July-August 2012 Mercy justice highlights published every other month FEATURED CRITICAL CONCERNS ENGAGEMENT College Students Exhibit Passion for Justice Students from Gwynned Mercy College, Mount Aloysius College and Misericordia University met with an aide to Senator Robert Casey (above) as part of an advocacy immersion experience. Forty-one students and staff from Mercy-sponsored colleges and universities came to Washington,D.C. to learn about advocacy through the lens of immigration issues. The program, sponsored by the Conference of Mercy Higher Education (CMHE) and the Institute Justice Team, included a visit to an immigrant center, learning about faith-based advocates’ work on Capitol Hill, and meeting with staff of their legislators. Participating institutions also included Detroit-Mercy, Georgian Court, Mount Mercy, St. Joseph Connecticut, St. Joseph Maine and Saint Xavier. You may read more about the experience here.
Transcript
July-August 2012
Mercy justice highlights published every other month
FEATURED CRITICAL CONCERNS ENGAGEMENT
College Students Exhibit Passion for Justice
Students from Gwynned Mercy College, Mount Aloysius College and Misericordia University
met with an aide to Senator Robert Casey (above) as part of an advocacy immersion
experience. Forty-one students and staff from Mercy-sponsored colleges and universities came
to Washington,D.C. to learn about advocacy through the lens of immigration issues. The
program, sponsored by the Conference of Mercy Higher Education (CMHE) and the Institute
Justice Team, included a visit to an immigrant center, learning about faith-based advocates’
work on Capitol Hill, and meeting with staff of their legislators. Participating institutions also
included Detroit-Mercy, Georgian Court, Mount Mercy, St. Joseph Connecticut, St. Joseph
Maine and Saint Xavier. You may read more about the experience here.
Resources are being developed for Mercy Taking Action: Deepening the Awakening the Dreamer Experience, in hopes of having some materials available in the fall. This initiative, a response to the 2011 Chapter Declaration and the Institute Leadership Conference’s commitment to Awakening the Dreamer, will delve more deeply into the themes of environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment. It also will engage participants in considering new understandings and applying these to changes to individual behaviors, community practices and institutional policies. The initial resources include a 6-day retreat format, a short educational module for Mercy institutions and small-group processes for Sisters and Associates and for Mercy staff. Suggestions are welcome from individuals and groups who would make use of these materials; contact Marianne Comfort of the Institute Justice Team, who is coordinating the initiative, at [email protected] or 301-587-0423 ext. 2243.
EARTH
Green practices take root in Connecticut
Environmentally friendly practices are becoming the norm at Mercy institutions in Connecticut, according to a report by the Earth Mercy Committee of Connecticut. The report looked at practices that are taking root at St. Joseph College; Mercy Community Health; Mercy Housing and Shelter; Mercy High School; Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall; and Mercy Center at Madison. It also looked at how environmentally friendly practices are being taught at Mercy institutions. Among the practices are installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, low-flush toilets, solar panels and energy-efficient windows; composting food waste and yard waste; using non-toxic cleaning supplies and encouraging people not to let their vehicles idle. Mercy High models waste-free lunch habits by encouraging use of lunch boxes and cloth napkins and the cafeteria also uses washable or biodegradable utensils. Mercy Housing, Mercy Center and Saint Joseph College are growing vegetable gardens and serving the produce at meals. The Lauralton tradition of the senior class tree planting continues, but now off-campus to benefit the larger community.
Project Maps Water Pollution in New Mexico
“Water, Air and Land: A Sacred Trust,” a project funded by the Northeast Community ministry fund, maps pollution of water in New Mexico from dirty energy sources. A collaborative effort engaging Anglo and Indigenous communities, the map and corresponding website illustrate the impact of current and historical industrial activities on urban and rural populations, as well as natural habitats. The resource will serve as a significant tool for professional and community-based organizations in protecting the water in the state. Sister Marlene Perrotte, co-founder of the Partnership for Earth Spirituality (PES), was the recipient of the ministry grant.
Sister Moira Flynn of CCASA, who ministers with Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland among the campesinos in Inchocan-Cajamarca, Peru, participated with a group of women from her parish in the "Marcha de las Mujeres-dignas luchadoras en defensa de la vida " (March of Women-worthy fighters in defense of life). They are struggling to defend their environment and their water against the Newmont Mining Corp.'s Minas Conga copper and gold project. The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute Justice Team signed onto a letter to the Peruvian embassy in Washington, D.C., and the consulate in San Francisco, condemning recent violence associated with protests against the mine. Also, the Institute Justice Team signed onto a letter to the Peruvian ambassador to the U.S., expressing concerns about police violence aimed at people protesting against the Xstrata mining company in Espinar, Peru.
