The following resources were published in the May-June 2019 issue of NewsNotes.
1) Easter Season Reflections on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by members of RUN (Religious at the United Nations) http://bit.ly/RUNEasterReflections
2) Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso testified before Congress on April 10. Bishop Seitz described the El Paso community's response assisting asylum-seeking families and offered recommendations to address root causes of migration and protect immigrant children and families. Read the bishop’s testimony http://bit.ly/BishopSeitz04102019
3) Court orders Central American Minor Parole Program to reopen and allow thousands of children living in dangerous conditions in Central America to safely reunite with their parents in the U.S. http://bit.ly/CAMPP
4) New report by ICAN and Pax: “Producing mass destruction: Private companies and the nuclear weapons industry” shows which 28 private companies are involved in building nuclear weapons.By investing in these companies, financial institutions and others are in effect facilitating the build-up of nuclear forces. http://bit.ly/2Y8koS9
5) New report from Eurodad: “Flawed conditions: The impact of the World Bank’s conditionality on developing countries” http://bit.ly/EurodadReport
6) Webinar recording of “Spirituality & a Culture of Peace.” by Pax Christi USA. Jacqueline Haessly, PhD explains how to bring the spirituality of nonviolence into every facet of life and teaches how to embrace and embody a culture of peace. Please share in your classrooms, with your parishes, Pax Christi USA groups, family, and friends. Recording available at http://bit.ly/PaxChristiUSAWebinar
7) 5-minute video of Religions for Peace leaders calling for climate action to protect the earth http://bit.ly/ClimateActionVideo
8) Frequently requested statistics on U.S. immigration http://bit.ly/USImmigrationStats
9) Churches for Middle East Peace statement on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to annex land http://bit.ly/CMEP04252019
10) Webinar recording of “Catholic Social Teaching and the Green New Deal” by the Catholic Climate Covenant http://bit.ly/CSTGND
11) TedTalk ”Can we prevent nuclear war?” Dr. Ira Helfand, Co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and steering committee member of ICAN, Recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, discusses the threat to human survival posed by nuclear weapons and what we can do to eliminate this threat. http://bit.ly/PreventNuclearWar
12) Book recommendation: “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming” by David Wallace-Wells. Published by Tim Duggan Books, New York, 2019. The author himself admits this book is alarmist, but he also points out that since humans have caused the problem we have the capacity to solve the impending disaster of climate change. He lists a number of extreme weather events in the last two or three years that give proof that climate change is happening now and not something in the nebulous future. We must act now and in the final chapter he recommends a number of actions that we can take. This is a readable book and hopefully many will read it and realize that there is no time to wait. http://bit.ly/2Wh9t8c
13) Book recommendation: “Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future” by Mary Robinson. Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2018. Robinson, a former President of Ireland, a UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, and a member of the group known as the Elders, which advocates for concerted, international action to combat global warming and climate change, has written an enjoyable book that is part travelogue, part sober narrative about disturbing things happening to nature and people, and part a stirring call to action. At only 144 pages, one can read this book in a weekend. http://bit.ly/2IWzR3Z