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Contents: Faith Principles on Global Warming |
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Under the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, as under all such “free trade” agreements, there is no requirement to meet international labor standards. If a government has weak labor laws—which is true of Colombia—workers are at risk. We end up with the worst of both worlds—workers in this country lose their jobs while workers in Colombia work for lower wages in an unsafe environment. Colombia also has a poor track record in controlling violence towards union activists. Paramilitary groups, some possibly representing corporations, have harassed and even killed union workers. The Colombian government has failed to keep its own people safe from these groups. One of the more insidious aspects of this and other “free trade” agreements is that they allow corporations to sue host governments when government action results in the loss of future profits by the corporation. In Colombia, for instance, the government had passed legislation that expropriated land from indigenous and Afro-Colombian peoples for development purposes. This law was subsequently overturned by Colombian courts. However, if the Free Trade Agreement had been in effect when this occurred, companies would have been allowed to sue the Colombian government for lost profits. Under this Free Trade Agreement, logging will increase in Colombia’s portion of the Amazon rainforest. This type of logging decimates the forests that are natural repositories of carbon dioxide, thus significantly contributing to global warming. We also know that depletion of the rainforests threatens the many species living there. Corporations taking and using these rich resources also deprive many small farmers and other indigenous peoples of desperately needed resources.
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Pie in the Sky—No More! I recently became “reacquainted” with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The MDG provide an agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives that world leaders agreed on at the Millennium Summit in September 2000. These goals are directed towards eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, improving health and reducing diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and building a global partnership for development. What is most significant about these goals is that they are not “Pie in the Sky.” With the investment of a mere .7% of Gross National Product (GNP) from the developed nations of the world, they can be achieved by 2015. What will it take to make this a reality? Two things are necessary for these goals to be reached. First, we must become more aware of these goals and the possibility of achieving them, and we must share this awareness with others. Next, we must develop in our community and leadership the political will to accomplish these goals. Along the way we may need to correct some common misconceptions related to foreign aid. One of the more popular misconceptions in this country is that we are already extremely generous in our foreign assistance. In fact, the United States devotes less than .2% of GNP to foreign aid (lowest in the developed world). And, this includes aid that goes primarily for servicing foreign debt, emergency food aid, and aid actually paid to US consultants. If we factor out these forms of aid, US government development assistance (aid to actually raise people out of poverty) is literally only pennies per person for the world’s poorest. As Franciscans, our obligation to justice for the poor mandates that we work to change systems that keep people in desperate poverty. This is what the MDG attempts to do. Information on the Millennium Development Goals is available from the following websites: Leadership Conference of Women Religious (www.lcwr.org), Sisters Online (sistersonline.org) and the United Nations (www.un.org). Information may also be obtained by contacting Jeff Odendahl, Office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.
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Faith Principles on Global Warming The following principles were developed by the National Council of Churches (NCC) in conjunction with its interfaith community to outline the elements the NCC feels must be addressed in any national climate change legislation. Though there may be other principles that would be appropriate, NCC believes that these are the essential faith principles that we must lift up as a community in our ministry to protect God’s planet and people. Franciscans concur, and vigorously support these principles.
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Franciscan Action Network (FAN), a national advocacy organization for the poor of the earth, is up and running. Their first official action will be to sponsor a kick-off gathering for Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, DC, in March. Unofficially, though, the Action Commission has been meeting behind the scenes to finalize guidelines, choose issues and plan responses which we hope will transform our national response to poverty and environmental degradation. As one of the founding members of FAN, the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls have a major stake in this new initiative of solidarity with the poor. If you’d like to keep track of what’s happening, check FAN’s website, www.franciscanaction.org. It is a bit short on content right now. I expect that will change quickly over the spring and summer months. -- Jeff Odendahl |
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Health care has become increasingly expensive due largely to technological and other capital costs. Affordable health care and all that it implies needs to be addressed on a much larger scale then these few moments we share this afternoon. Yes, there is much to be done to assure that those who need health care have access—especially the poor, people with disabilities, children, and others who are vulnerable. With that being said, I want to take a different approach to affordable health care—an approach that is available to each of us right now and which we have the responsibility to share and to provide to others. As we heard in Matthew’s Gospel and have seen in many Scripture stories, Jesus sets the example for this approach. Jesus was all about helping people who were sick. He listened to their stories, he forgave them, he touched them, and they were healed. We live these Gospel values whenever we reach out to those who are sick and suffering. As finite human beings, we are vulnerable to sickness, injury, and suffering. We have many opportunities with family, friends, and neighbors to provide meals, transportation, and comfort in times of crisis. We stand ready to be present with and care for those who are suffering, whatever the reason. As Christians we know that health and healing come from God. We also know that sometimes healing comes in the form of care verses cure. The person who is ill will not always experience a physical cure despite all our efforts. Yet there is always room for care—care that you and I can give by our presence, our concern, a listening ear, a willingness to run errands, a sense of humor. We always have opportunities to pray for one another—to provide spiritual strength and support in times of crisis and need. This form of caring carries aspects of healing that are not so readily seen yet are so important in promoting health. Such healing may not result in complete health, but it reflects God’s goodness and mercy and anticipates the full healing of life and peace that is to come. It is right and fitting therefore, that we attend to our health and healing. It is central to our well-being, vital to relationships, and helps us live out our vocation in family, work, and community. God creates human beings as whole persons. The proper functioning and well-being of the whole person is what health is all about. Affordable health care requires our commitment to the well-being of neighbor and our selves. It requires us to work for change in the political and economic arena. Health care is a basic human right. Let us invest in our own health, strive for a healthy community, and work for a health care system that provides comprehensive and affordable health care for all. Let us pray . . . O God of us all, we gather together today, lifting up your healing and nurturing spirit. You speak and act through us in so many ways. In times of illness and suffering you are there—always using us as your caring voice, hands, and feet. We are confident and encouraged by the belief that right through all the present challenges, you will continue working powerfully as we commit ourselves to bring the healing love of Jesus Christ to all who are sick and suffering. May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith, and may charity be the root and foundation of our life. Amen.
