Catholics for Peace and Justice
August 2016 Newsletter
Greetings!
Hope you are enjoying the long sunny dog days of summer. God is good. Creation is beautiful. All is gift.
Looking for some interesting reading to fill out your summer? There is still plenty of time to join in our "summer book read"
Evicted by Matthew Desmond. Read now then join in a one time discussion in September or October.
More info below.
Bring Christ to Election 2016! The candidates are confirmed. Where do you stand? Being Christian means we get informed. We take action. We vote. Come join the discussion on forming our conscience and a facilitated dialogue on the issues.
Info, registration and promotion materials below. Help pass the word!
God is good. All is gift.
Blessings on your ministry
For ongoing updates and social justice resources visit our website at
www.catholicsforpeaceandjustice.org
and the Catholics for Peace and Justice Facebook page
TABLE OF CONTENTS
GENERAL
"Evicted" Read with Us This Summer. Discuss with Us in September
Bring Christ to Election 2016! Sept 8/15, 21/28 or Oct 6/13
We Should Not Be Surprised....
ACTIONS AND ISSUES
President Obama Leads Refugee Summit for World Leaders
Contact Legislators on Force Feeding Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
White Catholics and the Sin of Racism
Climate Change Becomes a Defining Reality of Our Time
Election Year: Time to Call Our Legislators to Account
EVENTS AND EDUCATION
New Sanctuary Movement Monthly Interfaith Prayer Vigil of Solidarity- Aug 2
New Sanctuary Movement Monthly ICE Vigil - Aug 4
Chardhi Kala 6K Run/Walk - Aug 6
Peace Action Lanterns for Peace 2016 - Aug 6
The Danger of Human Trafficking - Aug 9
Thirsting for Justice: A Public Forum on Issues Related to Criminal Justice - Aug 11
Pax Christi USA 2016 National Gathering - Aug 12-14
Hitting 4 the Cycle Benefit Bike Ride- Aug 13
New Sanctuary Movement Monthly ICE Vigil - Sep 1
New Sanctuary Movement Interfaith Prayer Vigil of Solidarity- Sep 6
A Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities - Sep 9
'Sex + Human Trafficking' Movie - Exploit No More - Sep 14
WIPL Conference - Sep 18
Pubic Forum on Criminal Justice Reform in Wisconsin - Sep 21
Christian Muslim Dialogue - Sept 25
From SOA Watch to the Border/Join Us at the U.S./Mexico Border Oct 2016
STUDY, REFLECT, PRAY
Study: Wisconsin Catholic Conference [WCC] Faithful Citizenship Documents
Reflect: Solitary Confinement Is Not Rehabilitation
Pray: "A Prayer for Leadership" by Joan Chittister
GENERAL
"Evicted" Read with Us This Summer. Discuss with Us in September
Join in some summer reading. We are inviting you to join us in reading "Evicted" as a summer "book club read". Then in September join other CPJ readers in a single meeting of discussion. The book is available from many vendors. Here is an Amazon link to identify the book. Dates for CPJ wide discussions will be announced mid- August or form your own discussion group.
Evicted is a must read for anyone working in the areas of social justice or direct service in the city of Milwaukee. In his book, Desmond tells the stories of eight families living in poverty in Milwaukee and their struggle to remain in housing. It also tells the stories of two landlords and how they manage their properties. Desmond did embedded research, living for a time on both the north and south sides of Milwaukee. Through these stories the reader is given a window into the world of the urban poor--decision making processes, stumbling blocks to stability, personal and economic challenges and substance abuse are all woven through the interesting and very readable narrative. Get reading!
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Bring Christ to Election 2016! Sept 8/15, 21/28 or Oct 6/13
Not happy with the election? Is it difficult to engage in civil dialogue with friends and neighbors? There is hope. In September and October Catholics for Peace and Justice along with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will be sponsoring a 2 evening program to reflect on the 2016 election through the eyes of faith.
Night One: Fr. Chuck Schramm, ThM, MSW will discuss the challenge of interfacing spirituality and politics and forming our conscience in these tough political times and Debra Schneider, MA will provide some practical tips for engaging in civil dialogue. Night Two: facilitators will lead small group discussions on issues facing the electorate. Learn skills for civil dialogue, share your views, and listen to other members of our faith community in a safe environment.
Registration Requested: The program will be held three times at three different locations across the archdiocese. SO... Pick a location: Sept 8/15 at Our Lady of Lourdes; Sept 21/28 St James Menomonee Falls; Oct 6/13 St John Cathedral. Register at www.VoteYourFaithMKE.org or Call Andrew Musgrave at 414.271.6577 or Debra Schneider at 414.550.2167
PLEASE PROMOTE WIDELY TO YOUR PARISH, ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER GROUPS
FLYER pdf | FLYER jpg | BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT | LOGO FOR BULLETIN
As Christians we are called by Christ to vote for candidates that respect the dignity of all stages of human life. Come together to find calm amidst the chaos.
