August 2019 Newsletter

Poverty

Of the Earth's 7.5 billion people, 49% (3.7 billion) live on less than $5.50 a day

The World Bank

The top 1% of the world’s richest people have as much wealth as 57% of the poorest people in the world.

United Nations Human Development Report

The 3 richest persons have more assets than the combined Gross National Product (GNP) of the 48 poorest nations or 25% of the world.

United Nations Human Development Report

The world spends almost as much as money on toys and games ($90 billion) as the poorest 20% of the world’s people earn in a year.

World Bank

The world spends 4 times as much on alcohol as on international development aid.

Euro Monitor

Of the 100 largest economic entities in the world, 51 are corporations, 49 are countries.

Institute for Policy Studies

In the U.S., approximately 1% of the federal budget of $4.4 trillion is allocated for foreign aid.

US Conference of Catholic Bishops

The official poverty rate in America is 12% — about 39 million people — more than the population of Canada.

Center of Budget Policy & Priorities

21% of children in America live in poverty.

National Center for Children in Poverty

Of the 45 wealthiest nations of the world, the U.S. ranks 22nd in quality of childcare, 16th in affordability and 31st in availability.

Economist Intelligence Unit

The median annual wage for childcare workers in the U.S. is: $19,600 (less than the federal poverty level for a family of 3).

Bureau of Labor Statistics

The U.S. is the only wealthy country in the world that does not guarantee workers any paid vacations, paid holidays, paid sick leave or paid maternity leave by federal law.

The U.S. Department of Labor

In 1965, CEO pay was 20 times higher than the average worker. Today it is 361 times.

The Washington Post

For more on Poverty, click here .

Resources

See How the Rest of the World Lives, Organized by Income

A TED Talk featuring Anna Rosling Rönnlund, who using the power of data visualization, sent photographers to 264 homes in 50 countries to document the homes, food, stoves, beds, toilets, toys and more in households from every income bracket around the world, including countries such as Sweden, Latvia, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Peru and the U.S.

Watch now.

For more on Economic Justice , click here .

The Fundamental Right to Seek Asylum

A TED talk, featuring Melanie Nezer, a refugee and immigrants rights attorney, who shares a historical perspective on the crisis at the southern US border, showing how citizens can hold their governments accountable for protecting the vulnerable. "A country shows strength through compassion and pragmatism, not through force and through fear," she says.

Watch now.

For more on Refugees , click here .

We Are Not Refugees:

True Stories of the Displaced

By Agus Morales & Charlotte Whittle (translator). Tells the stories of many displaced people -- victims of violence and displacement -- from some of the world's most brutal conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Central African Republic, Central America, the Congo, Jordan and India. These stories reveal the individual pain and the global scope of the crisis, reminding us of the truth and appealing to our conscience. Read more.

For more on Refugees, click here.

Parishes Organized to Welcome Immigrants and Refugees (POWIR)

A resource from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), POWIR's goal is to develop long-term, sustainable programs. Since its inception in 2010, participating dioceses have recruited thousands of parish and community volunteers to assist refugees such as unaccompanied minors, asylum seekers, and second-generation immigrants, adjust to life in the U.S. with pro bono legal counsel, medical services, learning English, finding work, achieving social integration and making friends. Learn more.

For more on Immigration , click here.

White Fragility:

Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

By Robin DiAngelo. Looks at the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people.’ Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. Examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively. Read more.

For more on Racism , click here.

How We're Priming Some Kids for College and Others for Prison

A TED Talk featuring sociologist Alice Goffman who spent six years in a troubled Philadelphia neighborhood and saw first-hand how teenagers of African-American and Latino backgrounds are funneled down the path to prison — sometimes starting with relatively minor infractions. In her talk she asks, "Why are we offering only handcuffs and jail time?" Watch now.

For more on the Criminal Justice System ,

click here.

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

By David Wallace-Wells. Brings into relief the climate troubles that await—food shortages, refugee emergencies, and other crises that will reshape the globe. But the world will be remade by warming in more profound ways as well, transforming politics, culture, technology, and sense of history. It will be all-encompassing, shaping and distorting nearly every aspect of human life as it is lived today. It is both a meditation on the devastation we have brought upon ourselves and an impassioned call to action. For just as the world was brought to the brink of catastrophe within the span of a lifetime, the responsibility to avoid it now belongs to a single generation. Read more.

