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Justice
'Don’t just mourn for them; imitate them'
Nov. 13, 2009
A mural by Miguel Antonio Bonilla depicts the Jesuit priests and two women who were shot to death by an elite army unit Nov. 16, 1989, at the Jesuit-run Universidad Centroamericana in San Salvador. The priests, Juan Ramón Moreno, Amando López, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Ellacuría, Ignacio Martín Baró, Joaquín López López, their housekeeper Elba Ramos and her daughter, Celina, are depicted in the painting, which appears inside a chapel dedicated to Archbishop Oscar Romero at the university. (CNS/Octavio Duran)
With the fateful date of Nov. 16 approaching, the United States’ 28 Jesuit colleges and universities are preparing to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the killing of six Jesuits and their coworkers in El Salvador. Lectures, films, liturgies and various other forms of commemorative events are scheduled.
Some students, faculty and staff members will be going to El Salvador for the anniversary events there; others will be headed to Fort Benning, Ga., for the 12th Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice. The teach-in has been held in conjunction with the annual gathering of the School of the Americas Watch, which advocates the closing of the U.S. Army school where 19 of the 26 soldiers who participated in the Nov. 16, 1989, killings had received training shortly before the murders.
Clearly, the memory of the murders remains strong on our campuses today. Looking even further back over the past 35 years, three major events have led to this point.
Nun reprimanded for abortion clinic escorting
Nov. 06, 2009SINSINAWA, Wis. -- Dominican Sr. Donna Quinn received a reprimand from her order for serving as a volunteer escort at an abortion clinic in suburban Chicago.
Her order, the Sinsinawa Dominicans of Wisconsin, said in a Nov. 2 statement it regrets that "her actions have created controversy and resulted in public scandal."
Bishops revise directives on withdrawal of food, water
Revision up for vote Nov. 16-19
Nov. 02, 2009
People pray in support of keeping Terri Schiavo alive during a protest in this March 18, 2005, file photo. (CNS/Reuters)
WASHINGTON -- A proposed revision to the directives that guide Catholic heath care facilities would clarify that patients with chronic conditions who are not imminently dying should receive food and water by "medically assisted" means if they cannot take them normally.
"As a general rule, there is an obligation to provide patients with food and water, including medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those who cannot take food orally," says the revised text of the "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services" proposed by the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine.
"This obligation extends to patients in chronic conditions (e.g., the 'persistent vegetative state') who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care," the new text adds.
Deleted from the directives would be a reference to "the necessary distinctions between questions already resolved by the magisterium and those requiring further reflection, as, for example, the morality of withdrawing medically assisted hydration and nutrition from a person who is in the condition that is recognized by physicians as the 'persistent vegetative state.'"
Subsidizing poor eating habits
Why does a salad cost more than a burger?
Oct. 28, 2009
© Tolimir | Dreamstime.com
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine posted on its Web site an easy-to-understand visual that shows which foods U.S. tax dollars go to support under the nation’s recently passed 2008 Farm Bill. Titled “Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac?” it depicts two pyramids -- subsidized foods together with the recommended food pyramid for optimum nutrition and health.
Healthy eating vs. feeding the world
Our food system figures into health care reform debate
Oct. 28, 2009
First lady Michelle Obama and some 36 fifth-grade students harvest vegetables in the White House Kitchen Garden in Washington June 16. (AFP/Jewel Samad)
At the meeting of the G-20 in Pittsburgh last month, first lady Michelle Obama invited spouses of the world’s economic leaders to a dinner at Rosemont Farm in Fox Chapel, Pa. Owned by Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Sen. John Kerry, the farm produces and raises chickens and cows. Salad greens and apples from the farm were also on the menu in addition to the farm’s sustainably raised meat.
Distressed homeowners seek mortgage salvation
Oct. 26, 2009New America Media
DALY CITY, CALIF. -- Some 5,000 homeowners descended Oct. 16 on the behemoth Cow Palace in Daly City, Calif., known for its rodeos and expos. But instead of entertainment, they came hoping for salvation from the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
An uphill battle
Catholic Charties leaders meet amid biggest poverty crisis since Great Depression
Oct. 14, 2009
In a photo that is part of a traveling exhibit to raise awareness about poverty in the United States, a minister in Chicago’s South Side is moved to tears by the troubles in his impoverished neighborhood. (Steve Liss/AmericanPoverty.org)
PORTLAND, ORE. -- Facing a poverty crisis “at levels we haven’t seen since the 1930s,” Catholic Charities USA president Fr. Larry Snyder welcomed 450 Catholic Charities leaders to their annual national meeting Sept. 24-26 in Portland.
Religious discuss their visions for Africa
Witness, advocacy, embracing the spiritual are roles for religious
Oct. 12, 2009
Bishops and a nun talk as they leave a session of the Synod of Bishops for Africa at the Vatican Oct. 8. (CNS/Paul Haring)
Rome
As it happens, Oct. 10 is the anniversary of the death of St. Daniel Comboni, a 19th century Italian missionary who spent much of his life in Sudan. Among other claims to fame, Comboni was probably the source of more epigrammatic one-liners about the church's mission in Africa than any other single Catholic figure, living or dead.
Memorable Comboni-isms include, "Either Africa or death," a classic expression of his missionary drive; "Save Africa through Africa," an early formula for the transition to self-reliance; and his famous sentiment upon approaching his death in 1881, "I wish I had a thousand lives to give for Africa."
Supreme Court faces cases on a cross, juveniles
Court declines to hear Bridgeport appeal on clergy abuse documents
Oct. 05, 2009
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor talks with Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl following the 56th annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington Oct. 4.
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court opened its 2009 term Oct. 5 with a new justice and cases dealing with at least one religious rights issue -- about a cross on a war memorial in a federal preserve -- and other cases about the circumstances leading to deportation, about an immigrant in detention being denied medical care and several dealing with the sentencing of convicted criminals.
Moore's new movie on capitalism explicit in Catholic themes
Oct. 01, 2009
Michael Moore's new film is "Capitalism: A Love Story."
Michael Moore's new film, "Capitalism: A Love Story," is representative of his mockumentary style, and for some audiences, it may seem less annoying than previous films ("Bowling for Columbine," "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Sicko"). Still others, whose views it challenges, may resist long, hard and loud. For some, it may be considered his best work yet. (The film opens nationwide Oct. 2.)
