The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach is the national advocacy office for the Missionary Society of St. Columban. The office serves as the line of communication between Columban missionaries serving in 15 countries around the world and policy makers in Washington, D.C. Our mission is to work towards a more just, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable world by engaging in the political process guided by our faith and the Gospel.
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Dear Columban Advocate,
In April 2016, the United States joined nearly 200 other nations to officially sign the ‘Paris Agreement’, the ground-breaking international climate agreement that seeks to curb each nation’s contributions to climate change and its devastating effects.
As a result of decades of experience living, working, and standing in solidarity with impacted communities, Columbans have identified four advocacy priority areas and a fifth overarching concern. Migration, environmental justice, economic justice, peace and nonviolence, and inter-religious dialogue are at the heart of Columban mission.
On Friday, April 31, 2017, Catholics participated in a lobby day on Capitol Hill co-sponsored by Catholic Climate Covenant and the Columban Center for Advocacy & Outreach. The day began with a lobby training session facilitated by staff from both organizations. Jeremy Marcus, Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Congressman Matt Cartwright, also helped train participants. Following the training session, participants visited lawmakers’ offices and made several legislative asks...
The Mysterious Journey As a teenager I browsed whatever reading materials were left around my home: Sunday newspapers that my father enjoyed; novels that my older brother and sisters considered worthwhile; and religious magazines that my mother read at the end of her busy days. These materials expanded the horizons of my world and beckoned me to explore the strange but fascinating world that adults inhabited. Stories about missionaries in far-off lands that I occasionally read in the religious magazines... |
The Seeds of Mother’s Day: A Proclamation for Peace More than 130 years ago, noted American activist Julia Ward Howe first proposed the concept of Mother’s Day. Howe was a prominent abolitionist who served as one of the catalysts promoting emancipation of slaves and, later, women’s suffrage. A woman of deep religious conviction, Howe became increasingly convinced that war was an inappropriate means for furthering her social justice ideals and believed that these issues, which she cared deeply about, should instead be pursued nonviolently. |
