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April 2022 Newsletter
Issue #62
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Since Russia invaded Ukraine last month,
more than 10 million Ukrainians have left their homes -- displacing approximately 25% of the overall population. More than 4 million people have fled
the country.
Some 4.3 million Ukrainian children — more than 50% of the estimated 7.5 million total have had to relocate. Some 2.5 million children moved within Ukraine, and more than 1.8 million more have crossed into other countries as refugees. The ongoing conflict has created one of the fastest large-scale displacements of children since World War II.
78 children have been killed and 105 injured in Ukraine, but those figures are likely a
significant undercount.
There have been 64 attacks on Ukraine's health care system in just 25 days, averaging two or three per day. UNICEF says that officials have already seen a drop in vaccinations for routine and childhood immunizations like measles and polio.
have been damaged.
Approximately 4.6 million people have limited access to safe water — with an estimated 1.4 million lacking access entirely — and that more than 450,000 children between the ages of 6 and 23 months now need complementary food support.
Refugee Acceptance
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Poland, which shares a 310-mile border with Ukraine, has received 1,204,403 refugees. The government there plans to set up a fund of $1.7 billion for people fleeing Ukraine, including the provision of a one-off payment of around $65 for each refugee.
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Hungary, a country that seven years ago built barbed-wire fences and deployed attack dogs to keep out refugees has allowed 191,348 Ukrainians to enter. Local media claim that the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has softened his longstanding anti-refugee rhetoric ahead of April elections.
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Romania, another border country, has taken about 143,000 refugees. Foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said Romania is “open … to all those in need”, and that the refugees will be provided with “whatever is needed for them to feel safe.”
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Slovakia, another neighboring country, had taken in 140,745 Ukrainian refugees. The country’s prime minister, Eduard Heger, said: “Slovakia is ready to help every Ukrainian who asks for such help.”
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The Czech Republic has accepted more than 100,000 refugees from Ukraine -- most of whom arrived by train and car. Interior minister Vít Rakušan said that “We are dealing with a migrant crisis of unprecedented proportions. Our registration centers can serve 8,000 to 10,000 applicants a day.”
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Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, which relies heavily on Russian gas, had accepted 82,762 refugees. The government has expressed concerns about the possibility of being invaded by Russia too, and is seeking to join the European Union.
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In Germany, about 30,000 Ukrainian refugees have so far arrived, with most coming through Poland. The German Interior Ministry said it would take refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine no matter what their nationality.
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The Irish government has reported that 2,200 Ukrainians have arrived in the country. The day after Russia invaded, the Irish government lifted all visa restrictions. It also instructed airlines to accept Ukrainians who did not have passports but had some other form of ID such a driving license or birth certificate.
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The U.S. has pledged to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainians and other displaced people fleeing the conflict. In addition, the U.S. has offered $1 billion in new funding for humanitarian aid for Ukrainians and refugees in neighboring countries. This funding will provide food, shelter, clean water, medical supplies and other forms of assistance.
To view over 40 pictures of the fighting near Kyiv, click here.
For free resources to help Ukrainian refugees,
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Refugee Point
Advances lasting solutions for at-risk refugees and supports the humanitarian community to do the same. Offers a unique resettlement program that partners with the UN Refugee Agency in 30 countries across the globe. Works to grow through three approached: direct services, field building, and systems change. Learn more.
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Asylum Access:
Making Human Rights a Reality for Refugees
Uses legal empowerment to support refugees as they assert and protect their human rights. Frontline advocates provide refugee communities with information on their rights and options. This is done through one-on-one consultations with refugee clients and their families, as well as regular public workshops carried out for refugee communities. All legal services are always provided for free to their clients. Partners with national governments to change laws so they empower and protect refugee communities and works to transform the global system of displacement response so it prioritizes refugees’ human rights and recognizes their power. Learn more.
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Refugee Vetting 101
A short video from NPR featuring Deb Amos, that describes the exhaustive process refugees go through before being allowed to enter the U.S. Watch now.
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Christians and Immigration
A resource from Sojourners, this collection of current pieces and articles from past decades, is designed to spark discussion, thought, and action about how to live out God’s call for justice for all our neighbors. Contributors include: Ched Myers, Eric Ledermann, Damon Schroeder, Jim Wallis, Daniel G. Groody, José F. Morales Jr., Sue Lefebvre, Maryada Vallet, James Reel, Bob Ekblad, Noemi Mena, Angela Maria Kelley, Sally Steenland, and Gabriel Salguero.
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Go Back to Where You Came From:
And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American
By Wajahat Ali. Tackles the dangers of Islamophobia, white supremacy, and chocolate hummus, peppering personal stories with astute insights into national security, immigration, and pop culture. Offers lessons for cultivating a more compassionate, inclusive, and delicious America. Read more.
