April 9, 2024

"Ministry to Irish Travellers, Gypsy and Roma groups strengthens my faith."

I found this so interesting I thought I'd share. Please note this is a safe haven group. Please read our rules before posting. Thanks.

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/columns/ministry-irish-travellers-gypsy-and-roma-groups-strengthens-my-faith?site_redirect=1

I am a sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, working in Nottingham, England, primarily with the Irish Travellers, Gypsy and Roma community. I have a wonderful team of volunteers and co-workers from the diocese who assist me in pastoral work with families, preparing children and youth for baptism, first Communion and confirmation, and adults for marriage. It is a wonderful ministry and very varied, including conducting classes to helping those who cannot read to reply to letters, fill out forms, apply for passports and whatever else might come up.

According to the Traveller Movement organization in Britain, Irish Travellers are a nomadic group of people from Ireland who have a separate identity, heritage and culture from the community in general. Irish Travellers' presence can be traced to 12th-century Ireland, with migrations to Great Britain in the early 19th century. The movement estimates about 300,000 Gypsy Roma and Traveller people currently live in Britain.

The organization estimates that Romani gypsies have been in Britain at least since 1515, migrating through Europe from northern India. The name "gypsy" was given by settled folk who mistook them as Egyptians because of their dark complexion. It is also known that there were Indigenous nomads in Britain when the new arrivals came.

According to the organization's website, the people live a variety of different lifestyles, some "on the road" and some living in mobile homes or caravans on council or private sites. Others settle in one place during school periods and travel during summer; while others live in permanent housing, but retain their culture and traditions.

March 31, 2024

Things Tumbling in Israel

My apologies if this has already been posted.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/things-tumbling-in-israel

Keep an eye on the events out of Israel. It seems possible they’re reaching some kind of turning point, though one hesitates to use that phrase about a country which has been in such an extended political paralysis for so long. The key to understand is that whatever crisis or shift may be in the works isn’t driven by the issues animating coverage in the U.S. To the extent it is tied to the Israel-Hamas war it is about the hostages and the widespread belief that the Netanyahu government isn’t that focused on striking a deal to get them home. Hovering around this is the fact that the government has at best tended to ignore and shun the hostages families. The communities along the border with Gaza tend to be made up of left-leaning Kibbutznik types. So they’re not Netanyahu’s people by any stretch of the imagination. That’s been a subtext to much that has happened over the last six months.

You also have the anti-judicial coup coalition which was holding massive weekly protests for almost a year before October 7th going back to the streets. All of that had stopped cold on October 7th. It’s been slowing reassembling since. But the protests this weekend are bigger than any since just before the massacres in southern Israel. They are now a coupled message for the government to resign and to bring the hostages home.

In the current government you basically have the Likud — the right-wing party of government, the parties of the ultra-orthodox and the parties of the settler crazies. Netanyahu will almost certainly lose the next election. And without a Netanyahu, these other parties are basically toast. Toast in the sense that they’re probably not going to see another government with this kind of radical dependence on them for a long time. So they need to get every dollar and every favor out of it they can right now, while the getting is good. So they will keep him in power as long as they can and basically cart out everything that isn’t nailed down. Meanwhile everyone else looks on and sees this is happening, during wartime, and basically all so the prime minister can stay out of jail, or at least squeeze out a few more months or a year in power. It’s a recipe for a highly combustible situation.

Again, no idea how this all plays out but Netanyahu has been juggling nine plates since the war started. Now he’s probably juggling 13. It can only go on so long.

March 19, 2024

Sr. Mary Roger Thibodeaux, noted 'Black power' nun, dead at 86

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/news/sister-mary-roger-thibodeaux-noted-black-power-nun-dead-86-0?fbclid=IwAR2rWXWiRya_8lZdmALw5dQtG39274wQPZ1x8QBOfzKxyZJulVRdHNaaqp0

In 1968, Sr Mary Roger became a founding member of the National Black Sisters’ Conference, one of the core organizations of the Black Catholic Movement. Like the others, the NBSC was borne of the Black Power fervor then quickly gaining strength among African-American Catholics.

Thibodeaux would make a lasting mark on the movement with her 1972 book "A Black nun looks at Black power," containing her poetic reflections on the struggle for Black freedom in America, viewed from a Catholic lens. The work would go on to be cited by various historians in their explication of the Black Power Movement’s wide-ranging impact.

Thibodeaux’s writing therein has since been immortalized in the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, where a large monument contains a quote from the book:

"Black Power is not foreign to Yahweh and Yahweh is not foreign to Black Power… The cause of Justice is and always will be in strict accordance with the Will of God."

