The photo above is from the Comboni Missionaries - North American Province
June 2, 2021
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“I would therefore invite everyone to embark on this journey together, and in particular I address these seven environments: families - parishes and dioceses - schools and universities - hospitals - businesses and farms - organizations, groups and movements - religious institutes. Work together. Only in this way will we be able to create the future we want: a more inclusive, fraternal, peaceful and sustainable world.”
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USCCB welcomes re-designation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians
On May 22, the Biden Administration announced that it would re-designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS allows foreign nationals to remain and work in the U.S. during a period in which it is deemed unsafe for them to return to their home country. Washington Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, and Rockford Bishop David J. Malloy, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, welcomed the announcement. Susan Gunn, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, provides additional commentary here.
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Racism and the Catholic Church one year after George Floyd’s murder
America Magazine recently convened a conversation with Fordham University’s Fr. Bryan Massingale about the progress of racial justice in the United States since George Floyd’s murder one year ago, hosted by America’s national correspondent Michael O’Loughlin. Watch the video here.
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Abortion policy at the state and federal level
The USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities held a webinar to mobilize Catholics around the possible removal of the Hyde Amendment, a legislative provision that has historically prevented federal funding for abortions through publicly funded health care (Medicaid).
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Pray, fast, and act for movement on immigration legislation
The #WeAreEssential Fast for Freedom will convene on June 7 to encourage elected officials to pass legislation that will protect the 11 million undocumented Americans living in this country. You can find a number of ways to participate here, including signing up to fast, pray, or meet with legislators via Zoom.
Sign a letter in support of labor law reforms
Br. Ken Homan, SJ, a graduate assistant with the Kalmanovitz Initiative at Georgetown, has asked for the support of CMSM members and all men religious to affirm the PRO Act, the first major update to labor law in decades.
Br. Ken is mobilizing efforts through the Interfaith Network for Worker Solidarity (IN4WS), which aims to create deeper relationships between faith communities and labor organizations. The network is seeking faith leaders—theologians, vowed religious, clergy, lay ministers—to sign a letter asking Congress to pass the PRO Act. Organizers hope to have over 500 signatures in time for a press conference at the end of June. To learn more before signing, please email Br. Ken at kah345@georgetown.edu.
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CMSM JPIC coordinators: Save Tuesday, July 20, 3 p.m. ET, for our summer quarterly meeting. Participants will be asked to report on their Laudato Si’ Action Platform efforts to date, ranging from general awareness to discernment to join in future years. This is in preparation for a public commitment this October.
We also will discuss a “Pilgrimage of Hope” virtual gathering with the Religious Brothers Conference, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and other collaborators this coming year, and more details regarding a Listening Circle training in Spring 2022. The Zoom link will be posted on the JPIC coordinators’ internal community site at my.cmsm.org in late June.
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Servites link Laudato Si' themes with their Constitutions
The Friar Servants of Mary (Servites) have announced a major project to directly connect their Constitutions with the themes of Laudato Si’ and the Church's recent emphasis on the care for creation.
The project will involve integrating affirmations found in the Order's Constitutions with the vision laid out in recent ecclesial documents. The goal of the project is to transform the Servite charism and its spirituality into in a way that renders the care for creation as central to their expression. Fr. John Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D., professor emeritus of social ethics at Catholic Theological Union, will coordinate the creation of the commentary.
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Wrap-up of Laudato Si' Week
For seven days in May, Catholics around the world assembled virtually and in person to mark the fifth anniversary of the papal encyclical, Laudato Si’. The week included educational webinars that can be accessed now on YouTube with a variety of speakers: Church leaders, popular movement organizers, theologians, justice and peace promoters, scholars, musicians, and more. The links below are for English language versions. You can also view them in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Polish. Consult the full list at www.laudatosiweek.org
The culmination of Laudato Si’ Week was a press conference to debut the new Action Platform (LSAP), a dynamic digital tool designed to support seven sectors of society in their efforts to achieve sustainability across seven goal areas. View the new site: www.laudatosiactionplatform.org.