For more on the Environment , click here.

World Life Expectancy Map

Part of a series of educational experiences developed by LeDuc Media. The purpose is to stimulate meaningful research through leading academic institutions worldwide, while displaying the data in easily understood ways. Features statistics for life expectancy in most of the countries of the world and looks at many factors such as types of diseases, drug use, accidents, malnutrition, homicides, violence, suicide & alcoholism. Learn more.

For more on Health Care , click here.

I Was Hungry: Cultivating Common Ground to End an American Crisis

By Jeremy Everett. Offers an assessment of the current hunger crisis as well as a strategy for addressing it. Calls on Christians to work intentionally across ideological divides to build trust with one another and impoverished communities and effectively end America's hunger crisis. Also details the history of the Texas Hunger Initiative and its work with communities from West Texas to Washington, DC, helping Christians of all political persuasions understand how they can work together to truly make a difference. Read more.

For more on Hunger , click here.

Just Prayer: A Book of Hours for Peacemakers and Justice Seekers

By by Alison Mearns Benders. A four-week prayer cycle for morning and evening readings to support people who “hunger and thirst for justice.” Patterned on the ancient monastic Hours, it offers psalms, intercessions, and reflections fashioned to strengthen a personal commitment to justice. The weekly themes are: recognizing God’s command that we act justly; lamenting suffering and injustice in our world; repenting our failures and renewing our commitment to justice; and, finally, celebrating God’s promise of justice lived as a new heaven and new earth. Weekly reflections encourage personal transformation by emphasizing the connection between justice action and peaceful communities. Read more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

Faithful America

An online community of Christians putting faith into action for social justice. They organize the faithful to challenge extremism and renew the church's prophetic role in building a more free and just society. They raise their voices through rapid-response campaigns that tap into the grassroots power of Christians across the nation. When corporations and religious institutions invoke religious freedom as a justification for bigotry and discrimination, they speak up. When hate groups purport to speak for Christianity, they act. They challenge the Catholic hierarchy in the United States to live up to the inspiring words of Pope Francis and they stick up for courageous Christian voices for fairness and freedom in every denomination.

Learn more.

For more Justice resources, click here .

If Jesus is Lord:

Loving Our Enemies in an Age of Violence

By Ronald Sider. Provides a statement on biblical peacemaking. Makes the case that Jesus calls his disciples to love, and never kill, their enemies. Explains that there are never only two options: to kill or to do nothing in the face of tyranny and brutality. There is always a third possibility: vigorous, nonviolent resistance. Engages with the just war tradition and issues a challenge to all Christians, especially evangelicals, to engage in biblical peacemaking. Read more.

For more Peace resources, click here.

Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative

Works to spread the word of impact investing through community building, sharing experiences, and learning from each other. Their goal is to accelerate and expand the use of wealth in service of people and planet. Learn more.

For more Socially Responsible Investing resources, click here .

Can I Get a Witness?:

Thirteen Peacemakers, Community-Builders, and Agitators for Faith and Justice

Edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle & Dan Rhodes. Stories of thirteen pioneers for social justice who engaged in peaceful protest and gave voice to the marginalized, working courageously out of their religious convictions to transform American culture. Comprising a variety of voices—Catholic and Protestant, gay and straight, men and women of different racial backgrounds—these activist witnesses represent the best of the church’s peacemakers, community builders, and inside agitators. Read more.

For more Public Witness resources, click here .

Catholic Charities USA Donor Advised Fund

A resource from Catholic Charities USA that supports investments consistent with Catholic Social Teaching & creates a lasting charitable legacy.

Learn more .

For more Socially Responsible Investing resources, click here.

Prayer

Remembering the Immigrant

Our Scriptures tell us of God's special concern for the "alien" and the "stranger," or as more contemporary translations say, the "immigrant." We remember our religious heritage in responding to the Gospel call to serve the poor and oppressed of our society. We respond to that call today by welcoming the immigrants and by seeking comprehensive, compassionate, humane and just immigration reform in our country.