Bending the Arc

This summer, the Fond du Lac Public Library will offer monthly showings of the documentary “The Right to Read” in the McLane Room (32 Sheboygan St., Fond du Lac).

• June 19 at 6 p.m.
• July 24 at noon
• August 21 at 6 p.m.

The Right to Read shares the stories of an activist, a teacher, and two American families who fight to provide our youngest generation with the most foundational indicator of life-long success: the ability to read. 

When a child can’t read, their chances of incarceration, homelessness, and unemployment increase. That's why Oakland-based NAACP activist Kareem Weaver believes literacy is one of the greatest civil rights issues of our time and is fighting for better reading instruction. “What good is winning the right to vote if we can’t even read the ballot?” Fed up with the bleak reading scores in his own community, Kareem files a petition with the Oakland Unified School District demanding change. 

No RSVP required!

Visit The Right to Read film website

Georgetown University offers another great public dialogue that will address challenges and questions for voters and the nation in 2024.

Sixty years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed and signed into law after a long moral and political struggle. This act fundamentally changed the United States, enacting legal protections against racial discrimination, prohibiting discrimination in public places, integrating schools and other public facilities, and making employment discrimination illegal. Catholic and other religious communities played key roles in this effort, which offered hope to people who had been excluded from opportunities in education, housing, and employment simply based on race, color, or national origin. 

These are not abstract or historical issues. As Pope Francis has said, “Racism is a virus that quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding and lurks in waiting. Instances of racism continue to shame us, for they show that our supposed social progress is not as real or definitive as we think.” For Catholics and others of goodwill, we are called to examine our history and act now to defend the lives and dignity of all our sisters and brothers. After 60 years, what has changed and what has not? How has racial discrimination been overcome, and where and how does it continue? In particular, what are the key racial justice issues facing voters, parties, and candidates as we choose a future for our nation this November?

Join Tuesday, June 4 at 6 pm CT. The event will be livestreamed and recorded for later viewing. 

REGISTER HERE

This Public Dialogue with four respected leaders will explore how this history shapes our current choices and how faith calls us to advance the common good through a principled and active commitment to resist racism and ensure that we continue to honor and protect the essential freedoms that the Civil Rights Act enacted for all Americans 60 years ago.
 

The Letter is a film that captivates audiences, evokes emotions, brings an overwhelming call to action, and a perfect fit for an Earth Day celebration - or any time of the year

Emmaus Ecumenical Catholic Community in Oshkosh, WI is an inclusive parish in the Catholic tradition where CSA Associate Pat Belongie attends. In honor of Earth Day and motivated by Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si', Pat presented the film The Letter to members of her church on April 28, 2024. She shares:

“It was a cool and rainy spring day, perfect for staying indoors and watching a movie, and that’s what the community of Emmaus did. The Earth Day event was a first for this small community. Following the morning prayer service and a light meal we returned to the chapel of the church to view the film. Prior to the movie, several people told me they would not be able to stay for the entire film (the film is 1 hour and 20 minutes long). However, the story has a way of drawing the audience in and only one person actually left before the end.

Pat goes on to say, “The film bears witness to the devastation caused by an ever-changing climate and those most affected: the poor, creation, the rain forests,,our oceans and waterways, and our very selves. Our hearts were broken open, tears were shed, but most importantly, everyone felt called to do something to protect the planet.”

The presentation concluded with an Earth Day prayer read by Mary Beth Petesch, written by Jane Deron, Ph.D. Jane writes: “We are called to experience, with mind and heart and soul, that all is communion through an ecological conversion, that we are all necessary to play a passionately informed role as we embrace our responsibility to ourselves, our neighbors, Creation, and the Creator. Amen”

As participants left, they were able to take home a variety of environmental resources and actions they could take to protect the planet. Reverend Mimi Maki expressed, “Let’s do this again!“ Pat agrees and says, “I am sure we will, for there is much to do and the call will remain. I was honored to participate in this endeavor in living out the mission of CSA in the protection of our common home Mother Earth.”