Northeast Sisters Save Tons of Carbon
Members of the Northeast Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas calculate that collectively they have saved about 246 tons of carbon since pledging last year to reduce their carbon footprint. The changes they made included reducing electric dishwasher usage, reducing shower times, installing low-flow shower heads, reducing warm/hot washer loads, reducing dryer loads, and switching from meat to vegetarian meals one or more days per week. You may read more about their efforts here.
Rally At State Senator’s Office Targets Fracking
Sister M. Gratia L’Esperance, as a board member of The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester, expressed concerns about the extraction process known as hydrofracking at a rally outside the offices of New York State Senator Joseph Robach. The rally was sponsored by a new coalition called New Yorkers Against Fracking. She expressed the group’s concerns about the amount of water required in the process, the mixing of fresh water with highly toxic chemicals to produce fracking fluid, the potential for chemicals leaking into water sources, and the possibility of the Genesee River being endangered by the transportation of fracking fluid from Pennsylvania into New York for disposal. The group called upon Senator Robach to work on regulations that assure long-term public health and safety in dealing with the flowback fluid and with disposal of contaminated solid waste.
Marianne Comfort of the Institute Justice Team (above) participated in a rally outside the U.S. State Department, calling on U.S. representatives to the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development to work for a “true green economy” rather than push forward an agenda that supports corporate interests at the expense of the environment and local communities. Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN, Sister Áine O’Connor, and Sister Mary Bilderback of Georgian Court University both attended the June Conference in Brazil also is known as Rio+20. Sister Aine has written a first-hand perspective on each of the four issues that the Sisters of Mercy were concerned with at the conference: reaffirmation of the commitment to an equitable and sustainable future for all peoples and Earth; reaffirmation of a rights-based commitment to sustainable development and, in particular, reaffirmation of the human right to water and sanitation; commitment to the need for mining regulation and recognition of the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples for mining activities impacting their land, territories and resources; and reining in of transnational corporations and ensuring their accountability and transparency to enable sustainable and equitable development for all in harmony with nature and within our planetary boundaries. Sister Ana Maria Siufi, CCASA justice coordinator, shares her perspective of the Rio+20 talks here.
Mercy Investment Addresses Chevron Damages to Amazon
For almost 20 years, oil companies Texaco and Chevron have fought a lawsuit over damages to the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador caused by oil drilling that has impacted the lives and health of village residents near the drilling sites. Chevron shareholders – including Mercy Investment Services – used the company’s annual meeting to voice their concerns and support resolutions demanding change within the company. You may read more about this effort here.
Sister Larretta Elizabeth Rivera-Williams (above) was among more than 300 participants at the South Central Assembly who called their Representatives and Senators to urge passage of the DREAM Act, which would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented young adults who came to the United States as children. The action was preceded by brief presentations on the impact of advocacy on direct service ministries and how U.S. policy influences other countries. Sister Rose Marie Tresp, South Central justice director who organized the activity, introduced three young women who would benefit from the legislation. You may read more about the activity here.
Carlow University Aids Trafficking Victims
The Project to End Human Trafficking at Carlow University is coordinating efforts with local agencies and the FBI to provide for two Guatemalan laborers who are victims of human trafficking. Professor Mary Burke is coordinating with graduate students the collection of food, clothing, transportation and housing as the men work to renew their work visas. The men also must pay off debt incurred in Guatemala to attain jobs with the traffickers. It is hoped that the information the men provide will help prosecute the traffickers and help other victimized laborers.
High School Staff Visit US-Mexico Border
After four years of taking students to Laredo, TX, Mercy High School, San Francisco, took a group of faculty/staff members this past spring instead. Like the students, they learned about issues related to life on the U.S.-Mexico border and built relationships with Sisters of Mercy living and ministering in the area. One of the teachers who has participated in the annual trip since 2008 shares her reflections here.
Mercy Expresses Mixed Feelings about Immigration Ruling
Sister Reg McKillip of the Institute Justice Team (third from right in back) joined other people of faith for immigration reform in front of the Supreme Court. The Sisters of Mercy are pleased with the Court's decision to strike down three provisions of Arizona’s immigration law, “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” (SB 1070). These provisions would have led to wrongful arrests and criminal detention. But there was disappointment that the Court upheld Section 2(B) or the “papers please” provision. You may read the Sisters of Mercy’s full statement here.
