3 Things CCVIs and others can do to help heal the sin of racism

The horrific killing of George Floyd, an African-American man, in Minneapolis, MN, by white Minneapolis police officers has left us heart broken and with feelings of outrage and disbelief that such crimes continue to take place in our country.

What positive steps can CCVIs and our ministries take to help heal the sin of racism, both individual and systemic?

1.  HAVE CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS:  

MACC (the Mexican American Catholic College) invites you to a critical conversation on how systemic violence is as silently accepted as the air we breathe. Recent events, however, have shockingly reminded us that those who are targeted because of their race cannot breathe in this deadly status quo. The Zoom session will provide an overview of the history of white supremacy in the USA and Latin America...and its resurgence in our time.  Participants will participate in smaller zoom room conversations to contextualize racism in their particular reality and how Catholic Social Teaching can be a source of life-giving breath for those who are dying. 

Let MACC know if you are interested in participating. They will poll you for a time that works for all.  Please RSVP to:  ocampos@maccsa.org

This posting is taken from MACC's Facebook page:  The Mexican American Catholic Coll

2.  EDUCATE OURSELVES:  Learn about white privilege and systemic racism

CLICK HERE to read a powerful and challenging article by Fr. Massingale:  

"The assumptions of white privilege and what we can do about it." 

Recommendation:  Reflect personally on this article and then engage with 1 or more persons, if possible, via an online format (or in person, using social distancing) in a critical conversation on white privilege and systemic racism.

3.  PROPHETIC STATEMENT:  Pray and reflect on the CCVI Congregational Statement on Systemic Racism

CLICK HERE  for the CCVI statement on systemic racism, May 31, 2020.

Recommendation:  Reflect personallh on the statement and then engage with others in conversation on how we can live out the statement. What are you willing to commit to?  How might we challenge ourselves as congregation to move forward in this effor to dismantle systemic racism?

Catholic Women Preach

“God calls us to embody God’s universal unconditional love. Only then does our true identity as the People of God become visible,” says Sr. Jamie Phelps, O.P. in the first of the series of homilies by Catholic women.  Starting with the first Sunday of Advent, 2016, see and hear these on-line at   http://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/ 

Catholic Women Preach is an innovative project designed to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the Church today by responding to Pope Francis’ call for broader and more active engagement of the baptized in the preaching mission of the Church. CWP offers the theologically informed perspectives of Catholic women to serve as an inspirational, theologically based resource for ordained priests, deacons, catechists, and all involved in the ministry of the word in the Catholic Church.  

This is one of many initiatives to recognize women’s gifts.  In August, 2016 Pope Francis created acommission to examine women being deacons. This followed the request for such a study at the gathering of the leaders of women religious in Rome which Sr. Tere Maya, CCVI, attended.    

Read more of the background https://therivardreport.com/gender-gospel-and-global-justice/

Seven Catholic Institutions Divest from Fossil Fuels

(original post from Catholic News Service - Oct 4, 2016) WASHINGTON (CNS) — Citing Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si'” on humanity’s relationship with the earth and each other, seven Catholic institutions from around the world said they plan to divest from fossil fuel corporations.

 

Joining the divestment movement were St. Louis-based SSM Health; Jesuit Fathers of Upper Canada; Missionary Society of St. Columban, based in Hong Kong; Presentation Society of Australia and Papua New Guinea; Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesians) in Italy; Diocese of Umuarama, Brazil; and Federation of Christian Organizations for the International Voluntary Service in Italy.

 

The organizations join a steadily growing movement that is seeing hundreds of groups worldwide divestfrom companies involved in the extraction of coal, oil and natural gas in recent years and turning to firms developing renewable energy instead.

