God of love, teach us to care for this world our common home, inspire government leaders as they gather in Paris to listen to and heed the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor; to be united in heart and mind in responding courageously to seek the common good and protect the beautiful earthly garden you have created for us, for all our brothers and sisters, for all generations to come. Amen.
Bread for the World is a collective voice urging our nation's leaders to end hunger at home and abroad. Bread for the World, its members, and partners are working to make hunger, poverty, and opportunity a priority for candidates. Read more...
WASHINGTON—Immigration guidelines permitting deferral of the deportations of millions of people provide "substantial humanitarian benefits" and should be permitted to stand, said an amicus curiae brief, filed March 8 in the U.S. Supreme Court by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and 24 other U.S. faith-based organizations whose work includes advocating for or providing aid and resources to recent immigrants and their families.
The case is United States v. Texas, in which some states have challenged the federal government's implementation of immigration guidelines issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The guidelines effectively stay the deportation proceedings of 4-5 million undocumented people who pose no national security or public safety threat and who have longstanding close family ties to people in the United States.
These guidelines, the brief said, provide "important benefits to those most vulnerable in our society and to those who serve them" and also ensure "that the public will continue to benefit from the substantial contributions of recent immigrants."
Other groups joining the brief were Church World Service; the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Disciples Home Missions; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; Sojourners; Franciscan Action Network; Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity; NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Mennonite Central Committee U.S.; Conference of Major Superiors of Men; General Synod of the United Church of Christ; National Latino Evangelical Coalition; Hope for Peace and Justice; Good Shepherd United Church of Christ; ISAIAH; Shadow Rock; Christ's Foundry United Methodist Mission; Esperanza; Southside Presbyterian Church; Oklahoma Conference of Churches; National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and Reformed Church of Highland Park.
Full text of the brief is available online: www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/index.cfm
As individuals, as institutions, as a people, we need a change of heart to preserve and protect the planet for our children and for generations yet unborn. “US Conference of Catholic Bishops,Renewing the Earth 1991.
Join Catholics around the country to take the St Francis Pledge—a promise and commitment to live our faith by protecting God’s creation and advocating on behalf of people in poverty who face the harshest impacts of global climate change. To join the Covenant, you commit to act on each of the five elements of the St. Francis Pledge. Check out www.catholicclimatecovenant.org
"The ecological crisis is a moral issue."John Paul II, World Day of Peace message, December 8, 1989.
"At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God's creation and the one human family." US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good, 2001.