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Starving the Hungry Recently, CARE, an international aid organization, shocked many observers when it rejected $45 million in U.S. food aid. Why would an agency dedicated to helping the starving peoples of the world take such a seemingly costly action? Moreover, why would they willingly deprive the hungry of desperately needed food? When we start to look at the facts behind U.S. food aid, it soon becomes apparent that CARE’s action is a reasonable response to a policy that creates greater food dependency and arguably results in more hunger throughout the world. How can this be? The United States is the largest donor of food for the hungry in the world—by far! Over half the world’s supply of food assistance comes from the U.S. How can this possibly be a bad thing? The oft-stated “devil” is in the details. The focus of U.S. food assistance is on furthering U.S. interests, not on aiding the hungry. One aspect of this is that all food used as aid must originate in the U.S. This helps agribusiness in the U.S. by creating more markets for their products. However, it leads to several negative consequences for the starving populations of the globe. Because of the time it takes to ship food to affected areas, remedial food supplies may arrive too late, or they may arrive just in time to compete with the domestic harvest. Because US produced food is heavily subsidized, it frequently undercuts the local market, raising havoc with local agricultural production. U.S. aid agencies have also been beneficiaries of this process, possibly to the detriment of the people they serve. The food aid is given to the aid agency for distribution. Through a process called monetization, they are allowed to sell this highly subsidized food at prices below their cost. This provides funding for their development activities, but also results in a blow to local agricultural markets. How can we change this situation? Food aid to starving peoples will always be a dicey proposition. After all, getting food to where it is desperately needed, and assuring that it is fairly distributed in an emergency situation is usually filled with a variety of challenges. One important immediate step would be to make some food aid cash. This would give countries and aid agencies the ability to buy food closer to the time and place it is most needed. It would also support local agriculture in some of the areas where this support is most desperately needed. Cash payments for some of our food aid was in the Administration’s farm bill which was originally submitted to Congress. Congress has stripped this provision from the bill, but discussion is ongoing, and it is a good time to weigh in with support for cash food aid. |
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Option for the Poor As we go about our holiday shopping, how much of what we do is actually a response to the coming of the Christ Child and Jesus’ message of God’s overwhelming love for us? For many of us, while we fondly repeat all the clichés about the spirit of the season and good will to all, our actions boldly proclaim the “Gospel of Santa Claus.” We are now in the midst of a Christmas season where love is expressed primarily by how much we spend on gifts for those around us. While we may be motivated by good intentions, our actions feed the “greed machine” that rules much of our personal, social and, alas, even our spiritual lives. Because of this, we are likely to hear little during this time about a preferential “option for the poor.” Many of us associate this phrase with the Church in Latin America, and not with the Christmas season. While this message does resonate from the poorest of areas in Central and South America, it did not originate there. A profound love and “option” for the poor was proclaimed by Jesus in the Gospels. Christ’s servant, Francis of Assisi wove his life and his ministry around service to the poorest of the poor. If we profess to follow Jesus and to live in the spirit of Francis and Clare, we are obliged to follow them in caring about the poor of this world. This takes us back to the association between Christmas and option for the poor. In general, those of us in western culture give more to charity during the Christmas season than at other times of the year. This isn’t a bad thing, it just isn’t sufficient. We need to remember that the option for the poor is about justice, not about charity! When our charity makes us feel self-satisfied and permits injustice to the poor to continue, it does not reflect the coming of Christ’s Kingdom or the spirit of the season. If we really want to follow Jesus, Francis and Clare, we will avoid excessive spending, have a modest celebration of Christ’s birth with our loved ones, and spend time this holiday season praying and working for justice for the poor of the world
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Catholic Bishops on Immigration Immigration reform has been a hot item on the political agenda of the United States for the past two years. Unfortunately, the emphasis has been on the political nature of this issue rather than on the human suffering that continues from Congress’ failure to deal with real immigration reform. The Catholic Church and its bishops have rightly judged this to be an issue crying out for a just and compassionate resolution. See some of their comments below. Why does the church care about immigration policies? The Catholic Church has historically held a strong interest in immigration and how public policy affects immigrants seeking a new life in the United States. Based on Scriptural and Catholic social teachings, as well as her own experience as an immigrant Church in the United States, the Catholic Church is compelled to raise her voice on behalf of those who are marginalized and whose God-given rights are not respected. The Church believes that current immigration laws and policies have often led to the undermining of immigrants’ human dignity and have kept families apart. The existing immigration system has resulted in a growing number of persons in this country in an unauthorized capacity, living in the shadows as they toil in jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. Close family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents must wait years for a visa to be reunited. And, our nation’s border enforcement strategies have been ineffective and have led to the death of thousands of migrants. The Church has a responsibility to shine the message of God on this issue and help to build bridges between all parties so that an immigration