Bending the Arc

States have a moral obligation to develop universal health care systems, Pope Leo XIV said, stating that "health cannot be a luxury for the few." "On the contrary, it is an essential condition for social peace," he said March 18 at a conference on health care inequality in Europe organized by the European bishops' council, Italian bishops' conference and the World Health Organization.

"Universal health coverage is not merely a technical goal to be achieved; it is primarily a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just," the pope said. "Healthcare must be accessible to the most vulnerable, then, not only because their dignity requires it but also to prevent injustice from becoming a cause of conflict."

Read the full NCR story here
 

A Joint Christian Advocacy Summit is being held in Washington DC May 5-7,2026. Inspired by Isaiah 1:17, the theme is Do Right; Seek Justice: Christians Uniting Against Oppression in Palestine and Israel.

Learn more at https://jointsummit2026.com/ 
 

On April 6, 2026, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed bipartisan bills to unlock over $125 million to fight PFAS contamination statewide. After months of negotiations and over two years of urging Congress to release already-approved funding secured in the 2023-25  Biennial Budget, the money will be released to help clean up Wisconsin’s water.

Read an overview of the bills’ provisions and additional background in this press release.

We are living in a time of unprecedented environmental degradation, from climate change to massive plastic waste to loss of biodiversity and more. The choices made by older generations have led to environmental and public health consequences that will be more harmful to younger generations. Transitions away from dirty sources of energy and excessive materialism are required and well-informed young adults are leading efforts for change. 

A recent article by Michael Hayek, a high school student at University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio, is titled “Worn Once, Wasted Forever: The Hidden Cost of Fast Fashion.” He explains how the garment industry has chosen profits over responsible products for years. Textile businesses have been creating lower quality clothing from low cost (and well-subsidized) oil and gas. Polyester is the most common synthetic fabric and is used to manufacture clothes that have become known as “fast fashion.” Michael’s article states “Since many fast fashion garments are cheaply made, consumers are able to purchase [them] more easily, turning clothing into a disposable product rather than a lasting necessity.”

The article describes the pollution created by the fast fashion culture. “As massive corporations flood stores and the internet with new styles each week, millions of garments are discarded after only a handful of wears. This constant cycle of overproduction and waste releases harmful dyes and synthetic fibers into the environment.” The textiles made from the synthetic materials are also used for carpeting, window and furniture covers, stuffed animals, blankets and much more. All of these materials create a pollution problem. “As synthetic garments are discarded, burned, or broken down over time, they emit microplastics and chemical residues creating irreversible impacts on the air, soil, and water.”

Michael states that “The younger generation is stepping up to take action against fashion corporations, holding them accountable and calling for immediate reform.” But Michael’s generation did not create this culture of fast fashion. It will take sincere effort by all to change purchasing habits to address the fast fashion problem. 

The above is shared by Julie Peller, a chemistry professor and climate researcher at Valparaiso University, in her weekly emailings. There are plenty of others who warn that fashion is one of the most environmentally destructive industries on the planet. 

How did things get so bad? 

Read this January 2026 article from The Nation - “What Your Cheap Clothes Cost the Planet.”

Last week, a presidential executive order was issued that would tighten federal control over mail-in voting ahead of the midterms. The White House says the order is about “citizenship verification” and “election integrity” but voting rights groups, like the ACLU are challenging the order arguing it is unconstitutional and will result in voter suppression. Read more here.

In her article, Unequal Weights, Rev. Cameron Trimble looks at this situation from a theological perspective. She quotes the commandment in Deuteronomy which says, “do not keep two sets of weights, one for fairness and one for advantage. Do not rig the scale before your transaction begins. Do not call a distorted measure just because it benefits you.”

A feature of Rev. Cameron’s articles is that each is accompanied by a prayer, a spiritual practice and reflection questions. After reading her “Unequal Weights” article above, ponder these questions: 

1. Where do you see “unequal weights” showing up in public right now?
2. Where are you tempted to accept conditions you would have resisted before?
3. What helps you stay clear about fairness when the pressure to adjust is strong?
   
    

On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will commemorate and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Each month, we will share an article inviting reflection on this anniversary, the current state of our democracy, and our personal role in its maintenance. 

We have all heard politicians and pundits alike proclaim at every shooting, every violent act or unseemly behavior: “This is not who we are! We are better than this.”

I beg to differ. I believe that this IS who we are. None of us likes to admit it, but it’s true. As a human being, I am a mixed bag of behaviors, of good and evil, of strengths and weaknesses, of kindness and cruelty and I never know which behavior will emerge from that bag at any given moment. Some of us spend our lives slowly opening this bag, owning who we are a little at a time if we can be honest with ourselves and keep growing into higher levels of human consciousness. Unfortunately, a few of us get stuck somewhere along the way, end up in denial and stop growing.

Beyond my humanity, I am a Catholic Christian, so my mixed bag further contains the metaphors and realities of light and darkness, sin and forgiveness, death and resurrection, inertia and transformation—to my constant chagrin and humility. Some of us spend our lives trying to balance these polarities, embracing our True Selves in the process while God works to make us whole. Again, a few of us get stuck at some point, perhaps, for example, narrowly thinking that our faith tradition is the only, true way to God or some other dogmatic theory that traps us in its claws.