Laudato Si' Discernment for Religious Orders
This summer is a season for religious orders to discern if they would like to make public commitment to pursue sustainability during the first platform cohort. The U.S. Religious Orders LSAP promoters’ group, facilitated by CMSM and LCWR, will be offering guidance on discernment tools for this process in the coming weeks. If you have a specific question now, you can reach out to laudatosiactionplatform@gmail.com.
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Resources for World Refugee Day (June 20)
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee is one who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” The Catholic Church has for decades taken seriously the plight of these vulnerable refugees and through advocacy, education efforts, and service provision sought to provide increased protections for them.
These efforts take place on the international level through the hard work of Catholic organizations like Catholic Relief Services and Jesuit Relief Service, who provide support in camps and communities across the world to refugees. They take place domestically, here in the United States, through Catholic Charities and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Both organizations advocate for further protections and provide support for newly arriving refugees.
Please download and use the Justice for Immigrants World Refugee Day 2021 Toolkit in your parishes and local community! You might focus on migration in the prayers of the faithful, write a letter to the editor to promote refugee resettlement, hold an information session with immigrant or refugee speakers, and more.
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Faster, Stronger, Higher: Jesuit Relief Service: World Refugee Day event (June 17)
Jesuit Relief Service uses recreational activities and sports as part of mental health and psychosocial support programs, as a way to accompany refugees and forcibly displaced people around the world. Through activities like soccer, martial arts, dance, and art, refugees, especially youth, can heal and find hope.
Join JRS/USA for a live virtual event on June 17, 2 p.m. ET, that features Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky, refugee athletes, and JRS mental health and a psychosocial support specialist for a discussion on refugee mental well-being, athletics, and the celebration of refugee talent. Arian Hu’s Refugee Anthem, performed by the International Orchestra of Refugees, will follow the discussion. Register here.
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Upcoming conferences
“Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church: A Conference Series on Our Common Home” (July 13-15)
This free biennial conference sponsored by Creighton University and the Catholic Climate Covenant will begin with keynote addresses by Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich and Maureen Day, Ph.D., assistant professor of religion and society at the Franciscan School of Theology.
They will assess why the U.S. Catholic response to Laudato Si’ has not been commensurate with the urgency and gravity of the climate crisis. Interactive breakout sessions will be facilitated by teams of ministry leaders working to more faithfully incorporate Laudato Si’ into eight areas of the U.S. Catholic Church: advocacy, colleges/universities, communications/media, creation care teams (especially at parishes and dioceses), environmental justice, homiletics, parochial school education, and youth and young adults.
In the closing address, Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, Ph.D., Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University, will consider Catholic spiritual and theological insights that can enliven a more faithful commitment to care for our common home. Registration is free and open to the public. Sign up here.
82nd Annual Tekakwitha Conference (July 22-24, online)
This three-day online event will include dynamic keynote presenters, breakout sessions, regional membership meetings, and the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the intersection between vibrant Native American cultures and the Catholic faith. Though we come from many sovereign tribes and pueblos, we will gather as one ‘family’ in faith.
Presenters include Rev. Michael Carson, USCCB; Msgr. Bennett Voorhies, Archdiocese of Santa Fe; and Br. Joachim Bellavance, CFR. Register here.
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New resource on capital punishment from Catholic Mobilizing Network
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Religion and resettlement research project
A new research study collaboratively convened by the Princeton University’s Office of Religious Life and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Department of Migration and Refugee Services aims to better understand and respond to the role that religion plays in the lives of refugees as they resettle and integrate into the United States.
The majority of refugees identify as religious and represent the diversity of the world's religions, yet there have been no systematic studies or trainings to address the interplay of religion and resettlement. The Religion and Resettlement Project is responding to this gap in order to strengthen refugee services and the resettlement structure at large, and to assemble a supportive network of diverse agencies and stakeholders working on and invested in refugee resettlement. Funding is through the Henry Luce Foundation.
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We are grateful to the new and returning writers who provided reflections for the Lenten and Easter season! This summer we will feature reflections initially prepared during the last Cycle B in 2018. They are being added here.
New submissions are welcome for the fall. Contact Bethany Welch at bwelch@cmsm.org to inquire about a specific set of Sunday readings.
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