant attachment experiences can lead to subsequent juvenile trafficking vulnerability, and how traffickers fulfill the inherent social-emotional deficits to trauma bond with and exploit youth.
Safety and Planning with Trafficked Youth
Webinar on July 30 1 - 4 PM ET
Safety plans are integral to optimizing safety at every stage for survivors of trafficking and youth at-risk of sexual exploitation. This workshop will discuss the importance of safety planning WITH youth and provide strategies to encourage them to take ownership of and participate in the development of their own personalized plans.
More on the Webinars here
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by United Nations here
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Innovative Options for Community Violence Reduction by Texas Impact
Date: July 1, 2026
Time: - Link: Zoom Link
Calendar: featured event, SCEvents
Eddie Franz is the featured speaker. He is the Jail to Jobs' Executive Director. It is a non-profit organization based in Austin to empower youth working or hoping for justice in Central Texas leading to purposeful and meaningful life after incarceration.
More here:
https://texasimpact.org/events/innovative-options-for-community-violence-reduction/
Sunday, June 28, 2026
Q & A with a Sister
In the light of the upcoming 4th of July which is United States of America Independence, this article is an invitation to reflect on the conditions of the oppressed group of people in our society and the world, where human rights are stripped off or dismissed, and how the domination, supremacy, and oppression still exist in our world today. How are the American people with advanced technology, rich in lessons from the past and rich in resources helping our neighbors to be free or our neighboring country to be free or be an instrument of freedom?
She is the Congregational Coordinator of Justice and Peace. Similar to what other women religious, Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) advocates, she gives the voice to the vulnerable often in the fringes, forgotten, abused, dismissed or abandoned. She brings the awareness into public and invites people into action to end the systemic injustice in many forms.
Let us ponder on her words and pray what is God inviting us to do:
What are you working on these days Sister Kari, any interesting insights on Pennsylvania's JPIC?
Similar to Texas, Pennsylvania also has concerns on environmental issues caused by fracking that is everywhere. There used to be coal mining in Baden.There are only a handful of parishes that are connected in Baden. There is a good collaboration among these parishes to abolish death penalty. There is a moratorium on death penalty in Pennsylvania.
Note: Pennsylvania is among the states that has a moratorium on Death Penalty since the previous Governor Tom Wolfe and similarly Governor Josh Shapiro issues reprieve on any death penalty on his desk. Refer to https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/pennsylvania
What are your thoughts and works of JPIC?
The work of JPIC is so big and is overwhelming. The question is, what can we fix right here? Benzene leaks from the collaboration?
Can you tell us about your work on systemic change in your region?
I collaborate by attending public meeting and hearing. I am testifying, writing testimony, and have someone lead the advocacy.We have a lay person who is 96 y.o. in assisted living, she does a lot of writing. She was instrumental or she started the non-violence movement five or six years ago.One of the advocacies that I am working on is the abolishment of Death Penalty. I meet with the collaborative to discuss the alternative to Death Penalty which is 1st Wednesday of the month with Sister Helen Prejan.The house and senate are split in passing this bill through the House Judiciary Committee among the Democrat Governor and the Republican Senator.Note: After the interview with Sister Kari, there are latest news on how this Death Penalty and Life Sentencing are changing in Pennsylvania.
Environment and the Vulnerable
There is an ICE presence in Pennsylvania. There are 14 people who recently got picked up in Ambridge. I know there are thousands picked up in Chicago.
What program do you have for vulnerable or how do you support them?
We have a house for the vulnerable as an outreach. It is a community center since 2014. We only work on online ministry right now.I still work once a week in the hospital and then work on JPIC causes in other days of the week. I accompany people to Washington jail or bring them to the ICE office. I pray and accompany them.Latinos are the target. They are getting picked up. I am white so I am safe in going to the Latino stores. I buy their products because there are less Latinos in these stores. Even Chinese or certain group of people like of colored people are picked up.It is important to know your rights. We have Bail funds for the vulnerable.What is the importance of accompanying them? I accompany them to court for safety to make sure what happened to them.
How are the migrants in ICE building in Pittsburg?
After four hours, they get transported to other states. The challenge is to ask ourselves, what is our capacity? How can we collaborate to end the oppression of what started since the US Civil War.