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We Should Not Be Surprised....
"We should not be surprised or scandalized by the sinful and the tragic. Do what you can to be peace and to do justice, but never expect or demand perfection on this earth. It usually leads to a false moral outrage, a negative identity, intolerance, paranoia, and self-serving crusades against "the contaminating element," instead of "becoming a new creation" ourselves (Galatians 6:15). We must resist all utopian ideologies and heroic idealisms that are not tempered by patience and taught by all that is broken, flawed, sinful, and poor. Jesus is an utter realist and does not exclude the problem from the solution. Work for win/win situations. Mistrust all win/lose dichotomies." (Richard Rohr, Weekly Meditation, July 27, 2016)
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ACTIONS AND ISSUES
President Obama Leads Refugee Summit for World Leaders
"With 20 million refugees around the world, a comprehensive, collective international effort to strengthen refugee protection and assistance is more critical than ever. The co-hosts for the [Sept 20 World] Summit all recognize that the international community must do more to protect and assist refugees. Humanitarian appeals are at record levels, yet are underfunded. Massive numbers of refugees are turning to dangerous and illegal smuggling networks in search of safety; and millions more face long-term dependency in first asylum countries, without access to lawful employment and education. In the lead up to the UNGA, the co-hosts and other UN Member States that join this effort will make concrete commitments to address these challenges, and all new and significant commitments made during 2016 will be recognized at the Leaders’ Summit" [The White House].
Stand with Refugees and Asylum Seekers. Write a note to President Obama about why we should welcome refugees.
Background: Refugees and Asylum Seekers are essentially the same. Both are fleeing persecution for safety. They differ only in the path they choose: A Refugee flees for safety to a refugee camp outside their own country. An Asylum Seeker flees for safety to the country in which they hope to live. To secure protection, each must meet the International Definition of a Refugee: A person who is outside his/her country of origin and is unable or unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on: (1) Race, (2) religion, national origin, Membership in a particular social group, or (5) political opinion.
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Contact Legislators on Force Feeding Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
Since early June, some of the prisoners in Wisconsin’s solitary confinement units have been refusing to accept food, as a protest against their prolonged isolation and inhumane treatment by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC). It is extremely difficult to communicate with people in solitary confinement, but many letters have been received and we know that at least two of the inmates have continued their food refusal through mid July, more than five weeks since they began. Wisconsin Watch reports that at least 8 inmates were refusing food.
On June 17th, the DOC began to get court orders to allow them to force-feed at least four of those who were not eating. The method they have chosen is to force a tube through the person’s nose - a practice that was discontinued in Guantanamo Bay because it was deemed to be too brutal. The World Medical Association has declared that “the forced feeding of hunger strikers is unethical and is never justified,” calling the practice “inhuman and degrading.” [Wisconsinwatch.org, July 14, 2016] Among those who underwent force feeding was Waupun inmate Joshua Scolman. He wrote in a letter that he ended his hunger strike after his nose was broken during one of his first force-feeding episodes June 25. He was later sent to the hospital." [Wisconsinwatch.org, July 14, 2016 ]
What you can do: Call your State Senator and your State Assembly representative and say:
“I am very worried about the way Wisconsin prisoners are being treated, especially the forced tube feeding of prisoners who have been refusing food. We need to put an end to the excessive use of Administrative and Solitary Confinement." Please insist that they make meaningful changes NOW.”
If a lot of us make that brief phone call, it can help bring to light what has been very, very hidden.
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White Catholics and the Sin of Racism
America Magazine, Jul 27 2016 - Michael Pasquier
"Today, there are more African-American Catholics in Louisiana than almost anywhere else in the United States. They are here because of slavery. During the 18th century, French and Spanish colonists introduced Catholicism and race-based slavery to the Mississippi Valley. Sacramental records of the period show people of color—most of them enslaved but some of them free—being baptized, married and buried in the church. In the years following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the church became one of the largest slaveholding entities in the state." Read the article..