Associate Shannon Meagher also showed The Letter to members of her congregation earlier this year. Like Pat, her audience was small, but if only one more person becomes aware of our climate crisis it is worth showing again and again!

The film can be accessed for free at www.theletterfilm.org. A study guide is also available. Please consider a screening for your church or organization and let us know how it goes! For help in obtaining additional resources, please contact Tracy at tabler@csasisters.org

For more information about Laudato Si’ visit any of these websites: 
CSA’s Cosmology & Creation 
Laudato Si Movement
Laudato Si Action Platform
Catholic Climate Covenant
God’s Plan(et)
 

Acclaimed author delves into America’s complex relationship with firearms to better understand how our history has brought us to where we are today.

More than a hundred lives are lost to firearms every day in America. The cost is more than the numbers—it is the fear, the anxiety, the dread of public spaces that an armed society has created under the tortured rubric of freedom. But the norms of today are not the norms of American history or the values of its founders. They are the product of a gun culture that has imposed its vision on a sleeping nation.

Historian Dominic Erdozain argues that we have wrongly ceded the big-picture argument on guns: As we parse legislation on background checks and automatic-weapons bans, we fail to ask what place guns should have in a functioning democracy.

Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) Fund invites you to join Dominic Erdozain, author of “One Nation Under Guns,” in a special online program where he will share more of his perspective, also detailed in his book.

Here are the details you need to know:
Thursday, June 20
12:00 p.m. CT
Register now to receive a Zoom link on the day of the event.

Don't miss this opportunity to engage with one of the foremost authorities on America's relationship with firearms. If you’d like to read the book leading up to the discussion, you can grab a copy at your local library or order it here!

In their May 2024 newsletter, UNANIMA International shares news from the United Nations and around the world and invites all to consider nominating a woman of courage.

Once again, you will be amazed at all the work the small staff of UNANIMA International (UI) has done this quarter. In fact, as I write this, Executive Director, Jean Quinn, DW, and her Executive Assistant Liana Almony have recently returned from Nairobi, Kenya after attending a successful U.N. Civil Society Conference, on to Paris, and a final stop in Madrid to present UI’s 2022 Woman of Courage Award to Helena Maleno Garzón, founder of Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders).

Each year, UI presents the “Woman of Courage Award,” which honors women from around the world who have exhibited exceptional courage and leadership to make a difference in their communities, especially for the betterment of the lives of women and children. Nominations are submitted by member congregations, such as CSA, and a vote is held by the UI Board of Directors. Nominations are now open for 2025 Women of Courage Award!

Criteria for the award:

• A woman who is not a member of the nominating congregation
• A courageous actor in the face of adversity by the government, popular opinion, or leaders
• Her actions reflect and support the values and principles promoted by the UN
• Her actions related to one of the major areas of concern for UI: women/children; human trafficking; poverty; immigrants/refugees; environment/water
• She is nominated by one or more member congregations of UI
• Her country of origin lends geographic diversity to the list of past participants (find list here).

Please consider nominating a deserving woman today! For further details and to receive a nomination form, please contact tabler@csasisters.org. Tracy represents CSA on the UI Board of Directors. Nominations are due July 1, 2024.

In addition to the MANY speaking engagements, committee work, and collaborations you will read about in their May 2023 newsletter, UI staff have been busy preparing a re-release of their publications, Hidden Faces of Homelessness. Women, children and girls are at the center of UI’s work and these updated publications, which mark the 30th anniversary of the International Year of the Family, can help policymakers and other stakeholders understand the current realities of homeless families around the world in order to develop best practices and set better standards. These re-publications will include updated statistics, expert and lived-experience testimonies, and provide meaning for  how different countries define homelessness.

Among the many incredible updates, each newsletter issue features grassroots stories from member congregations. These stories are key to research and advocating at the U.N. Members are ALWAYS encouraged to submit similar stories. Please contact Tracy if you have a story to share.

