Shalom News North America
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An instrument of hope, formation, and action
concerning priority matters of social justice.
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Plastic Free July
Plastics Scorecard
Environmental Justice
Food Waste
Saint Kateri
Season of Creation
Human Trafficking
Displaced People
Indigenous Peoples
Universal Communion
Sudan
Gaza/Ukraine
Nuclear Free Prayer Day
LCWR Contemplative Prayer
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Dear Friend,
In the encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis emphasizes that the social and ecological challenges of our day are interrelated (integral ecology). As you read through this newsletter, and the social and ecological concerns it highlights, consider how these concerns are related to the Laudato Si' Goals and SSND becoming a Laudato Si' Congregation.
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School Sisters of Notre Dame
Shalom North America Contacts
(If the newsletter images are not loading properly, click here to view as webpage. Click here to download a pdf version of newsletter.)
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Plastic Free July
Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution so we can have cleaner streets, water ways, and beautiful communities. The movement has inspired participants in 190 countries! Each of us making a small change will collectively make a massive difference to our communities. Learn more/embrace the Plastic Free July challenge. Consider using the SSND Voter Voice Tool to urge your legislators to support the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act (H.R. 6053/S. 3127), which places the burden for waste reduction on corporations.
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Plastic Promises Scorecard
As You Sow, in partnership with Ubuntoo, an environmental solutions platform, have released their “2024 Plastic Promises Scorecard” ranking 225 global companies across 15 industries on their ambition and actions to reduce plastic packaging pollution. One major finding of the report is the significant gap between companies’ stated plastic reduction commitments and actions taken to meet those commitments. “Companies can use the recommendations and scoring methodology in the Plastic Promises Scorecard to prepare for a future where plastic packaging pollution is no longer an acceptable part of doing business,” said Kelly McBee, lead author of the report. Click here to view the scorecard.
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Victory for Environmental Justice - Canada
Governor General Mary Simon has given royal assent to Bill C-226, which addresses environmental justice and racism in Canada. Now a law, it requires the creation of a national environmental justice strategy to account for the effects of environmental racism―a systemic issue that results in Indigenous, Black and racialized communities being affected by environmental hazards more than other communities. Environmental justice requires the consideration of how marginalized people―such as those in poverty or poor housing, seasonal agricultural workers, women, and others―are also disproportionately impacted by environmental issues like unsafe drinking water, pollution, toxic wastes, climate change, lack of green spaces, workplace exposure to risks, and other risks. Learn more here.
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National Strategy for Reducing Food Waste
The Biden Administration has released a “National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics”. The goal of the strategy is to prevent the loss and waste of food, where possible, increase recycling of food and other organic materials, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build cleaner, healthier communities. The actions detailed in this strategy are designed to help the U.S. meet its National Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal to halve food loss and waste, as well as the National Recycling Goal to achieve a 50% recycling rate by 2030. Learn more. Learn about Canadian efforts to reduce food loss and waste here. Explore steps you can take to reduce food waste here.
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Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (7/14)
The feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native North American female saint and patroness of ecology and Canada, is celebrated on April 17 in Canada and July 14 in the United States. Saint Kateri was born to a Mohawk father and Algonquin Catholic mother in 1656. She lost her family to smallpox at age 4. The disease scarred her and left her with diminished sight and health. Influenced by the faith of the Jesuits, she pledged never to marry and moved to the village of Kahnawake and the Mission of St. Francis Xavier du Sault Saint-Louis, near Montreal, where other indigenous Catholics lived. She died in 1680 at age 24. St. Kateri was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. Learn more.
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Season of Creation (9/1-10/4)
We are invited to embrace the Season of Creation as a time to renew our relationship with God and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment. “To Hope and Act with Creation” is the theme for this year’s annual ecumenical season where we pray and act together as a Christian family for our common home.
The season kicks-off with the World Day of Prayer for Creation on September 1. Pope Francis’ message for the day highlights our responsibility to take care of Earth, our common home. It stresses that, as Christians called to live in faith and charity, caring for the environment is "a task to be undertaken freely, in obedience to Jesus’ commandment of love."
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September 21 will be a day of advocacy, focusing on the ecumenical call for action to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is an effort for international cooperation to accelerate the transition to renewable energy. October 4, the feast day of Saint Francis, marks the conclusion of the Season. The faithful around the world will be invited to come together for an online event prepared by the Season of Creation Ecumenical Youth Committee to celebrate our month-long journey together.
Click here to learn more and download the Season of Creation Celebration Guide and other resources. Prayer for the Season.
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Trafficking in Persons Report - 2024
The US State Department has issued its 2024 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which chronicles the efforts of 188 nations to combat human trafficking in their countries. The report receives international attention as nations which are cited as Tier 1—permissive and supportive of human trafficking—can be sanctioned by the US government. The 2024 report explores the intersection between digital technology and human trafficking; technology that can be used to expand human trafficking networks, but can also be used to root them out. Read more here.
