Investment aligned with our values by Sister Dorothy Pagosa, SSJ-TOSF

On October 16, 2018, about 125 people attended the 45th Anniversary celebration of Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investing at Marquette University in Milwaukee. My religious congregation is a member of Seventh Generation and has been working on socially responsible investing for over 30 years.

In the early 1970s, religious congregations realized that they needed to invest their monies to fund their retirement needs. To address concerns that their investments would not conflict with their values, socially responsible investing became the goal.

In 1973, Capuchin Franciscan Fr. Michael Crosby and Srs. Charlita Foxhoven and Alphonsa Puls of the School Sisters of St. Francis founded the National Catholic Coalition for Responsible Investment. This was the predecessor to Seventh Generation Interfaith. The name was changed in 2015 to recognize that, under the Great Law of the Native American Iroquois, decisions should be made by considering the effects they will have for seven generations. Read more.

From the USCCB and Catholic Relief Services

SUPPORT THE MIGRANT FAMILIES In Nicaragua, youth learn how to start and run businesses in farming. They become catalysts of change for and within their communities. Photo by Oscar Leiva/Silverlist In this season of Advent, we call to mind the Holy Family who was in search of safety and shelter. Thank you for your continued support of migrant families around the world in search of those same things. Your consistent action makes a difference. Send an email to Congress today as they finalize spending levels for critical funding that helps families around the world access shelter, food and new opportunity. ACT NOW Blessings this Advent season, Catholics Confront Global Poverty team The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services

A Forward from Justice for Immigrants: Tell Congress to Reject Unchecked and Inhumane Immigration Enforcement Funding Requests

JFI Partners and Supporters,

As of September 2018, appropriation bills funding almost 70% of federal government operations have been signed into law for fiscal year (FY) 2019, (including operations of Labor, Health and Human Services, which includes the Office of Refugee Resettlement). Operations related to three bills: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of State (DOS), are currently operating on a continuing resolution that authorizes funding at FY 2018 levels until Friday, December 21, 2018. Congress must pass the outstanding bills or extend current funding levels by December 21st to avoid a partial government shutdown.

As negotiations unfold this week, it is critical that Catholics and other people of faith urge Members of Congress to avoid a shutdown - recognizing that Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS), Department of Homeland (DHS) and State, Foreign Operations (SFOPs) fund important refugee and immigration-related programs - while also rejecting funding increases for inhumane enforcement measures.

Please ask your advocacy networks to send and sign our current action alert and urge Congress to deny unchecked funding increases for inhumane immigration enforcement efforts and to work together to find a bipartisan solution to avoiding a government shutdown.

Below is the message in our JFI action alert: 

Dear Representative/Senators:

I write as a constituent and concerned Catholic regarding the ongoing FY 2019 appropriations process. As you continue negotiations around this matter, I ask that you avoid a partial government shutdown but also ensure that funding is not appropriated to inhumane and unchecked immigration enforcement initiatives.

Specifically, I urge you to:
* Work in a bipartisan manner to move forward the funding for the outstanding appropriations accounts and return to regular order to the extent possible;

* Reject the $5.5 billion requested by the President for new border wall construction or, at the very least, not appropriate more than the $1.6 billion agreed to in the Senate's FY 2019 DHS bill; and

* Support increases in funding for alternatives to detention and reject requests to increase funding for immigrant detention beds above the FY 2018 enacted immigrant detention level.

Thank you for considering these recommendations and your ongoing work on this issue.

In Solidarity,
Tony Cube

UNANIMA International News from the UN and Around the World

It has finally arrived! 

The first edition from UNANIMA International  News from the UN and Around the World. Here they are in English and Spanish. 

Reversing the Repeal of Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is vital to free speech, small business success, and the empowerment of marginalized communities. Polls show 86 percent of Americans support a free and open internet: the only ones who benefit from the FCC's repeal decision are Big Cable executives and the lobbyists they employ.

 TAKE ACTION

Let us be the peace that we desire for our world.

Greetings,

There was good news and bad new in the paper this morning.  The good news is that Capitol Hill Democrats, who soon will be running the House, are making climate change a priority.  The bad news is that any major legislation they could pass would probably be vetoed by the president even if it were to pass in the GOP-controlled Senate. Keep in touch with your legislators of both parties letting them know that dealing with climate change is your priority and a worldwide priority.

As we begin Advent let us be the peace that we desire for our world. 

Good and gracious God, in a season when every heart should be happy and light, many of us are struggling with the heaviness of life—burdens that steal the joy right out of our stockings. Tragedy arrives as innocent victims suffer, and an inner voice whispers, “Be afraid!” We need your peace, Jesus. We confess that our hearts are too often filled with wonder of a different kind: wondering when the terror will stop, when rest will come. Will it ever? Is the message still true? In a world where worry, not peace, prevails, stir up that good news again. This Advent, make it real in our hearts.

~Edited from Rebecca Barlow Jordan's “A Prayer for Peace & Joy at Christmas”

Nobody is Above the Law Rally

Fond du Lac, November 8, 2018

CSA Associates and Sisters were among the nearly 30 people participating in the Fond du Lac Rally, one of many nationwide, making a clear statement that the Mueller investigation should  continue unimpeded. On Wednesday, November 7, Donald Trump forced out Jeff Sessions as Attorney General and replaced him with Matthew Whitaker, who has openly attacked special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.  Many people have objected to Jeff Sessions' attacks on civil rights and enabling some of the Trump Administration’s worst instincts and are not unhappy that he is no longer Attorney General. However, pushing out Sessions and replacing him with Whitaker is putting Mueller’s investigation and jeopardy and our democracy in crisis. Congress has the ability to protect Mueller’s investigation and hold Trump accountable.  Members of Congress need to hear us and heed our concerns.

A Forward From the Jesuit Office of Justice and Ecology

The Trump administration recently released a proposal to replace the EPA's Clean Power Plan (CPP), which put common-sense limits on carbon pollution from power plants, with the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule. 

According to the EPA's own analysis, more than 1,000 lives could be lost annually by 2030 under this proposal due to the health impacts of exposure to increased air particulates, compared to the Clean Power Plan that would have significantly reduced carbon pollution and saved lives.

The Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology released a statement on the ACE rule expressing deep disappointment with "this inadequate proposal that prioritizes the interests of the fossil fuel industry and threatens human health, particularly those who are most vulnerable and at risk from harmful pollution and an increasingly unstable climate." 

In Laudato Si', his letter to all people on care for our common home, Pope Francis calls on world leaders to develop a "culture of care" and to establish policies reducing the emission of carbon dioxide and highly polluting gases, "substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy." (Laudato Si', n.231 and n.26)

The Affordable Clean Energy rule falls significantly short of its mission "to protect human health and the environment" and does not help us make this energy transition, as it places no limits whatsoever on the climate pollution the power sector emits.

We need the EPA to strengthen safeguards that address climate change by limiting harmful pollution and encouraging the development of clean, renewable energy. 

Please join us in taking action today and calling on the EPA to demonstrate leadership on climate change and care for our common home. 

Submit your public comment here.

The administration has opened a comment period (until October 31) for the public to submit written comments about the proposed rule. Send a comment to the Environmental Protection Agency today! Tell them that, as people of faith, we believe in caring for our common home, and the administration's replacement plan does not protect human health or God's creation.