For those on social media, please follow UNANIMA International on Facebook and Instagram.
 

National Gun Violence Awareness Day is traditionally observed on the first Friday in June.  Thousands of people wear the color orange to honor Hadiya Pendleton and the more than 43,000 Americans who are killed with guns and approximately 76,000 more who are shot and wounded every year.

June 7-9, all are encouraged to Wear Orange and join others in honoring survivors and building community with those working to end gun violence. There are many ways you can participate. For one, Mercy Sisters will host an online vigil on Thursday, June 6 at 6:30 pm CT. 

Register here

Other ideas can be found at Everytown for Gun Safety

Click here to explore the gun homicide footprint in your community. 

Nuns Against Gun Violence (of which CSA is a member) has prepared a prayer resource for June 7 - National Gun Awareness Day - that you can download here. They are also hosting a webinar exploring what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about the epidemic of gun violence in our world on June 18 at 6 pm CT. 

Register here

During Black History Month 2024, CSA Sisters and Associates affirmed a stance on Anti-Racism. How are we doing today?

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes’ Corporate Stance on Anti-Racism states: “Reaffirming our commitment to those whose faith life or human dignity is threatened in any way, the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) opposes racism in all forms, encourages education, and supports actions to eliminate racism, bringing understanding of our complicity, prejudice, bias, and privilege to the forefront.”

After an extensive 6-month study on racism, CSA sisters and associates discovered there is always more to learn and that the work of anti-racism is ours to do, always. The article, 6 Things White People Say That Highlight Their Privilege was first written by Kelsey Borreson in June 2020, very shortly after the murder of George Floyd. She updated this article earlier this year, and it is a must-read for all who want to be an ally in the fight against racism. To do so, we must acknowledge our white privilege. Then take action that supports the Black community. Read her article.

After you’ve read the article, return to this post and start a conversation by commenting at the bottom. We’d love to hear how you are doing and what you’re learning.  

For example, I’d like to share that a few weeks ago I found these “Our Tone” Band-Aids in my local grocery store. Until I realized my white privilege, I took for granted that band-aids matched my skin tone, but not the tones of some of my friends.

Lastly, please be sure to find a Juneteenth celebration in your community next month. CSA is a co-sponsor of Ebony Vision’s 16th Annual Juneteenth celebration here in Fond du Lac, WI on June 15 at Buttermilk Park. If able, please stop by our table to say hello and engage in additional anti-racism activities.

The Sisters of Notre Dame are hosting a special screening of the film Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom on Monday, June 17 at 6:30 pm CT. This feature length documentary reveals the deep spiritual significance of America’s newest federal holiday. Viewers are taken on an emotional and inspiring journey highlighting Juneteenth as a day we celebrate the resilient hope that empowered the formerly enslaved and their descendants to fight for freedom and justice. No advance registration is required. Simply use the following Zoom link (Meeting ID: 871 4892 1669) to attend the June 17th film screening.  
 

Candy makers Mars and Lindt make millions off of their m&m’s and Lindor chocolate… made with cocoa harvested by five-year olds!

The EU’s new due diligence law requires corporations to eliminate child and slave labor in supply chains for things like cocoa. Candy makers Mars and Lindt say eliminating child labor is their top priority, but recent reports connect cocoa from multiple plantations using child labor to their supply chains. Countless children, some barely school-aged, have to do heavy physical labor on Ghana's cocoa plantations instead of playing or going to school. The Eko organization urges us to demand Mars and Lindt start cleaning up their supply chains. 

TAKE ACTION

A May 14 virtual event, co-sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Glenmary Home Missioners, and the Jesuit Conference offers a better kind of politics.

Join Cardinal Robert McElroy, Bishop Robert Barron and Bishop Daniel Flores as they dialogue with one another on the challenge of polarization in the Church today and the path forward. The conversation will include reflections on their roles as shepherds and leaders in their dioceses and in the U.S. Church, and on important topics such as the Synod on Synodality, encounter, and where to find hope amid the polarization.

