Maryknoll Missionary Dumbfounded

A Maryknoll Missionary from South Africa came back home to the U.S. on a working leave. She who works with children in South Africa was dumbfounded that there are 9 million + uninsured children in the U.S., 710,000 of whom lost their insurance in 2006. Jesus tells Zacheus, “I must stay at your house today.” Jesus respected Zacheus’ dignity as a human being even though he didn’t “do the right thing.” When Zacheus welcomed Jesus into his house he had a conversion whereby he gave half of his possessions to the poor. Will we be a Zacheus and advocate for these 9 million children in the U.S. to be insured? If we can’t buy into the Catholic Social Justice principles as to why these children should have insurance coverage then we may find some reason in the article “Uninsurance: Why Should the Covered Care?” by Arthur Kellerman, a professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Emory’s School of Medicine. You should be able to find it by googling. If you are not a computer person you can find copies in the pamphlet box in the social justice bulletin board in the east entry.

How Will Chimbote be Affected?

Congress is expected to vote soon on the Peru-United States Free Trade Agreement. This agreement affects the poor the most. About 73 percent of Peruvians live below the poverty line. It is estimated that 700,000 producers of cotton, barley, corn, wheat, oilseeds and dairy producers will be unable to compete with U.S. prices and so will become even more impoverished. They will migrate to the cities. Some of these will end up in Chimbote. As in Mexico and Central America, when hundreds of farmers suffered the loss of their farms, the alternative became migration to countries like the United States. The connection between trade, investment and immigration is often lost in the immigration debate.
Further, mining, oil and natural gas exploration would cause damage to the Peruvian environment, especially the Andes mountain region and the Amazon basin, the largest virgin forest on the planet. In the Free Trade Agreement, multinational corporations have the right to sue governments if any attempt to protect the environment would cause the companies a reduction in profits.
The right to life with dignity is what is at stake here. The Peru Trade Agreement should be rejected until its provisions are so revised as to strengthen, not worsen the economic, social and political equality of Peru.(NETWORK) Social justice demands such a rejection. Jesus' advocacy was always for the poor. If we are going to live out our baptismal commitment we must advocate for these people with our legislators.

If Properous Nations Continue to be Jealous

We must repeat that the superflous goods of wealthier nations ought to be placed at the disposal of poorer nations. The rule, by virtue of which in times past those nearest us were to be helped in time of need, applies today to all the needy throughout the world. And the prospering peoples will be the first to benefit from this. Continuing avarice on their part will arouse the judgment of God and the wrath of the poor, with consequences no one can forsee. If prosperous nations continue to be jealous of their own advantage alone, they wil jeoprdize their highest values, sacrificing the pursuit of excellence to the acquistion of possessions. We might well apply to them the parable of the rich man. His fields yielded an abundant harvest and he did not know where to store it. "But God said to him, 'Fool, this very night your soul will be demanded from you....' " Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 49
This is an admonition to be heeded in the rewriting of the Farm Bill, of the Immigration Bill, of the Free Trade Agreements and countless other policies coming up for reconsideration by our government.

Iraq: Negotiating a Lasting Peace

Catholic Social Teaching calls for participation as a basic human right. It demands people be allowed to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and decisions should be made by those who will be affected by the outcome. Bringing all involved factions of Iraq society to the table together is the only way to guarantee this right to the Iraqi people.
Over the past months, numerous proposal have been presented to Congress suggesting ideas on how to handle the deteriorating situation in Iraq. These proposals range from troop deployment, withdrawal, and otherc hanges in strategy. Rend Al-Rahim, a senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, suggests forming an Iraqi compact would bring internal parties involved in the conflict to the negotiating table, providing leaders with the opportunity to mutually improve the laws of the developing nation. Al-Rahim argues that "Laws and constitutional revision must be outcomes of a national agreement,not conditions for one."
NETWORK, a Catholic Social Jutice lobby, along with Al-Rahim, advocates a peace conference strategy. An Iraqi Peace Conference would bring together all factions of Iraqi society in the hopes of creating a lasting peace. For such a genuine peace to become reality, internal reconciliation is critical. NETWORK believes a forum allowing Iraqis to formulate the necessary peace agreement is the only avenue that will result in an end to the Civil War. Without an internal Iraqi approach, troop and civilian death tolls will continue to escalate and Iraqis will continue being driven from their homes by violence.
Congressman Blumenauer has outlined a comprehensive plan for Iraq (H.R. 663) that includes a provision regarding an Iraqi Peace Conference. There are other bills pending that can also be used as the vehicles for accomplishing this goal, but H.R. 663 is among the most comprehensive. See www.networklobby.org