News

The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota (CCF) hosted Tomás Insua, founder of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, whose mission is to “bring Laudato Si’ to life.” Anne Cullen Miller, president of CCF, told The Catholic Spirit that the foundation plans to highlight climate change in upcoming programs.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez as their new president during their fall gathering. From America magazine: “Archbishop Gomez, a priest of Opus Dei, is described by those who know him as someone who cares for victims of clergy sexual abuse, an advocate for the L.A.’s homeless population and a proponent of Laudato Si’,’ Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. Archbishop Gomez was described in 2017…as the ‘protégé’ of Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia.”

Representatives from 21 countries participated in an April gathering at the Vatican as part of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, through its parent organization, Pax Christi International, Vatican News reported. Drafted following the meeting, a statement promoting nonviolence, available here, reads, “As Christians committed to faithfully following in the footsteps of Jesus, we are called to take a clear stand for active nonviolence and against all forms of violence.”

A forum focusing on alleviating poverty among Native American populations took place at the University of Notre Dame in October, Catholic News Service reported. The summit, attended by American Indian tribal leaders and hosted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ subcommittee on Native American Affairs, will release recommendations to help alleviate poverty.

Close to 200 Catholic bishops spent three weeks in October in Rome discussing how to assist the Amazon region of South America, paying special attention to evangelization, countering violence, and supporting environmental sustainability, America magazine reported. The article highlights a quote from Cardinal Michael Czerny: “With the Amazon burning, many more people are realizing that things have to change. We cannot keep repeating old responses to urgent problems and expect to get better results.”

A forum focusing on alleviating poverty among Native American populations took place at the University of Notre Dame in October, Catholic News Service reported. The summit, attended by American Indian tribal leaders and hosted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ subcommittee on Native American Affairs, will release recommendations to help alleviate poverty. From the article, “The U.S. Census Bureau reports approximately 3 million people whose primary race is Native American or Alaska Native. Of those, about 40 percent live on reservations or trust lands, and a high percentage fall well below the poverty level. About 20 percent of Native Americans are Catholic, but proposals coming out of the gathering are expected to be applicable to all Native Americans, according to meeting organizer Father Michael Carson, assistant director of Native American affairs for the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church.”

U.S. Catholic Sisters against Human Trafficking (USCSAHT), whose founding was helped to be catalyzed by FADICA, hosted the first-ever hemispheric-wide conference of Talitha Kum anti-trafficking networks on Oct. 24 – 27 in Cleveland, Ohio. Borders Are Not Barriers was a four-day conference that brought together representatives from anti-trafficking networks in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, and other experts to build capacity for more effective and coordinated work. Pictured above: Sr. Gabriella Bottani, SMC, Coordinator of Talitha Kum-ARISE (Global Catholic Sisters anti-trafficking network) at FADICA’s 2018 Rome Pilgrimage. Sr. Bottani also attended the first hemispheric-wide anti- human trafficking conference in October in Cleveland, OH