Gloria Purvis, renowned Catholic speaker and host of The Gloria Purvis Podcast from America Magazine, moderates the conversation. This virtual event is co-sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Glenmary Home Missioners, and the Jesuit Conference.

Register here to join this free virtual event
 

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2024 Dirty Dozen List Revealed! The Dirty Dozen List is an annual campaign calling out 12 mainstream contributors to sexual abuse and exploitation. Learn more and take action at www.dirtydozenlist.com

Addressing the link between forced migration and human trafficking is the current focus of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking (AEHT), an organization founded by American Catholic sisters in 2013 that supports survivors and advocates for the eradication of human trafficking. In a recent article by Crux Catholic Media, AEHT’s executive director, Katie Boller Gosewisch, said that the link between the two is clear, and therefore believes policy from the United States government is crucial. In particular, the organization is advocating for Congress to pass the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023. Read the full article.

The May issue of the Alliance’s Stop Trafficking! Awareness-Advocacy-Action is now available. This month’s theme is “The hidden cost of the apparel industry.” Find this and past issues here: https://alliancetoendhumantrafficking.org/stop-trafficking-newsletter/ 

Sign here to ask your Senators to support online child safety regulation.

Join Shared Hope International and urge your governor to end the unjust incarceration of trafficking victims today!

The life of Jesuit Priest and Scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is featured in an inspiring film about him, TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist. The film will be available for national and international streaming for two years, beginning May 20, 2024 on the free PBS App. 

1. Download the app: https://www.mpt.org/anywhere/pbs-app/ 
2. Search in the app for the film’s title: “Teilhard: Visionary Scientist”

DVDs of the program will be available at this link beginning May 20, 2024, as well.

Watch the trailer here:

Teilhard de Chardin television biography trailer from Teilhard Project on Vimeo.

Learn more about the Teilhard Project 

Watch for details on a CSA Watch Party in the future - or plan your own!
 

Created in God’s image, humans have inherent dignity and worth. This belief of the Catholic Church lays the foundation for all its other teachings. The Sisters of St. Agnes and their Associates honor the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death. The sisters’ actions demonstrate their reverence for life and their commitment to a consistent ethic of life.

An execution calendar is maintained on the CSA website: www.csasisters.org/dignity Updates are provided from groups like Death Penalty Action. CSA Sisters and Associates participate in letter writing to inmates on death row; letter writing is always encouraged and directions can also be found on the website.

New and revised dates are being added to the execution schedule and new and current petitions await your signature. Please click to sign and share these petitions.

Additionally, please join Death Penalty Action to Demand Absolute Standards to stop profiting from executions!

Wear the Message with Abolition Gear - ORDER HERE.
 

This Laudato Si’ Week (May 19-26) and Pentecost, let us gather in community to contemplate and nurture seeds of hope for our “suffering planet” (LD 2). Laudate Deum is a reminder about the urgency of the Laudato Si’ message and the need for both personal and cultural transformation amidst our ecological and climate crises.

This year’s Laudato Si’ Week theme is inspired by the symbol for Season of Creation 2024, “firstfruits.” Let us be seeds of hope in our lives and our world, rooted in faith and love.

Download this Celebration Guide to fully experience this Laudato Si’ Week. Inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, this eight-day guide seeks to motivate all people of good will to protect our Common Home through concrete actions and simple changes in the way we live. Each day a specific theme is proposed that addresses aspects of integral ecology, such as waste reduction, renewable energy use and water conservation.

Don’t stop there!! Catholic Relief Services is urging all to engage in advocacy efforts aimed at influencing policymakers priorities and decisions. On May 21, participate in Call Congress Day  to advocate for climate change adaptation, sustainable agriculture, and food security. Register here or text CALL CONGRESS to 677-68 to join this nationwide event. 

Join 87% of Americans from all walks of life who imagine a world beyond “us vs. them.