February 23, 2024

Texas attorney general moves to shut down Catholic migrant shelters

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SAFE HAVEN GROUP. NON-CATHOLICS ARE WELCOME TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION SO LONG AS THEY ABIDE BY OUR RULES, PINNED ABOVE.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued a volunteer-run network of Catholic migrant shelters based in El Paso, Texas, aiming to revoke the organization's nonprofit registration. The lawsuit comes after Annunciation House moved to delay handing over documents about its clients to the attorney general.

"The Office of the Attorney General ('OAG') reviewed significant public record information strongly suggesting Annunciation House is engaged in legal violations such as facilitating illegal entry to the United States, alien harboring, human smuggling, and operating a stash house," the office wrote in a press release on Feb. 20.

If Paxton, a Republican, is successful, Annunciation House, which was founded in 1976, could be required to cease sheltering migrants entering Texas. The lawsuit "seeks to revoke Annunciation House's authorization to do business in Texas and asks the court to appoint a receiver to liquidate their assets," Paxton's office wrote.

On its website, Annunciation House says it has hosted more than 500,000 migrants fleeing death squads, civil wars, human rights abuses and poverty.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/texas-attorney-general-moves-shut-down-catholic-migrant-shelters?fbclid=IwAR1SBOCun-nrMcTgUGIc5S5jD2GzDYrodS3S7kTkSRtnAixQY2hLr_v6wKg

Wouldn't it be nice if this woke the bishops up? (Hint. It won't.)

February 7, 2024

LA Skid Row anchors Catholic Worker 'to the suffering world'

https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/la-skid-row-anchors-catholic-worker-suffering-world?fbclid=IwAR05yO3e4IO-Zj8zOXMo_dzBst-2nPq3_fPuuh0GsPJwyYDgACk4KIlZ20Y

THIS IS A SAFE HAVEN GROUP. NON-MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO COMMENT SO LONG AS THEY FOLLOW OUR RULES (PINNED ABOVE)

The only people we knew who would be crazy enough to buy shopping carts for homeless people was us, the Catholic Workers. Since that first distribution of shopping carts in front of the police department we have given more than 100,000 shopping carts to homeless people on Skid Row.

One could easily dismiss our project as insane, but it meets the needs of homeless people where they are actually situated in real life. I have seen people turn our carts over, put a tarp on top and sleep inside. The homeless are daily harassed and told to "move on." To do so, they need to be able to move their meager possessions to the next location. They also use our carts for recycling, to earn essential income.

As Skid Row continued to evolve from one homeless encampment into the squalid Beirut and Baghdad refugee encampments of today, we took our fight to the courts. Along with help from civil rights attorney Carol Sobel, we won the constitutional right of homeless people to "security in their property and possessions." We also won the constitutional right of homeless people to be free from the "cruel and unusual punishment" of police harassment and jail time for the "crime" of sleeping on the sidewalks until such time as the city provides additional low cost shelter or housing for them.

As more and more areas of our city — indeed our entire country — begins to look like the tent cities of Skid Row, we must realize that the expanding American economy has left behind and abandoned a significant population to the status of homeless refugees.

February 7, 2024

Journalist O'Loughlin named first executive director of national LGBTQ Catholic ministry

https://www.ncronline.org/news/journalist-oloughlin-named-first-executive-director-national-lgbtq-catholic-ministry?fbclid=IwAR2qdPoQTWF-d15r9U9SbkeOZdVK1qR-yts6Wt4LTO-Rb0oy9ZLEJ24qZJA

THIS IS A SAFE HAVEN GROUP. NON-CATHOLICS OR NON-ORTHODOX ARE WELCOME TO COMMENT SO LONG AS THEY ABIDE BY OUR RULES (PINNED ABOVE.)

Giving its ministry added journalistic heft, Outreach — a news, opinion and resource site for LGBTQ Catholics that's affiliated with the Jesuit-run America magazine — has named a former Boston Globe and America reporter as its first executive director.

The organization announced Feb. 6 that author and award-winning journalist Michael O'Loughlin will fill the post, where he'll focus on fundraising, assist with strategic planning, help manage the website and annual Outreach conference, and report on LGBTQ Catholics.

"We definitely want him to continue reporting," Jesuit Fr. James Martin, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ Catholics and current editor of the site, said in an email to NCR.

There are a number of organizations that aim to provide welcome and resources to the LGBTQ Catholic community, such as New Ways Ministry, Dignity and Fortunate Families.

