In recent years, many faith-based organizations have made bold statements about climate justice being a key component of their faith and stewardship of Earth and her people. Bill McKibben, a long-time environmentalist, in September 2019 was quoted in The Washington Post: “The gospel call to love one’s neighbor is, in our time and place, most fully…

We are in Pikine, a Dakar suburb, Senegal. Father Armel Duteil, is the one telling the story. He is an 80-year-old Spiritan missionary. French by origin, he spent much of his life in Africa – Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and finally Senegal. Many missionaries do not believe in emigration as the answer to…

In his Easter Urbi et Orbi message, Pope Francis urged all nations to “meet the greatest needs of the moment through the reduction, if not the forgiveness, of the debt burdening the balance sheets of the poorest nations”. While poor countries face a double threat – the COVID-19 pandemic and the debt crisis, it is…

With the declaration of the health emergency in Ecuador, all activities and services taking care of poor people were suspended. The experience of Caritas’ dining room, “Oscar Romero”, in Manta (Ecuador). The sense of solidarity required us to resume assistance to individuals and families, implementing a safe and practical method to deliver hot meals to…

St. Basil the Great, in the 4th century would call money ‘the devil’s dung,’  an epithet reused by Pope Francis last year. Oscar Wilde said ironically, “When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.” Saint Basil explained the…

One of the most important aims of advocacy is building strong democracy and democratic organizations to hold those in power accountable, expanding citizen’s understanding of how power operates. Many scientific and humanitarian reasons are impelling public authorities to impose on citizens an abundance of controls, restrictions of many kinds ranging from moving, sport, fitness to…

Advocacy is Re-active while “forcing” us because problems or issues are already there. Then we use advocacy to respond, seeking to address or reducing their impact. The best Re-active Advocacies are those brought about by reality strengths who “are forced” to act together because no one can avoid them, because they go beyond individuals, organizations…

It is given as a fact that any advocacy cannot have success without some sort of campaign. A campaign “is the process of mobilizing people to join together in taking action and challenging the powerful to make decisions that help and benefit the powerless.” It is a way of bringing about improvements or changes for…

“President Trump announced the launch of his Deal of the Century to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine.” “Donald Trump’s peace plan isn’t a plan for advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. It’s a plan for scuttling them.” “The administration’s peace plan tears up the playbook of prior presidents who have tried and failed to make real…

Advocacy, more than economic interests, is about consciousness and knowledge. It is about building a strong democracy, holding those in power accountable. It is about focusing on questions left out or hidden, on how information is shared or concealed. So, as maybe you know, but most people do not, a Peace Pact was signed on…

Advocacy is about defending a noble cause and denouncing oppression and injustice. However, it should be also a source of inspiration for alternative solutions to social, political and economic threats. Solutions advocating for inclusion and equality instead of exclusion or, worse, only of private financial interests. First, what is Global Homelessness? Its current statistic are…

Concluding the Special Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, Pope Francis in his homily said with a witty remark that the final document speaking of women falls “short” because of the importance of women in “transmitting the faith and in preserving the culture.” For the laity to be privileged actors, “the Church in the Amazon…