Starts With Us is a movement tired of polarizing politics and endless culture wars and declares the power to reclaim our culture Starts With Us. It was founded on the beliefs that diversity of thought is a strength that leads to our most innovative ideas and that we must cooperate across our differences to solve the most pressing societal challenges of our time. Learn more at startswith.us/

Additionally, or alternatively, read this beautiful letter co-written by Starts With Us Founding Partner, Daniel Lubetzky, and Honorary Board Member, Lonnie Ali, Co-Founder of the Muhammad Ali Center. As a passionate Jew and a passionate Muslim, the two came together to humbly share a path forward for how to transcend the construct of “us vs. them” and side with humanity instead. Enjoy this letter.
 

Bill H.R. 1325 corrects the counterintuitive work authorization process with a commonsense solution, giving asylum seekers an opportunity to live a safe, fulfilling life while giving our economy the boost it so desperately needs.

Asylum seekers in the U.S. are at risk of sex and labor human trafficking when not allowed to find legal work and provide for their families. Catholic Sisters and people of good will encourage Congress to fix this vulnerability and also to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic red tape by passing H.R. 1325, the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act. The bill was introduced by Congresswoman, Chellie Pingree of Maine. It would reduce the current 180-day waiting period to obtain a work permit to just 30 days after applying for asylum. Learn more on her website. H.R.1325 is a win-win. Businesses need workers and asylum seekers want to work.

Additionally, the Alliance to End Human Trafficking offered another edition to their Breaking the Link video series on April 17. It was called, Breaking the Link: Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers Protects them from Trafficking. 

The webinar reminds us simply, “if an asylum seeker cannot work legally, what are their options?” They have families to support. If they are caught working illegally, it is detrimental to their asylum process as well as the work permit. Key to this issue is changing the narrative - asylum seekers are not criminals. They are people who leave their country and are seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country. Seeking asylum is a human right, so is the right to work.

Two key principles of Catholic Social Teaching are Life and Dignity of the Human Person and The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers. People do not lose dignity because of disability, poverty, age, lack of success, or race. People also have the right to decent and productive work, fair wages, private property and economic initiative. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way around.

Now that you have this information, please contact your representative TODAY and ask them to co-sign H.R. 1325. The faster these individuals can legally work, the safer they are and work gives them dignity.

For additional information, read this 3/12/2024 release from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: 
USCIS Streamlines Process for Refugee Employment Authorization Documents
 

Last week, Catholic Climate Covenant praised the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly updated power plant emission standards. These emission guidelines will reduce coal ash, carbon, mercury, wastewater, and other power plant pollutants and improve the quality of life and the health and well-being of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters for generations to come. The EPA’s carbon pollution power plant standards, alongside the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in Aug. 2022, are projected to reduce carbon pollution by up to 75% by 2035. Read the Covenant’s full statement.

We invite you to join us and others in the faith community in thanking EPA Administrator Michael Regan for this important step to protect human health and respond to the climate crisis. Write your letter.

The Catholic Advisory Council of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), Pax Christi USA, Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns, and the Franciscan Action Network invite all Catholic individuals and organizations in the United States to sign on and to an open letter expressing our grief and dismay over the horrors that have occurred in Israel-Palestine over the last six months. Read the entire letter and see all the signatures here. Sign the letter here. Please share!

Don’t stop there! Each day, mothers are witnessing the death of their children in the Middle East. Please join Franciscan Action Network - click here to again urge your legislators to call for peace in the Middle East. This will take less than one minute.

Also, use this SSND Voter Voice Tool to urge President Biden and members of Congress to do all they can do to stop the bloodshed and move all involved to a just and lasting peace. Letters to the editor are also an effective tool for communicating messages. Click here for assistance in putting one together.

An Amnesty International petition gathered more than a million signatures from people around the world. You can follow their work and reporting. 

Want to be better informed? For an alternative news source with live updates, visit Al Jazeera.

We must be relentless in our call to peace and justice - Read, Listen, Sign, Call, Write, Act!