Climate Change Becomes a Defining Reality of Our Time
From Margaret Swedish
When the 350.org campaign got started, it chose that number because it is what many climate scientists believe is a key threshold for parts-per-million of CO2 in the atmosphere passed which we begin to see serious climate disruptions. The Earth passed that threshold some time ago now (1988), and last year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii began reporting readings surpassing 400 ppm. Just this June, Mauna Loa measured a monthly average of 406.81 ppm of CO2, 4 ppm more than in June a year ago. Just 5 years ago, the measurement was 393 ppm. [See the graph]
We all see where this is going. In his encyclical, Laudato Sí, Pope Francis rightly called this, “one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day” [25]. He also said what ought to be obvious to us: “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all” [23]. And there is certainly nowhere to go to escape it. We are in it, and we are all living with the consequences of how much we have polluted the atmosphere with the carbon emitted by our industrial-technological-consumer way of life. We have altered its chemical balance. There are consequences for doing that. [More...]
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Election Year: Time to Call Our Legislators to Account
Here in Wisconsin, we have real cause for concern about the future of our state’s natural wonders. From threats to our water, growing concerns about the impacts of frac sand mining, lax enforcement of environmental laws and regulations on the part of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and legislation geared towards easing regulations in favor of polluters and developers, we are facing a host of issues. And right now we are in an election cycle where our voices can really matter, when those up for reelection have to pay attention to their constituents.
The Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters has published a “Conservation Scorecard 2015-2016 for Wisconsin Legislators,” . Take time to study this report with colleagues and friends then work together to develop a plan to take action – to meet with candidates, show up at their events, ask questions at public forums and town halls, and write letters or short articles for your local or neighborhood print and online news publications. Let our voices be heard! We want a clean, healthy, beautiful Wisconsin.
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EVENTS AND EDUCATION
New Sanctuary Movement (NSM) Monthly Interfaith Prayer Vigil of Solidarity- Aug 2
Our next Inter-faith Vigil will be at St. Patrick's Parish that is located on 723 W Washington St, Milwaukee, WI 53204 on August 2nd. It will be led by Father Tim and start at 6:30 pm.
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NSM Monthly ICE Vigil - Aug 4
Thursday, August 4, 12:00 PM, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, 310 Knapp St.
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Chardhi Kala 6K Run/Walk- Aug 6
The Sikh community and its Serve2Unite group are inviting people to the annual Chardhi Kala 6K Run/Walk. This is a memorial for the six people slain by a white supremacist at the Oak Creek Temple in 2012, To fund scholarships for young people of many faiths throughout the metro area who exemplify community service, and to celebrate community unity amid diversity. Register an individual or team, donate, and get more information here.
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Peace Action Lanterns for Peace 2016 - Aug 6
Saturday, August 6th, 4-9pm, Washington park Urban Ecology Center. Join us for food, music, activities for kids and adults, and our traditional ceremony of lighting and floating traditional Japanese paper lanterns to commemorate the nuclear holocaust. This year, we have a special thematic focus this year of connecting global violence to local gun violence. RSVP Here
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The Danger of Human Trafficking - Aug 9
Wisconsin is number 3 in the nation in Human Trafficking. Come listen to a presentation by the Germantown Police Department on the danger of human trafficking, the role heroin and pornography plays in trafficking and a presenter who was trafficked from Hartford Union HS. Tuesday August 9, 6 to 8 pm. Germantown Library Community Room.
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Thirsting for Justice: A Public Forum on Issues Related to Criminal Justice - Aug 11
WISDOM Leaders will address the various issues related to Wisconsin’s prisons. Thursday, August 11, 6:00-8:00 PM at St. Francis Catholic Church,
1927 N. 4th St. Free and open to the public. Bring packs of bottled water for the Fox Lake prison to relieve Inmates of the problems with the contaminated water.
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Pax Christi USA 2016 National Gathering - Aug 12-14
There will be keynote speakers, break-out sessions and vendors at this event in Linthicum, Maryland. Learn more and register here.
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Hitting 4 the Cycle Benefit Bike Ride - Aug 13tJoin Br. Truong's Team Capuchin for Hitting 4 the Cycle Benefit Bike Ride. Proceeds benefit Capuchin Community Services. Learn more.
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New Sanctuary Movement Monthly ICE Vigil - Sep 1
Thursday, September 1, 12:00 PM, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, 310 Knapp St.
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New Sanctuary Movement Monthly Interfaith Prayer Vigil of Solidarity- Sep 6
Tuesday, September 6, 6:30 PM, Location to be announced.
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A Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities - Sep 9
USCCB President Calls For National Day Of Prayer And Appoints Special Task Force To Promote Peace And Unity. Learn more.
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'Sex + Human Trafficking' Movie and Discussion - Exploit No More - Sep 14
The movie ‘Sex + Money’, and the discussion will be presented by the Exploit No More advocacy group, Wednesday, September 14 from 6:30 to 8:30 at Ascension Lutheran Church, 1415 Dopp Street, in Waukesha. Learn about the reality and pervasiveness of sex trafficking in Southeastern Wisconsin, including our own Milwaukee and Waukesha area communities. Learn more and register here.
