Justice

With Malawi and other southern African countries still reeling nearly 10 months after Cyclone Freddy, Catholic sisters gathered to learn advocacy skills to lobby on the neglected survivors' behalf.

 A webinar hosted by the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission,  addressed some troubling consequences of the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, especially in regard to mining efforts.

Sisters step up to provide assistance for the thousands who have been displaced after torrential rain, which experts say is related to climate change, flood northern Kenya.  

This year's Hilton Humanitarian Prize given to the One Acre Fund recognizes the need to make visible an essential group in the world and in Africa, says Presentation Sr. Joyce Meyer: "Farmers are too often invisible."

"Vita gave Mercy a new way of mission due to our present age profile," said a Sister of Mercy who is on Vita's board. She calls the Green Impact Fund "visionary" because of its circular model and focus on communities. 

Un polémico proyecto de ley pone en jaque los derechos territoriales de los pueblos indígenas en Brasil. De aprobarse el marco temporal, significaría la pérdida de tierras demarcadas luego de 1988. Las hermanas que trabajan con estas comunidades manifiestan su rechazo y lucharán junto a ellos para proteger sus territorios ancestrales. Si bien la tensión aumenta, las religiosas católicas se mantienen firmes en su misión, defendiendo el derecho a la tierra y la autodeterminación de estos pueblos originarios. “Somos pacifistas (…). Pero si es necesario, tenemos que luchar con ellos y moriremos juntos”, advirtió la Hna. Irma María Inés Vieira, de las Hermanas Mensajeras del Amor Divino, expresidenta del Congreso de Religiosos de Brasil. 

Amid rising violence in some Indigenous communities over land rights in Brazil, sisters there say that, if necessary, they'll fight alongside the original inhabitants to protect their land.

Thanks to a recent donation from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice will expand its lobbying portfolio on Capitol Hill to include climate advocacy.