But the mixed bag gets much heavier when I get to my identity as a citizen of the United States of America. This bag is filled with 250 years of shadow and glory, slavery and freedom, genocide and manifest destiny, racism and diversity, poverty and obscene wealth, honest work and corruption, imperialism and equality of nations, war and some semblance of peace—and everything in between.

In each of these “identities” or levels of being, how does one grow to fullness, to wholeness? I think it has something to do with acknowledging the past and how that has affected the present, the NOW, of my life, our life together, and how that might affect the trajectory of the future of my life, our life together. So, as a human, I must come to grips with my family history, my ancestors, my cultural ways so that I understand my behaviors, my shadow, my personality, my traumas and can grow beyond, not being held prisoner, but being free.

That is true for my Catholic faith tradition as well. How has the ongoing patriarchy, the colonialism, the traditionalism of the past affected my present? The abuse and its coverup? The dishonesty of it all? How has that shaped my faith life and the subsequent behaviors that emerge from my bag? How can I lay them at the feet of God and be free? My contemplative and apostolic life as a vowed religious woman leads me forward in that quest. Present efforts in the Church to wrestle with that history also help.

Even in my 8th decade of life, I am working at the first two, accepting that I am a mixed bag of behaviors and trying to become whole. But this last bag, the one of citizenship? This bag is daunting. I have discovered that the history I learned in school 60-70 years ago was partial at best, from a white perspective, and wholly about manifest destiny. All the behaviors listed above, the shadows of our country’s existence, while very real, are not acknowledged by very many in power because it is not to their advantage. As I stated before, acknowledging our history, our roots, our past, is the first step in healing, in growth. If we cannot do that on a large enough scale, then the shadow behaviors will keep emerging over and over—the cruelty, the racism, the white supremacy, the imperialism, the corruption and greed—as we are experiencing in this very moment. It is evident to me that we have not had the wider conversations about the ugliness of some of our nation’s past, have not told ourselves the truth about our history and its effects on us, have not accepted the full narrative of who we are in reality, have not asked forgiveness nor forgiven ourselves for the pain we have inflicted on ourselves and then ignored.

So, people, pundits and politicians, stop saying,” This is not who we are!” It IS who we are. We are a mixed bag of shadow and goodness. Some of us have not even opened the bag of our own humanity much less our own faith tradition, whatever that may be. Many, if not most, have certainly not engaged in the conversations we so desperately need to have on our country’s mixed bag of historical and ongoing behaviors. We tend to be mired in American exceptionalism. In the split screen playing out before our eyes right now, we tend to see only the goodness of our neighbors taking care of each other, walking each other’s children to school, shopping for groceries for each other, sounding whistles of warning for each other and not see the screen showing the reasons that make all that even more necessary than usual these days, that lay bare the fear and violence gripping those not considered “exceptional” in these days. I challenge us not to be afraid to open the three bags—that of our humanity, our faith traditions, our citizenship--and courageously yet tenderly explore their contents. Yes, it’s a humbling journey, but it’s the only way we can truly grow—and the survival, if not the thriving, of our common humanity, our many faith traditions and our beloved country depend on it.

Reflect

Questions developed by Patrice Rog, CSA

• Can I honestly and humbly explore my own “mixed bag”? What surprises me? What growth have I experienced over the years? What must I throw out of the bag? Where do I need to add to the bag?
• What idea in the essay touched me as I reflect on my past and current beliefs and assertions?
• In which narrative of our nation do I believe? What can I do to challenge our leadership to align our country’s narrative to our entire past, including both its honorable and distasteful truths?

Learn more about CSA's “US at 250” initiatives including the April 23 event featuring Justice Janine Geske.

In an April 2, Popular Information article, Noel Sims reports that across the country, local and state officials are fighting to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from turning local warehouses into sprawling detention centers. How? By shutting off their water. Small communities in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Utah where ICE has purchased warehouses, have said that increased populations of people will overwhelm their local water and sewage systems so have shut off and in some cases, padlocked water meters. Read more of this story here.
 

This was the message of Pope Leo on Palm Sunday. According to a Reuters article on March 29, Pope Leo said, “God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have ‘hands full of blood’”, in unusually forceful remarks as the Iran war entered its second month in which US officials are using Christian terms to justify strikes on Iran. Read the full article here.

Pope Leo has repeatedly called for an end to the war with Iran, including as recently as Tuesday, March 31, when he asked that President Trump look for an “off ramp.”

Again on Easter Sunday, in his first Easter Mass, Pope Leo called for global leaders to choose peace. "On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars," he said.

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) unequivocally stands against the violence of war. CSA Sisters are:

• women committed to being peacemakers.
• women who believe, as citizens of a democracy, that it is our responsibility to add our voice to the public discourse.
• women who believe we are called to treat all people with value and dignity.
• women who pray for our country, our leaders and for all the victims of terrorism and their families.
• women who pray for our enemies and seek deeper understanding of the struggles that generate enmity.
• women who believe the United States needs to assess those foreign, economic and ecological policies that continue to widen the gap between the wealthy and the poor.
• women who believe our nation spends too much on making war possible and far too little on creating and empowering just societies in the world.
• women who strive to hear the cry of the poor and respond globally, nationally and locally with our presence and our resources.
• women who are committed to the social justice teachings of the Catholic Church and engage in legislative advocacy to promote the common good.
• women who embrace diversity of race, gender, religion, culture and work to eliminate prejudice and discrimination, both locally and globally.
• women who join with people of goodwill to pray for peace and to become peacemakers.