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Wisconsin Interfaith Power & Light (WIPL) Conference: Earth Care: A Faith Imperative - Sep 18
Keynote speaker Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger will present "An Evangelical Perspective on LAUDATO SI': How Pope Francis' Message Inspires All of Us to Care for the Earth." Sunday, September 18, 2016, 1:00 - ¬5:00 PM at St Bernard Catholic Church, 1617 W Pine St, Appleton. Learn more and register here.
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Pubic Forum on Criminal Justice Reform in Wisconsin - Sep 21
Learn how to save money and make our communities safer. Wednesday, September 21, 7:30-8:30 PM at the New Berlin Public Library, 15105 W. Library Lane . Learn more.
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Christian Muslim Dialogue - Sept 25
Faith Forum. Presenter Dr. Irfan A. Omar, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Theology Dept., Marquette University. Gesu parish, Gathering space in the lower church, 10:15 to 11:15 am
From SOA Watch to the Border/Join Us at the U.S./Mexico Border Oct 7-10
This October 7-10, join us in Nogales, Arizona for our first bi-national convergence at the U.S./Mexico border to demand a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy. SOA Watch Field Organizer María Luisa Rosal and movement Founder, Father Roy Bourgeois move the popular mobilization to the U.S./Mexico border in the Fall of 2016. Learn more.
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STUDY, REFLECT, PRAY
Study: Wisconsin Catholic Conference [WCC] Faithful Citizenship Documents
Excerpt from the letter from the bishops
"If individually and as a nation we focus on God’s love for every human being, we can turn despair into hope, poverty into well-being, and war into peace. Our faith and reason also supply us with a rich Catholic social teaching, which can help us put God’s love into action. The first principle of this teaching is the dignity of the human person, created in God’s image and loved by Him beyond measure. In his 2015 address to Congress, Pope Francis reminded Americans, “All political activity must serve and promote the good of the human person and be based on respect for his or her dignity.” Full recognition of human dignity requires the promotion of the remaining major principles of our social teaching – common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity. To learn more about Catholic social teaching, we encourage you to read the description on the reverse of this letter and to study the resources listed there."
"It is essential that Catholics live out this profound social teaching, by following ethical principles of reflection, criteria for making judgments, and directives for action. All of these can aid in discerning not only how to cast our votes, but how to address the pressing issues that face our world."
Three Part Series [short form]
Five Part Series [longer description of position on issues]
WCC Electoral Politics Guidelines
Candidate Questions and Voting Information
Also US Conference of Catholic Bishops Faithful Citizenship Materials
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Reflection: Solitary Confinement Is Not Rehabilitation
The following article written by Frank Pauc and Debra Schneider from Catholics for Peace and Justice was submitted to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in June.
Inmates at the Waupun Correctional Institution began a Humanitarian Food Refusal Campaign (i.e. hunger strike) in June to protest the conditions of solitary confineme nt (“administrative segregation”) at the prison. Food Refusal might seem drastic, but the inmates desperately need to draw attention to solitary confinement use in the prison system.
My personal exposure to a solitary confinement cell was a replica on the steps of the WI Capital building. Expecting it to be “not so bad”, I experienced it as scary, disorienting, and emotionally chaotic. I felt an overwhelming need to get out– and that was just a replica, with an open door.
Solitary confinement is sometimes used in a completely arbitrary manner. An inmate can be placed in solitary confinement for any reason, or for no reason at all; not know the duration of confinement; not know the reason for being locked alone in a box or have any idea of how to ever get out again.
The United Nations states that solitary confinement in excess of fourteen days is torture. A person placed in solitary will come out of that environment with grave psychological problems without a corresponding benefit to the rest of the prison population. My own experience leads me to understand why this is true.
I am not saying that there is never a valid reason for solitary confinement; however, this practice needs to be re-examined and only used as a last resort. Our correctional facilities should encourage inmates to reform their lives and return to society as useful and productive citizens.
Solitary confinement is not rehabilitation, but the exact opposite. It makes inmates less able to function in the world outside of the prison gates. It’s use needs to change.
Debra Schneider
Catholics for Peace and Justice
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Prayer: "A Prayer for Leadership" by Joan Chittister
Give us, O God,
leaders whose hearts are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.
In seeking a leader, let us seek
more than development for ourselves—
though development we hope for,
more than security for our own land—
though security we need,
more than satisfaction for our wants—
though many things we desire.
Give us the hearts to choose the leader
who will work with other leaders
to bring safety
to the whole world….
- from “The Legacy of Leadership: a Gift for Generations to Come” by Joan Chittister
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