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117 Million People Displaced Globally
By the end of 2023, about 117 million people worldwide had been displaced from their homes by conflict, persecution or other significant threats to their well-being. This is according to the most recent report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN agency tasked with supporting forcibly displaced people. The report, released in June, tracks people already recognized as refugees, those still seeking to have their asylum requests approved abroad, and those displaced within their countries of origin. Follow this link to view nine charts that show how the patterns of forced migration have evolved over time, where people are fleeing from, and which countries are receiving the highest shares of displaced people. Read more here. Consider taking this 60-second quiz about refugees and share with others what you learn.
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World Indigenous Peoples Day (8/9)
Indigenous Peoples around the world live close to the Earth and carry profoundly wise beliefs and customs to protect Earth and their community. Indigenous Peoples have the right to make and apply their own decisions in meaningful and culturally-appropriate ways. Yet throughout history, their rights have been severely violated. Among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world, they suffer devastating effects of colonization, the global diseconomy, racism and extreme domination, the opioid crisis and alcoholism. How a nation treats its Indigenous Peoples is a tangible gauge of its integrity and greatness. Learn more about the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (8/9) here. How will you commemorate the day?
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Prophetic Witness for Universal Communion
The theme of the 2024 SEDOS (Service of Documentation and Studies on Global Mission) residential seminar was Prophetic Witness for Universal Communion: Mission in Conflict Zones and Healing. The notion of prophetic witness for universal communion stands as a beacon of hope and a call to action. This concept, rooted deeply in spiritual and religious traditions, emphasizes the mission of promoting peace, healing, and unity, even in the most troubled areas of the globe. The speakers, combining theory with personal practical experience, provided compelling testimonials that explored the theme from biblical, psychological, and spiritual perspectives. Click here for SSND reflections on the conference and here to review the inspiring presentations.
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Sudan Faces Severe Famine
Sudan, which has experienced civil war since April 2023, faces severe famine, with close to 8 million battling chronic hunger and 750,000 suffering famine, according to nonprofit groups and UN leaders. Rebel troops have blocked food relief and other necessities to certain areas of the conflict. As many as 9 million Sudanese have been displaced from their homes and over 2 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries. Aid groups call the situation one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history. Listen to this podcast or read this article to learn more. Click here to urge the U.S. to do what it can to secure a truce and humanitarian aid. Prayer resource.
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Gaza & Ukraine - Let us Not Waver in Our Call for Peace
Thousands of innocent people have been killed in Gaza and Ukraine with over a million plus people displaced. Many are experiencing hunger, disease, and all forms of hardship. We must not waver in our prayers and our calls to silence the weapons, bring in the aid, take care of the displaced, secure freedom for the captives, and do the hard work of negotiating a just peace. Let us use our SSND Voter Voice Tool to urge leaders in Washington to do all they can to stop the bloodshed in Gaza and Ukraine and move all involved to a just and lasting peace.
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Prayer for a Nuclear Free World (8/6)
Our Earth is vulnerable. Our world politics are extremely vulnerable. Experts agree that given the state of the world these days, we are closer than ever to experiencing a catastrophic nuclear disaster. Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons (a part of the United Religions Initiative) invites all individuals of good will and all organizations of concern to draw strength from each one’s deepest convictions and longings for a better future on Nuclear Prayer Day, August 6. Make use of this prayer or create your own. A world united in moments of silence, in words spoken from the heart, and in a sure vision of a world beyond nuclear weapons – such moments will anchor and sustain our commitment as we work together to bring an end to the nuclear threat.
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LCWR Virtual Prayer Space - Republican National Convention (7/15-18)
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) invites you to embrace communal contemplative prayer throughout the days of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions via a virtual prayer space. This virtual prayer space will be available 24 hours a day July 15-18 for the Republican National Convention and August 19-22 for the Democratic National Convention. To participate, log in, review the orientation to the prayer space in the waiting room, and then join women religious from around the world as they pray in silence. Click here to learn more and join in the contemplative prayer.
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LCWR Contemplative Prayer for the World (8/16)
“Who Then Shall We Be? A Contemplative Prayer for the World” is a segment of the assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) where the approximately 700 participants (and many others online) will engage in a contemplative experience created to be in solidarity with the fragility of the world while reflecting on our call to respond to that fragility as bearers of the gospel message. Through the use of the arts, brief readings, and reflective questions, participants will engage in a process of lamenting the suffering of the world -- particularly the realities of climate change, racism, migration, and polarization and their intersection. You are invited to join in the prayer on Friday, August 16 from 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET (1 – 2 pm CT). Mark your calendars! A livestream link will be shared here closer to the date.
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Shalom News North America will not published in September. Have a wonderful summer!
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The SSND Shalom Network witnesses to the Gospel with audacity and hope as we collaborate to build just relationships and respond to the urgent needs of our times. | | |
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Shalom News North America is an e-publication of the Shalom North America Contacts (SNAC) of the School Sisters of Notre Dame - Barb Paleczny SSND, Colleen Kammer, Ethel Howley SSND, and Tim Dewane. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcomed. Email us at tdewane@ssndcp.org.
Please only print this e-publication if necessary.
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