NON-VIOLENCE
Human Rights Violations Continue in Honduras
June 1st marked the 2nd anniversary of the abduction and disappearance in Honduras of Norma Hernandez Lopez, the blood sister of Mercy Sister Sandra Hernandez. The lack of a serious investigation of Norma’s case by the Honduran authorities is characteristic of a weak and corrupt state apparatus, where impunity has reigned and deepened since the coup three years ago. The Institute Justice Team continues to closely monitor human rights violations in the country, particularly the targeting of community leaders and human rights defenders, and update Congressional offices on the negative impact of US financial assistance to the Honduran military and police. Mercy advocates secured support for two human rights letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which circulated in the House of Representatives. Jean Stokan of the Institute Justice Team also made direct interventions with the State Department following the May 11th killing of four civilians, including two pregnant women, in an anti-narcotics operation that involved US Drug Enforcement Administration staff, as well as following death threats received by internationals who accompany Honduran human rights organizations (as a way to lend protection)—the first such threats issued to internationals in the country. You may find updates on Honduras here.
Jean Stokan of the Institute Justice Team took this photo of a protest at the Vancouver office of
the Pacific Rim Mining Company during the the Shout Out Against Mining Injustice Conference
in June. At the conference, representatives from six Latin American countries testified about the
violence directed against communities resisting mining, as well as the violence to Earth and the
poisoning of water sources. Highlights from the conference may be found here. Elsewhere,
Sisters Tita Lopez and Ana Siufi, CCASA Justice Coordinators, closely monitor developments of
mining companies in Central and South America, including targeted killings of activists and
other forms of repressing indigenous communities protesting the destruction of their lands. Most
recently, the Institute Justice Team signed onto a letter condemning the killings of 5 protesters
of a mine in Peru.
Pray for Those Executed and Their Victims There were six state-sponsored executions in May and June of people convicted of murder. We invite you to pray for those executed, their victims and all of their family members. You may find here a list of those executed and their victims, and the state in which they were executed.
POVERTY
Homeless Bill of Rights Passed
Rhode Island has passed the nation’s first “homeless bill of rights,” which affirms the rights of people who are homeless to equal access to emergency care, employment and public services. It was signed into law in response to concerns about discrimination against the homeless across the country. Among those advocating for the law was the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, of which the Rev. Mary Margaret Earl, associate director of McAuley Ministries in Providence, serves as board president. Sister Ann Welch challenges Mercy to advocate for similar laws in other states.
Sister Diane Guerin, Mid-Atlantic Community Justice Coordinator, spoke (above) at a stop on
the Nuns on the Bus tour. The bus traveled through nine states to challenge government budget
cuts and the devastating impact these cuts will have on those who are already struggling to
make ends meet. The bus stopped at some Mercy ministries, and Sisters of Mercy came out to
support the bus in Cedar Rapids, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. Participants of the West
Midwest Gathering greeted the bus in Detroit, and in solidarity with the tour sent 111 postcards
to 40 House members expressing strong opposition to the cuts in the House budget proposal
and calling on Congress to promote the common good. Sister Reg McKillip of the Institute
Justice Team, who also traveled with the bus for a few days, shares her experience here.
Institute Leadership Pleased With Most of Healthcare Ruling
The leadership team of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas commended the Supreme Court for upholding the Affordable Care Act, which could provide 32 million uninsured Americans with access to affordable healthcare coverage. But the leadership team is concerned about the Court’s decision that would allow States to opt out of the expansion of Medicaid. This could possibly lead to fewer persons who are poor being able to gain insurance. Earlier this year the Sisters of Mercy signed on to an amicus brief, a legal paper, supporting the expansion of Medicaid. You may read the full leadership statement here.
Farm Bill Includes Food Stamps Cuts
Both the Senate and the Agriculture Committee of the House of Representatives passed versions of the Farm Bill that include cuts to SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), with the House committee trimming $1.6 billion and the Senate $400 million. It is unclear whether the entire House will vote on the bill, or if the next step is for the agricultural committees of the two legislative bodies to develop a compromise package. 260 Mercy advocates contacted their legislators to oppose amendments that would deny SNAP benefits to any households in which all members couldn’t produce documentation of citizenship. The amendments didn’t pass in either the Senate nor the House committee.
