Building Hope and Solidarity on the U.S./Mexico Border

Seeking a story of hope about Border Issues?

At the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) website, you can find an excerpt from a chapter titled "The Golden Kernel: Building Hope and Solidarity on the U.S./Mexico Border". The posted excerpt has photos and a video interview with Erica Dahl-Bredine of CRS who gives an excellent overview of the issues involved in the current border crisis and the position of the U.S. Catholic Church with respect to comprehensive immigration reform.

This chapter is one of many stories of hope in the new book: "Solidarity Will Transform the World" (Orbis Books 2007) by Jeffrey Odell Korgen.

Jeff Korgen is secretary of The Roundtable Association of Diocesan Social Action Directors and director of Social Ministries for the National Pastoral Life Center in New York City. He will be in Tucson for the SW Liturgical Conference on "Eucharist and Justice: Walking in Charity and Peace" in January 2008.

"Shop Your Conscience" this Christmas Season

Here are two opportunities:

(1) St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church 602 N. Wilmot Road, at 5th Street will hold its Advent International Bazaar on the weekend of December 1 & 2, sponsored by St. Michael's Social Concerns Group. All groups participating will be non-profit, non-violent, & socially committed. Cafe Justo will be there!

Saturday December 1st, 5 - 8 p.m.
Opening reception & sale. Mzekala sings Balkan traditional songs.


Sunday December 2nd, 9 a.m - 3 p.m
All participating groups. Food & music from 11:30 a.m.

All activities are in the Parish Center and adjacent patio, NE corner of the Church complex.


(2) You and your friends are all invited to the 9th annual GUAMAP "Shop Your Conscience" Holiday Art Sale. Come celebrate and support GUAMAP's 14th year of successful acupuncture training in the Peten, Guatemala.

When: Saturday, December 1, 10 am - 4:00 pm
Where: Off of North Silverbell between W. Speedway Blvd. & W. Grant Rd; 1991 W. Calle Camapa de Plata .

Non-profits and community artisans selling their wonderful and useful wares-- Products and crafts from Guatemala and all of Central America, Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Zambia. Fair Trade coffee for sale, 2008 Guatemala calendars,political teeshirts and bumper stickers, paintings, desert plant cosmetics,handcrafted and beaded jewelry, olive oil imported from Palestine, hot food, sweets and coffee and hot chocolate and music all day.


[information provided by Barbara Padilla]

Community Supported Agriculture

Encouraging Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one way we can live more simply, sustainably, and in tune with our environment. Learn more at the Tucson CSA website.


KUAT TV recently aired two segments on Community Supported Agriculture and how one can live sustainably -- even in Tucson. Here are links to the two videos on KUAT's website:

Community Supported Agriculture-1 "Community Supported Agriculture in Tucson"

Community Supported Agriculture-2 "Urban Chickens"


The KUAT website also includes the following links:

Community Food Bank

Farm directory

Native Seeds Search

Justice for Immigrants

The Justice for Immigrants website is a starting point for a host of information, resources and links about the issues surrounding the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform.

Stay tuned for more posts related to our local border situation.

Climate Change and Catholic Social Teaching

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just came out with the most recent report in its series on Climate Change 2007. Press release info about the reports can be found here.

This would be a good time to review the USCCB's 2001 statement on this issue: Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good.

For a more recent February 2007 statement by the USCCB on climate change, see: U.S. Bishops Call for Moral Focus on Global Climate Change; New Report Demands Urgent Attention


The USCCB currently is engaged in a Climate Change Justice and Health Initiative. See the website for additional information and resources for parishes.

U.S. Bishops' new "Faithful Citizenship" Statement

The U.S. Catholic bishops recently approved their new faithful citizenship statement, titled "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility."

Here is their official Press Release (November 14, 2007)

The complete text of the statement can be found in PDF format at the USCCB's Faithful Citizenship webpage, URL: http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/


Also available at this URL are PDF documents containing:

(1) The text for a Bulletin Insert titled "The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" which includes a nice section on the 7 Key themes of CST: "What does the Church Say about Catholic Social Teaching in the Public Square -- Seven Key Themes"

(2) Links to four other Bishops' Documents on politicians and the responsibilities of Catholics in public life.

(3) A link to a doctrinal note from the Vatican on some questions regarding "The Participation of Catholics in Political Life."

(4) A 5-page parish resource titled "Parish Planning Ideas for Parish Staffs and Parish Councils" (complete with a section on "Do's and Don'ts for Parishes")


A final quote from the press release:

The Faithful Citizenship statement concludes with a “call for a renewed kind of politics:

-- Focused more on moral principles than on the latest polls;
-- Focused more on the needs of the weak than on benefits for the strong;
-- Focused more on the pursuit of the common good than on the demands of narrow interests.

"This kind of political participation,” the bishops claim, “reflects the social teaching of our Church and the best traditions of our nation.”

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NOTE: To order distribution copies of the Statement or Bulletin Insert (when they become available) visit http://www.usccbpublishing.org/ and click on "New."

Recent Bishops' statements on Iraq

On November 13, 2007 the U.S. Catholic Bishops released a statement on "A Call for Bipartisan Cooperation on Responsible Transition in Iraq" by Bishop William S. Skylstad, President of the USCCB. The statement is available in PDF format at the USCCB Middle East webpage: http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/mideast.shtml

Also available is a document titled: "Questions and Answers on the War in Iraq" by Bishop Thomas G. Wenski, November 2007.

Want to know what else the U.S. Bishops have been saying about the war in Iraq and other issues related to Iraq? Click on Iraq on the USCCB's Middle East page and you will find all the statements issued since 1997, along with a link for: "Resources for Dioceses and Parishes"

If you would like to know more about the Catholic tradition with respect to war, including where the Bishops stood prior to the Iraq war, there is a very readable summary for Catholics in American Catholic.org's Catholic Update titled "What is Just War Today?" by Thomas A. Shannon ( from May 2004).