War is not over. We never really resolved the Civil War. People who got enslaved in the past are similar to what is happening now. The slaves in the past were not paid, similar to the vulnerable of today. In the past, there was enslavement in the South while the north residents do not want Black. In Saint Louis, the town was burned down. There was a Black Town in Tulsa OK where Black people were hated and the town was burned down.The South Carolina has black and white heroes (during the civil war).Juneteenth in Texas shows the domination (mentality).JPIC also works on the Indigenous Cosmology Decolonization. If you see, Sister Kari is raised in white Supremacist culture where whites are worth more than others. With this culture, domination disregard the others than considering mutual care.
How can we have mutual care?Shift the relationship with power, time, and it will become care with relationship.
How do you change a culture (American domination culture)?
There is a need for ecological conversion. We need environmental lawyers. Scientists and lawyers cannot fix this. This is a theological problem.As women religious, quoting church documents (to raise awareness), can be helpful. We can learn from Lyla Jean Johnston from New Mexico. As Lyla shared, human are keystone species. Nature is pristine while human is spoiler. But both thrive if they are in the right relationship and vice versa.Talking about shifting the relationship, we can learn from the Braiding Sweetgrass.
How is your advocacy for sustainability? I heard you are driving an electric car. What is your experience like?
I always check the map before going on traveling for a long trip. My agenda is to find charging. The NACS fast charging is great. There is a converter from NACS to CCS. Our cars are not Tesla for a reason. Our maintenance also checked for me about the electric consumption and that we did not have much electric bill on these chargers.Our congregation has now seven electric cars out of 60 so about 10% of our fleet. Our congregation hosts a charging station with the help of a grant. Half of our congregation is active traveling and the other half is not.
What do you advise for those who are interested in electric car for sustainability, cutting down on carbon footprint?
Make sure that the first person to drive the electric car really wants to drive it as she will shape the experience for the rest. I can also suggest that if your congregation is not ready for electric, use hybrid.
Relevant Articles on similar topic on Death Penalty in Pennsylvannia:
Relevant Articles on the burning of Saint Louis:
Relevant Article on Tulsa OK Massacre:
Relevant Article on North and South Carolina:
About Dr. Lyla June:
Saturday, June 27, 2026
Catholic Climate Covenant Webinar: Climate Communications to Empower Action
A webinar from the two Climate Communication Experts. From this session, it is with hope that the following will help in how to get the message about the Climate Crisis and Actions. This webinar is with the Catholic Climate Covenant.
- The use of storytelling to empower individuals
- How storytelling can be an effective tool to empower climate action and climate solutions.
- Effective communication with the church leadership and members on bringing the message across climate action and sustainability.
Learn about the panelist and more here.
1) Joshua Ettinger, Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication 2) Stylianos Syropoulos, Director, Intergenerational Decisions and Effective Action (IDEA) Lab, and Assistant Professor, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University
Here is the Webinar Recording from Catholic Climate Covenant:
More on the Catholic Climate Covenant:
https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/about/
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
The Secrets of the Killing State through Lethal Injection
Who does not want peace? Deep in the humanity’s heart, we know the truth. Nobody wants violence, war, inequality, and greed. When we tend to lean on these injustices, we become far from the truth. We are created in the image and likeness of God
Do you like to work for Justice and Peace? Do you like to learn more about what you are advocating for? Know what stories are being created and the support that your taxes are going to. Learn the stories of our society and advocate for the truth. Advocate for peace.
The TCADP Book Group will meet tomorrow, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at 7:00 PM Central Time to discuss Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection with Corinna Barrett Lain.
Contact the Texas Coalition for Abolition of Death Penalty staff: Ms Kristin Houle Cuellar
kristina@tcadp.org
Executive Director of TCDAP
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
www.tcadp.org
kristina@tcadp.org
Executive Director of TCDAP
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
www.tcadp.org
@TCADPdotORG
Friday, June 19, 2026
Magnifica Humanitas Webinar, Laudato Si’ Movement AI Survey due by June 25, Synod Call to Action in LSM Meeting on June 24 4pm PT/6pm CT, Thank the Bishops on Mass for Creation
The following are invitation from the Laudato Si’ Movement of North America:
1. Listen to the recording of the webinar on the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV “Magnifica Humanitas” sponsored by Laudato Si’ Movement, Catholic Climate Covenant, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Health Association, The Network, etc.