system can be created that is just for all and serves the common good, including the legitimate security concerns of our nation. Does the Catholic Church support illegal immigration? Our nation’s economy demands foreign labor, yet there are insufficient visas to meet this demand. Close family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents face interminable separations, sometimes of twenty years or longer, due to backlogs of available visas. U.S. immigration laws and policies need to be updated to reflect these realties. Does the Catholic Church support “amnesty”? The Bishops’ earned legalization proposal provides a window of opportunity for undocumented immigrants who are already living in our communities and contributing to our nation to come forward, pay a fine and application fee, go through rigorous criminal background checks and security screenings, demonstrate that they have paid taxes and are learning English, and obtain a visa that could lead, over time, to permanent residency. |
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The New Sanctuary Movement You recall the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s, during which immigrants from Central America sought refuge in our country from civil wars, life-threatening repression and extensive human rights violations at home. Many churches and religious communities, including ours, provided the needed refuge. ]A New Sanctuary Movement (NSM) began early this year with the gathering in Washington, D.C., of representatives from 18 cities, 12 religious traditions (including Roman Catholic) and seven denominational and interdenominational organizations. The goals of the NSM include: protecting immigrant workers and families from unjust deportation; changing the public debate; awakening the moral imagination of the country; and making visible immigrant workers and families as children of God. These goals resonate with the recent U.S. Bishops’ statement on immigration, calling for a comprehensive immigration reform bill from Congress that is just and humane in its treatment of immigrants, whether documented or not. |
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The Effects of Global Warming Facts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPPC) report on the effects of global warming: • The report reveals that global warming will have devastating impacts on our low income communities here in the US and in developing countries abroad. Despite the fact that we as the United States contribute more greenhouse gas emissions per capita than any other country, it is those least responsible for global warming who are suffering and will continue to suffer the most. • Global warming is an issue that knows no boundaries be it poverty, faith, race, gender, economic status- we must all work together to protect God’s world for future generations and ensure that justice, stewardship and sustainability are guiding principles for the future. • If left unchecked, global warming will leave over a billion people facing water shortages in Asia by the year 2050. This is just one example of the many impacts from this global problem. Global warming must be a priority for the faith community because it affects almost every issue that we care about-hunger, access to clean water, environmental stewardship, health and peace. Addressing global warming will make it more possible for all to live the life of possibility that God intends. • Global warming has had and will continue to have impacts on the most vulnerable communities around the globe and those least able to adapt to the changes predicted by this report. • As people of faith we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves and work for justice for all of God’s people. Our actions to curb climate change mean that we can protect God’s people and God’s planet. • Simply put, global warming will continue to impact those least responsible for our greenhouse gas emissions and those most vulnerable to changes in the environment. |
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Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota, make statement on immigration: Bring healing, peace and hope The Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota, made an historic commitment on June 16th during their Community Days gathering in Little Falls. The sisters, together with associates present, passed a corporate stance on comprehensive immigration reform. In keeping with their Scriptural roots and Franciscan values, the sisters have a long tradition of welcoming immigrants. The Franciscan Sisters are involved in ministry to immigrants across the United States, including in California, Arizona, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Minnesota. They also minister in Mexico and in Ecuador and know first-hand the compelling reasons why people choose to emigrate from their own countries. “We have come to know the immigrants first-hand, not as persons to be feared and isolated, but as friends and neighbors who work hard, care for their families, obey the laws and worship God,” said Sister Mary Obowa, Community Minister/President.“We recognize our own immigrant background and the contributions of immigrants to our church and society.” She continued, “As followers of Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare, who devoted their lives to bringing hope to the marginalized of their day, we will continue to welcome and serve the immigrants in our midst who seek to live, work and worship in our communities. We will share in their lives of struggle, pain and hope as we journey together.” In their statement, the Franciscan Sisters call for a path to legalization for immigrants living and working in the United States. The statement deplores the current wave of anti-immigrant legislation, which is being utilized on state and local levels to intimidate and create a climate of fear in the immigrant community. Rather, the sisters call for more just and humane treatment of immigrants, beginning with immigration and law enforcement agencies. The Franciscan Sisters pledge to continue to work for changes in immigration laws which will lead to greater security, peace and a sense of worth and dignity for all. |
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Click here ... for links to other groups involved in promoting the common good. |
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Jeff Odendahl, Coordinator |
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Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota
116 8th Avenue SE, Little Falls, MN 56345
(320)632-2981m info@fslf.org