January 24, 2024

"Looking for my brother's ghost."

Lovely story about grief, loss and the way we feel connected with loved ones even after they're gone.
 
https://www.thecut.com/article/looking-for-my-brothers-ghost.html

What our pediatrician called “night terrors,” our 2-year-old son Kian called “the scary lady who I see at night.” He slept just ten feet down the hall in our Brooklyn apartment. The close proximity didn’t keep me from checking the Nest Cam constantly. I would stare at the blurry black-and-white image on the screen, his little belly rising and falling as he slept.

One night, I heard a rustling and grabbed the monitor. Kian was sitting up, staring at the foot of the bed, seemingly in full conversation. His toddler rambling became more and more anxious, and then he lifted his arm — not unlike in a scary movie — pointed with his index finger, and began to scream.

Kian’s father sided with the pediatrician. But I recognized the look on my son’s face. I had seen it before on my little brother Neal.

January 15, 2024

Nicaragua expels Catholic Bishop Alvarez, priests amid crackdown

PLEASE note where you are. Non-Catholics are welcome to comment so long as they follow our rules.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/nicaragua-expels-catholic-bishop-alvarez-priests-amid-crackdown/ar-AA1mXHHi?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=f123673ef15b4a778a1ea5c683c8e96c&ei=17

Nicaragua said it expelled 19 clergymen to the Vatican on Sunday, including Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a prominent critic of President Daniel Ortega.

Bishop Isidoro Mora, 15 priests and two seminarians who were detained in Nicaragua were also expelled.

snip

Alvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa, forcefully criticized the government's deadly response to mass protests in 2018, and was convicted of treason and sentenced to a 26-year prison term earlier this year.

snip

Mora was arrested in December for saying at a mass that he was praying for Alvarez, sources said.

More info, for those who aren't familiar with this situation:

The Catholic Church has been targeted by the Ortega government since 2018, when a wave of nationwide protests rocked the country. The church took a leading role in trying to mediate a political solution to the crisis, which took the lives of more than 300 people, most of them killed by Nicaragua’s security services. Angered by the church’s role, Ortega accused it of being part of a plot to topple his government. (Ortega tinkered with the country's retirement, which led to protests, which led to the more than 300 deaths. It's my understanding that government forces shot into the crowd.)

The outspoken Álvarez, bishop of the city of Matagalpa, had been in prison for almost a year after receiving a 26-year sentence for treason. The prelate previously refused to go into exile with 222 other political prisoners who were stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship and expelled to the U.S. Mora, the bishop of Siuna, was detained in December after he asked for prayers for Álvarez at a mass.

Snip

In October, Ortega’s government released and expelled 12 priests. Since 2018, more than 200 Catholic clergy have been forced into exile or refused re-entry to Nicaragua, according to Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan academic now living in Miami who keeps a tally of government actions taken against the church.

Twelve religious orders including the Jesuits, to which the pope belongs, and Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, have been kicked out of Nicaragua, Molina said. The Ortega government has also confiscated Catholic universities such as the Jesuit-run Central American University, which the government said was a center for terrorism.


I can remember when Jimmy Carter was mentoring Ortega, who'd had just lost a campaign for office. Carter told him that in a democracy you have winners and losers and that in order for democracy to work, losers must lose gracefully. How far both countries have fallen.

October 24, 2023

6-year-old boy killed, mother seriously wounded in hate crime motivated by Israeli-Hamas war, police say

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/plainfield-stabbing-8-year-old-boy-killed-mother-seriously-injured?fbclid=IwAR3aiExFDE-bX4zjxcxN_nm1XoxUu08CffYkBdwGqepHehBDJgJ3uD_1x14

The boy’s paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. The organization identified the other victim as the boy’s mother.

"We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are," said Hannon, a Palestinian-American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher.

The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime "our worst nightmare," and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims.

"He knocked on the door, attempted to choke her and said ‘Muslims must die,’" said Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago's executive director.

"Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over what’s happening to their people," Rehab said, "have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world."

I had a discussion with someone I respect, re Islam, she is a liberal Democrat. She had quite a lot to say; at times, she sounded like a Trumpie on this issue, repeating the words "sharia law" over and over again. I kept telling her that whatever she felt about the faith, we have to keep the temperature down in this country. Even if we do, keep the temps down, incidents like this can happen.

October 19, 2023

Please pray for my husband

Currently in the hospital, multiple issues. Kind of a rollercoaster right now. Prayers appreciated.