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"Committed to Christ's mission, we are impelled into the heart of the world to address critical global concerns."
- Sister Roxanne Schares, General Superior
Thank you for all you do to promote justice, peace, and care of creation in the SSND spirit of Shalom.
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Shalom North America Contacts
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Click here
for our printer-friendly (pdf) version of the newsletter.
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Integrity of Creation
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 USCCB Support for Climate Change Legislation
Chairmen of the Committee on Migration and the Committee on Domestic and Social Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, recently
indicated their support for
S. 2565, legislation that would establish a global climate change resilience strategy and authorize the admission into the United States of climate-displaced persons. Earlier this year, they
indicated their support for the HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019.
Learn more about HR 763/let your voice be heard.
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Integrity of Creation
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 Climate Change and Food
Catholic Climate Covenant recently sponsored a webinar focusing on how our food system (the way we produce, transport, and consume food) is responsible for over a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions. The webinar addressed how we can take action, both individually and as Catholic communities, to reduce our damaging "foodprints" on our common home and how we can make food choices that are sustainable, less wasteful, and just.
Watch the webinar recording and view related materials. Read
this article on the value of going meatless at least one day per week.
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| How Our Food Choices Can Help Save the Planet |
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Integrity of Creation
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 Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War (10/4)
Though humankind has always counted its war casualties in terms of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war. Water wells have been polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned, and animals killed to gain military advantage.
Learn more,
let your voice be heard.
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| Environmental Impact of War |
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Integrity of Creation
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 National Buy Nothing Day (11/29)
The day after Thanksgiving (U.S.) traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season, putting consumerism in high gear! But Buy Nothing Day, started in 1992 in Canada by artist Ted Dave, aims to send a countercultural message to the marketplace that, if observed by significant numbers, can make an impact in many different ways. Pope Francis says, "A constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us from cherishing each thing and each moment. To be serenely present to each reality, however small it may be, opens us to much greater horizons of understanding the personal fulfillment." (
Laudato Si' 222)
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Human Life and Dignity
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 Night Will Be No More
In the introduction to his new pastoral letter,
Night Will Be No More, Bishop Seitz of El Paso explains, "After prayer and speaking with the People of God in the Church of El Paso, I have decided to write this letter on the theme of racism and white supremacy to reflect together on the evil that robbed us of 22 lives. God can only be calling our community to greater fidelity. Together we are called to discern the new paths of justice and mercy required of us and to rediscover our reasons for hope."
Read review,
read document.
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Human Life and Dignity
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 The Cost of Inhumane Immigration Policies
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights just released report, Trauma at the Border: The Human Cost of Inhumane Immigration Policies, concludes that the impact of separating immigrant families and indefinite detention is widespread, long-term, and may inflict irreversible physical, mental and emotional trauma. Despite an Executive Order purporting to stop family separation, there remain credible allegations that family separations continue. The report includes a number of recommendations to address the situation. Learn more, read report, let your voice be heard.
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Human Life and Dignity
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 World Day of the Poor (11/19)
The World Day of the Poor was established by Pope Francis in 2017, and is celebrated on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. This year's theme is from Psalm 9:18,
The hope of the poor will not perish for ever. The goal of this day is to encourage in everyone a greater concern for individuals in any kind of distress. It is not easy to be witnesses of Christian hope in the context of a consumerist culture, a culture of waste concerned only for the spread of a shallow and brief wellbeing. "
Let us love, not with words but with deeds."
Read/reflect on our Pope's message for the day.
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Human Life and Dignity
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 Economic Justice for All
In November of 1986, the USCCB wrote the pastoral letter, Economic Justice for All, which they revised in 1996. The letter lays out an authentic Catholic approach to economics that keeps the human person at the center. As the Bishops put it, "Our faith calls us to measure this economy not only by what it produces, but also by how it touches human life and whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person." The letter serves as a call to all Catholics to keep their faith at the heart of economic pursuits, since "economic life is one of the chief areas where we live out our faith, love our neighbor, confront temptation, fulfill God's creative design, and achieve our holiness." Click here for more resources, including 10 Catholic principles of economic life. Learn more at Poverty USA.
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Human Life and Dignity
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 Keeping Child Labor Out of Chocolate - Scorecard
According to the US Department of Labor, more than 2 million children in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire work in hazardous conditions growing cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate. While some companies have begun tracing their supply chains to prevent child labor, much work remains.
This scorecard from Green America will help you find ethically sourced sweets and understand what the certification labels on cocoa actually mean.
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| Big Chocolate and Child Labor |
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Peace and Non-Violence
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Veterans Day/Remembrance Day (11/11)
Veterans Day originated as "Armistice Day" on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I, and became a national holiday in the U.S. beginning in 1938. Remembrance Day was first observed in Canada in 1931. In both countries the day has evolved into honoring all those who served in war, especially living veterans. Some 2,300,000 Canadians have served in the military, more than 118,000 of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. According to a statistical survey in 2016, there were around 20.4 million veterans in the United States. Let us pray for those who fought to defend liberty and justice and, at the same time, pray for a peaceful alternative to war as a way to address conflicts.
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Peace and Non-Violence
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 International Day for Tolerance (11/16)
The United Nations is committed to strengthening tolerance by fostering mutual understanding among cultures and peoples. This is more important than ever in this time of rising and violent extremism and widening conflicts that are characterized by a disregard for human life and dignity. Tolerance, by definition, is sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from one's own. Learn more, resources for teaching tolerance.
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| International Day for Tolerance |
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Peace and Non-Violence
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World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse (11/19)
In 2000, the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF), a non-governmental organization, launched the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse on November 19. Forty million children globally are subjected to abuse each year, and one in ten children are verbally abused or neglected in high-income countries annually. Only one-tenth of cases of childhood neglect and physical, or sexual abuse are ever proven.
Tips for preventing child abuse,
prayer resource.
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Peace and Non-Violence
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 International Day to End Violence Against Women (11/25)
It is estimated that 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner (not including sexual harassment) at some point in their lives. However, some national studies show that up to 70 percent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. Evidence shows that women who have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence report higher rates of depression, having an abortion and acquiring HIV, compared to women who have not. Learn more, prayer resource.
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The SSND International Shalom Network witnesses to the Gospel with audacity and hope as we collaborate to build just relationships and respond to the urgent needs of our times.
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 Shalom News North America is an e-publication of the Shalom North America Contacts (SNAC) of the School Sisters of Notre Dame - Arlene Flaherty, Ethel Howley, Jeanne Wingenter, Kathleen Bonnette, Rose Mary Sander, and Tim Dewane. Your comments, suggestions, and feedback are always welcomed. Email us at
tdewane@ssndcp.org.
Please only print this e-publication if necessary.
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