Webinar Title: Magnifica Humanitas: Disarming AI, Being Fully Human, and Integral Ecology:
2. With the release of the recent encyclical, we are surveying our members (which includes all chapter members, whether they are LSAs or not!) about their experiences and feelings around AI. Will you please share this survey with your members (due June 25, sorry for the quick turnaround!
3. All Laudato Si’ Movement Members Call is coming up on Wednesday, June 24 from 4-5:30 PT / 6-7:30 CT / 7-8:30 ET. There is a Synod call to action to all the faithful (beyond just the Bishops level). This is an invitation to all Laudato Si’ Circles to hold these conversations with their priests, etc. We look forward to seeing you there! Here's the registration again. Registration here!
4. Thank the Arch/Bishops for their vote on Mass for Creation for United States Conference of Catholic Bishops which means United States Catholic Church has now the English ans Spanish versions that are for approval from the Dicastery of the Divine Worship and Discipline of the Divine Sacraments.
Ask your parish priest to use the (a) new mass during the Season of Creation & (b) thank your bishop for approving it & offer to help organize a diocesan mass for the care of creation during Season of Creation.
For more information:
Laudato Si’ Movement North America Director:
Ms. Anna Johnson
To connect with Laudato Si’ Movement Texas Chapter:
texas@lsmchapter.org
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Ask Governor Newsom to commute the sentences of every person on California's death row!
Life is sacred from womb to tomb. Human dignity does not diminish no matter what we have done. Everyone is a child of God. Everyone deserves mercy. What is in your heart? Love and Mercy or Hatred and Revenge? Support programs that build and restore life.
Be gentle with yourself. Where is your decision and actions coming from? Healing begins with silence, prayer, forgiveness and reconciliation will come. Be patient with yourself. Look inward and ask God or the Divine to enlighten you.
Ask California Governor Newsom to commute the death sentences here.
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Corpus Christi: A reminder of Who We Are
Corpus Christi can be reflected with Pope Leo's latest encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. Looking at the Body of Christ is very human and Divine. It is rooted in love, the only power there is. This is the love incarnated in flesh. This is the Word made flesh.
People who do not want to face the truth about vulnerabilities of life would avoid suffering and humiliation. This is the opposite of looking at the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. People do not want to look weak, too old, too young, dumb or not smart enough, or anything below standard. People like to hide life's inevitable reality that human beings are vulnerable, and not perfect. We cannot not have everything but everything belongs to God. We cannot know it all, but we only know some. Everybody has a piece of God's truth. People want to be God by clinging to misguided power, resources (money), and fame. Human beings not united with God's Divine Will are constructing His Tower of Babel (MH 1).
People would like to avoid pain or suffering of losing someone even death so some people would choose the extraordinary life support at all cost because "death" or separation from loved one is too painful to accept. Some people cannot see what is eternal. It might be hard to face but the capitalist world that we live in has been used to the convenience, efficiency, productivity, and pleasures of life. There is a good and bad in all these. If we have lost the love of God and neighbor in all of these, the ability to develop virtue from experiences then we have seen life as an object to be abused rather than to be loved. The traditional economics is measured by performance, by numbers, or by some criteria. Anything that is below standard is rejected or thrown into trash. ]This includes life thrown or abandoned if certain person does not meet the criteria or standards.
People want to be in control. People want to avoid trouble, arguments, the inconvenient truth, or painful conversation. Anything not rooted in God's Will can go the wrong way (MH 7). This leads to technology slipping into the wounded world that we are in. The Alone Together shows how the robots would be preferred by some people to solve the unacceptable attitudes or the imperfection of an unexamined life. The slavery that is brought by greed can be seen through different periods of power and domination during Prehistoric Age, Iron Age, Industrial Age, Computer Age, Information Age, Artificial Intelligence, and Space Age. We are enslaved by sin when we lose track of who is ultimately in charge of life and Creation, that our mission is not ours but God's. People want to be at the center stage. At the cost of others, people do not want to suffer or have mercy. This is greed, power gone wrong. War, injustice, and abusing others are evidences of the Babel syndrome (MH 10).
Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, did not flee from suffering when it is God's Will. He showed his mercy and love for His Creatures. His body and blood on the cross. By His body and blood, we have been sanctified and redeemed. Only God can give life. Eucharist is the body and blood that Christ asked us to do in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:18-20).
With diversities forgotten, tragedies overlooked, human dignity violated, people fail to respect but the domination by all means becomes the rule. To claim to have the unlimited resources when there are limitations and to claim one's supremacy above any beliefs is to disregard the dialogue, the transformation from the conflicting differences, and the prophetic stance of truth, then humanity has forgotten that our communion with God is the humanity's greatest strength (MH 25-27).
Justice is at the service to the most vulnerable of our society. Reparation is good for the harm done in the past but we are to learn from the past so as not to repeat the abuses of the humanity's failure to work for the common good (MG 87-89). The common good is the responsibility of all. The reality of our world can only be transformed through transparency, accountability, and evaluation (MH 86). We are not robots living in utopian world. We are human beings growing with lived experience and the knowledge of truth.
We are created in the image of God. Jesus Christ is both human and Divine. He is love. We are creatures of Love. God gives each human being a dignity that nobody can take away. We are redeemed by His love. God is patiently waiting for our actions to be stripped off of the attributes that do not belong to God alone.
This is an invitation to learn more about the latest encyclical of Pope Leo XIV. The challenges of our era united with our call to be in communion can transform the way we build and develop relationships, embracing the universal Christ. There is the forgiving truth that the eternal love is offered to us by Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Read More:
Friday, June 5, 2026
Webinar on June 9 7:30PM ET: Magnifica Humanitas: Disarming AI, Being Fully Human
MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS: DISARMING AI, BEING FULLY HUMAN,AND INTEGRAL ECOLOGY
Tuesday, June 9th7:30 pm ESTRegister at bit.ly/MagHumWeb
Pope Leo XIV wrote his first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. This gives the in-depth reflection on the emerging technologies in today's world and how the human beings in today's world use this technology to make things convenient and efficient. On the other hand, this encyclical also highlights how humanity can either flourish in loving relationships with his neighbor and with God or work towards destruction given the unguided use of technology, desire not guided by God.
Learn more about the encyclical through the webinar hosted by various non-profit organizations: https://chapter.laudatosimovement.org/2026/06/magnifica-humanitas-disarming-ai-being-fully-human-and-integral-ecology/
Monday, June 1, 2026
Invitation to Write and/ Communicate to US (Arch)Bishops from Laudato Si' Movement
Laudato Si' Movement North America through its network and friends asks to mail or communicate to US (Arch)Bishops to let them know your support to the following:
- Mass for CreationWrite our own (Arch)bishop(s), letting them know that we will be praying for them and the Conference as they discern and vote on the Mass for Creation at their June 10-12 meeting/USCCB Assembly for Spring. Please mail your letter or express your support of the Mass for Creation with the intention that the Bishop will know your thoughts before he goes to Florida along with other Bishops.
Here is the slide deck on the Mass for Creation:Letter template:if you go to file, make a copy, then you can edit directly in googledrive, or of course feel free to write a card too, which always tends to land best!)
Note: Sr. Marylou and Corpus Christi's IWA Community has already taken a step on this. We thank Margie and Rosa Maria for their collaboration.
- Synodal Listening Session during the Season of CreationContact their bishop (and/or auxiliary bishop(s)) by June 15 to schedule a synodal listening session during the Season of Creation (or at latest in early October). These are small group sessions with youth and/or frontline community members, with questions/discussion topics from LSM.a. Learn more about synodal listening sessions here.b. Background Care for Creation Synodal Listening Sessions here.c. Sample Invitation to bishop here.d. Example letter here.
The Bishops from the Global South represented by Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Oceana, asks the Global North to support the three pillars:
a. non-proliferation and phase-out: Immediately cease all new exploration and production of coal, oil, and gas.
b. fair phase-out: Equitably phase out current production based on each nation’s historical responsibility and capacity.
c. Global just transition: Ensure a fair and inclusive shift to renewable energy, leaving no worker, community, or country behind.
Manifesto from Global South: https://repositorio.celam.org/files/original/3288/Iglesia_Sur_Global_manifiesto_ENG.pdf
Season of Creation here: https://seasonofcreation.org/
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