We believe that policies and decisions should be informed by the experiences of the people most impacted by those policies and decisions. We advocate for peace and justice, and are guided by the Gospels, Catholic Social Teaching, and the experience of Columban missionaries and the communities they serve.
We are living in the sixth major extinction of life since life began on earth 3.8 billion years ago. The last time something similar happened was at the end of the end of the Mesozoic period 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs were wiped out.
On January 22, 2021, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons officially goes into effect. One hundred and twenty-two nations, including the Vatican, signed the historic treaty in 2017, and in October 2020 the necessary fifty nations needed to implement it ratified the treaty. It was a moving testament to the solidarity of the global community, 75 years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to rid the earth of nuclear weapons.
Today more than ever we are called to promote a deep care for creation, just social and economic structures, active non-violence in the face of oppression, and a Gospel commitment to peace that fosters a sense of inter-connectedness and solidarity with all living beings and all of creation.
There is no place for violence and the systemic racism that fuels it in our nation, especially when political leaders and the media perpetuate lies and incite assaults on our democracy and our democratic traditions. Words matter, and character matters, and when words are used to condone, tolerate, encourage, or incite hatred and violence, it must be condemned. Silence in the face of grave injustice and violence is complicity.
Today more than ever we are called to promote a deep care for creation, just social and economic structures, active non-violence in the face of oppression, and a Gospel commitment to peace that fosters a sense of inter-connectedness and solidarity with all living beings and all of creation.
Making active nonviolence our way of life in the Church and the world.
Copyright © 2021 Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, Washington, D.C.