 

Up to 97 percent of climate scientists have attributed climate change to human activity, at least in part. “It’s important because we’re finally, as a Catholic community, starting to connect the dots between ‘Laudato Si” and our investment policies,” said Tomas Insua, coordinator of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, which announced the divestment plans Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

 

“This is the tip of something much bigger,” Insua told Catholic News Service. “We’re very concerned with stressing the level of urgency on this issue and stressing divestment,” said Tomas Insua, head of the Global Catholic Climate Movement. “The urgency is dramatic, and business as usual is terrifying.”

The announcement came as the month-long “Season of Creation” closed. The period of prayer and reflection began Sept. 1 with the World Day of Prayer for Creation that religious institutions have been observing in recent years. Pope Francis committed the global Catholic community to joining the day of prayer in 2015.

 

Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, touched on the issues of pollution, climate change and “old-school industrialization” during a mid-September Vatican conference examining the pope’s views on the world economy. Insua said he attended the conference and the topic of divestment from fossil fuels was widely discussed.

 

“We’re very concerned with stressing the level of urgency on this issue and stressing divestment,” Insua said. “The urgency is dramatic, and business as usual is terrifying.”

 

He said his organization’s effort to urge divestment stems from the call of the world’s Catholic bishops to world leaders in support of an accord on capping carbon emissions during the COP 21 meeting in Paris last December. While the countries of the world reached an agreement on the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, it will not enter into force until at least 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions sign on and file plans detailing their commitment to it.

 

Small and large institutions have joined the divestment campaign. Fossil Free, a project of environmental group 350.org, tracks the divestment movement. It says 595 institutions have withdrawn an estimated $3.4 trillion from fossil fuel stocks. Another 50,000 individuals have divested about $5.2 billion, the website said.

 

In its announcement, the Global Catholic Climate Movement released statements by representatives of the organizations involved in the divestment effort.

“Climate change is already affecting poor and marginalized communities globally through drought, rising sea levels, famine and extreme weather. We are called to take a stand,” said Jesuit Father J. Peter Bisson, provincial superior of the Jesuits of English Canada.

 

Bishop Joao Mamede Filho of Umuarama, Brazil, pointed to Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si,’ on Care for Our Common Home,” as the reason for divesting from fossil fuels.

“We cannot accommodate and continue allowing economic interests that seek exorbitant profits before the well-being of people, to destroy biodiversity and ecosystems, nor continue dictating our energy model based on fossil fuels,” he said. “We know that Brazil has abundant resources of clean and renewable energy that do no harm our common home. Therefore, I believe that the proposal to turn the Diocese of Umuarama into low-carbon is a practical way to achieve what ‘Laudato Si” calls for.”

 

Presentation Sister Marlette Black, president of the Presentation Society of Australia and Papua New Guinea, explained that her religious order has committed to divest from fossils fuels to help heal Earth.“We are one planet and one Earth community and we have a common destiny,” she said.

 

At SSM Health, William P. Thompson, president and CEO, said its effort was meant to align with Pope Francis’ vision for a peaceful world. “Our renewed commitment to the environment keeps us consistent in word and deed with the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, our founding congregation, and with the climate change encyclical released by Pope Francis,” he said.

Muslims Attend Catholic Mass in France as Sign of Unity

Muslims gathered for Catholic Mass on Sunday in churches and cathedrals across France in a powerful display of unity following the killing of an elderly priest.

Dozen of Muslims attended Mass in Rouen, a few miles from the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where two French teenagers slit the throat of 85-year-old Rev. Jacques Hamel on Tuesday after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.

One of the nuns who was taken hostage during the attack embraced the Muslim attendees after the service, The Associated Press reported.

“We are very moved by the presence of our Muslim friends and I believe it is a courageous act that they did by coming to us,” Dominique Lebrun, the archbishop of Rouen, said after the Mass.

“Today we wanted to show physically, by kissing the family of Jacques Hamel, by kissing His Grace Lebrun in front of everybody, so they know that the two communities are united,” said Mohammed Karabila, president of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Mosque, according to the BBC.

A group of Muslims held up a banner outside the church reading:  “Love for all. Hate for none.”

Continue reading full article from the Huffington Post HERE