Mercy advocates in Nebraska and Illinois contacted their U.S. senators in support of relief for college and university students caught off-guard by a reduction in the time limit allowed for completing a degree with a Pell Grant. The College of Saint Mary in Omaha and Saint Xavier University in Chicago are among the institutions concerned about the impact of new time limits on students. Since many low- and moderate-income students work while attending college and often take more than the traditional eight semesters to finish, the reduction in time limits from 18 semesters to 12 effective for the upcoming academic year may force some seniors to drop out before they complete their degree.
Arkansas Students Produce Mercy Beyond Borders Video
Two multimedia students at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas – Brittany Greenwood and Marisa Molinaro -- produced the runner-up video in the 2nd annual Mercy Beyond Borders video contest. Mercy Beyond Borders, founded by Mercy Sister Marilyn Lacey, is a nonprofit organization that partners with displaced women and children to alleviate extreme poverty through educating women and girls, supporting women's micro-enterprise groups and improving maternal/child health. You may view the video here.
RACISM
Students Win Award for Work with American Indians
Four students from Mercy Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, received the first Sister Mary Schmuck Service Leadership Award for their work with the Lakota people on Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations in South Dakota. After spending 134 hours in service on the reservations, they wrote a petition for Senate Bill 1262, the Access for Success in Schools Act, which aims to incorporate native language and culture into the curriculum of reservation schools and create a turn- around program for low-performing schools. They collected 249 signatures and sent the petition to each member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs with an attached letter. The students then invited Bob Roche, director of the American Indian Education Center in Cleveland, to speak at two area universities. He talked of past and present injustices faced by American Indians and ways that people can help.
WOMEN
Trafficking Interest Group Formed
Sister Jeanne Christensen, a justice coordinator for the West Midwest Community, is forming an e-focus group for people for whom human trafficking is of particular interest and/or is an issue in which they are involved in some way. This is intended to be conversation and possible action among sisters, associates, companions, co-workers and colleagues
who are seriously interested in learning more, doing advocacy, engaging in direct service, motivating or educating others on this issue. For more information, contact [email protected].
Fighting Trafficking at the Olympics
The interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, of which Mercy Investment Services is a member, has launched a petition to Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The petition urges the IOC to join the global movement to eliminate human trafficking and slavery, since major sporting events are potential venues for these practices. You may read more here about the campaign to keep the 2012 London Olympics slavery-free.
State Department Report on Trafficking Highlighted
The most current issue of STOP Trafficking features excerpts from the 2012 U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, with an emphasis on how to make victim protection most effective for helping survivors get their lives back on track. The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas are among dozens of congregations of women religious who co-sponsor this monthly newsletter.
College of Saint Mary Hosts Latina Academy
College of Saint Mary students helped Latina Academy Director Maria Luisa Gastón with this one-week summer educational opportunity for ninth- and tenth-grade Latinas. The annual program encompasses hands-on instruction in science and computer technology and includes educational field trips and lunches with Latina community leaders.
Violence Against Women Act in Jeopardy
The U.S. House of Representatives passed reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) but did not include protections for some vulnerable populations, such as Native women on reservations, non-citizens and persons who are lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender. 267 Mercy advocates contacted their Representatives to urge that these protections be included. A compromise now needs to be reached with the Senate, which included these protections. A sponsor of the Senate version of reauthorization warns that time is running out to pass this legislation before campaigning kicks into high gear. The Institute Justice Team will alert advocates for women when it is a critical time to contact legislators on this issue.
Maria Eva Saans, specialist in gender violence, converses above with a local judge during workshops on the topic organized by the Community Center for Integration from the city of Clorinda Formosa. Sister Estela Gomez and co-worker Ana Caligaris organized the event and Sister Deborah Watson and other women who participate in coordinating their center, Ñande Roga Guazú, also participated out of concern about cases of gender violence taking place locally at different levels, They decided to initiate the articulation of actions with various city institutions, and each institution presented a proposal on what it could offer with respect to gender violence cases. There will be a next meeting with protocols for intervention.
PROMOTING CRITICAL CONCERNS
Justice Team Prepared to Give Class Presentations
Marianne Comfort of the Institute Justice Team this past spring joined a graduate nursing class at Mount Mercy University by Skype. She shared with the students the policy work that the justice team is engaged in around healthcare reform, the federal budget and immigration. She then took students’ questions and engaged them in some discussion. The Institute Justice Team welcomes the opportunity to use technology such as Skype to engage with students of all levels and with staff of Mercy institutions on any aspects of the Critical Concerns. Contact Marianne Comfort at [email protected] or 301-587-0423 ext. 2243.