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U.S. Citizenship Test Questions -
Practice Tests
Unless exempt, applicants must successfully pass a civics test to become a United States citizen. Applicants will be asked 10 questions during their naturalization interview and must correctly answer six questions to receive a passing score. Test questions come from a list of 100 possible questions about United States civics and history. Applicants will have two opportunities to pass the English and civics tests per naturalization application. Offers 10 practice tests with 10 multiple choice
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A White Catholics Guide to
Racism and Privilege
By Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M. The author shares what he has since learned about uncovering and combatting racial inequity in our nation and in our Church, urging us to join the fight. Speaks prophetically to what has become a gnawing unease for so many. Shows his fellow white Catholics how to become actively anti-racist and better allies to our Black brothers and sisters as we work against racism in our culture and in the Church. Offers hope and surety of the Gospel, the wisdom of Catholic tradition, and some practical ways to educate ourselves and advocate for justice. Each chapter includes a substantial suggested-reading list.
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All the White Friends I Couldn't Keep:
Hope--and Hard Pills to Swallow--
About Fighting for Black Lives
By Andre Henry. Explores how the historical divides between Black people and non-Black people are expressed through our most mundane interactions, and why this struggle won’t be resolved through civil discourse, diversity hires, interracial relationships, or education. Sharing stories from the author's own path to activism—from studying at seminary to becoming a student of nonviolent social change, from working as a praise leader to singing about social justice—and connecting those experiences to lessons from successful nonviolent struggles in America and around the world, calls on Black people and people of color to divest from whiteness and its false promises, trust what their lived experiences tell them, and practice hope as a discipline as they work for lasting change. Read more.
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World Meteorological Organization
A specialized agency of the United Nations (U.N.) with 193 member states and territories. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources. Learn more.
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Oceana
An international organization focused solely on oceans, dedicated to achieving measurable change by conducting specific, science-based policy campaigns with fixed deadlines and articulated goals.
Established by a group of leading foundations after a 1999 study they commissioned discovered that less than 0.5 percent of all resources spent by environmental nonprofit groups in the United States went to ocean advocacy.
Since its founding, Oceana has won more than 225 victories and protected more than 4.5 million square miles of ocean. Learn more.
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Cost of Living: Essays
By Emily Maloney. Based on the author's personal experiences, provides an examination of just what our troubled healthcare system asks us to pay, as well as a look at what goes on behind the scenes at our hospitals and in the minds of caregivers. Read more.
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Our Prison Story: A Prisoner, Former, Correctional Officer, and Crime Victim Unite for Restorative Justice in America's Prisons
By Aprelle Dianne McCarty. A true story of a former correctional officer of 14 years, a prisoner doing time for murder, and a former victim of violent crime, reveal with how they found themselves seeing eye-to-eye and coming together in the shared desire to push for restorative justice and true correction in correctional facilities, from all sides —ultimately co-writing this book with the hopes that society will begin to see the urgent need for huge changes in America’s prison system. Read more.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
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Morningside Center for Teaching
Social Responsibility
A nonprofit organization that envisions a society where people are active participants in creating a culture of liberation, healing, and deep connection to their communities, natural environments, and the world. Their mission is to facilitate transformative experiences for members of the school community to co-create joyful, equitable, and rigorous learning environments. Learn more.
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The World Counts
Collects data from many of the world's most reputable organizations, research institutions, news services etc. focusing on issues related to world population, consumer economy and other global challenges. Keeps live running totals by year, month, week and day. Learn more.
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Writing Letters to the Editor
In this brief video from a Network training session, press secretary Lee Morrow shows how and why writing letters to editors can be so effective.
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Important Dates This Month
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Individuals Honored This Month |
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April 2nd
Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed worker.
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April 10th
The Peace Corps left today and my heart sank low. The danger is extreme and they were right to leave...Now I must assess my own position because I am not up for suicide. Several times I have decided to leave El Salvador. I almost could, except for the children, the poor, bruised victims of this insanity. Who would care for them? Whose heart could be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and helplessness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine.
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April 21st
I saw the suffering and I let myself feel it… I saw the injustice and was compelled to do something about it. I changed from being a nun who only prayed for the suffering world to a woman with my sleeves rolled up, living my prayer.
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April 21st
I'd rather be in the mountains thinking of God, than in church thinking about the mountains.
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April 23rd
I hope that you come to find that which gives life a deep meaning for you. Something worth living for – maybe even worth dying for, something that energizes you, enthuses you, enables you to keep moving ahead. I can’t tell you what it might be – that’s for you to find, to choose, to love. I can just encourage you to start looking and support you in the search.
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April 26th
It is in community that we come to see God in the other. It is in community that we see own emptiness filled up. It is community that calls me beyond the pinched horizons of my own life, my own country, my own race, and gives me the gifts I do not have
within me.
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April 27th
The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members, a heart of grace and a soul generated
by love.
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Since 2017, there have been more than 260,000 visitors the Social Justice Resource Center website. We provide a wide variety of facts and figures on specific social issues as well as thousands of free resources including films, publications, links to other organizations, prayers, quotes, principles of social justice, key dates throughout the year, action ideas, Diocesan office contact information and biographies of famous people who have worked for social justice.
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