Laudati Si’ Action Platform – Year One

The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, having made a public commitment to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and ecological conversion, have chosen to focus on Ecological Education during this first year.  We will engage our sisters, companions, coworkers, and significant organizations with which we are associated.  Click on the attached to read the reflection and year one plan developed by the committee and approved by leadership.  Click here for a reflection of the process and our year one plan.

Tell Lawmakers: We Must End Gun Violence

As we still try to get our heads around the recent tragedies that have occurred in our country please consider sending a post to your U.S. congresspersons and state senators and representatives demanding something be done to stop the tragedy of gun violence in our country.

As stated by the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2019, we clearly and firmly believe that the following policies are key tools to mitigating the epidemic of gun violence:

• A ban on assault weapons;
• Universal background checks;
• A federal gun trafficking bill;
• Regulations on sales of handguns;
• Improved mental health interventions;
• Safety measures; and
• An honest assessment of violent images and experiences in our society.

Join the members of the Ignatian family and broader Catholic network worldwide in telling President Biden, Vice President Harris, and our senators to take definitive action to end gun violence.  Click here to send your message: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/action-alerts/take-action-to-reduce-gun-violence/.

Close Guantanamo

Earlier this month it was announced that President Biden transferred Sufiyan Barhoumi out of Guantanamo and to his native country of Algeria. This good news is part of a pattern of the Biden Administration’s actions suggesting that the president is acting on his commitment to close the Guantanamo prison. Unfortunately, in the past congress has made fulfilling this commitment more difficult by passing laws that restrict detainee transfers.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees are now beginning to draft their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In the past, this bill has been used by congress to place restrictions on transferring Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. for any reason, even for trial or for necessary medical treatment. Congress has also used the NDAA to place limits on transfers to other countries with bureaucratic hurdles that make transfers unnecessarily complicated.

For the past three years, the U.S. House has voted to lift the restrictions on transfers to the United States in their version of the NDAA, but the senate has not. The senate should not continue to support indefinite detention in Guantanamo.

Please write to your members of congress now and tell them to vote to end the restrictions on transferring detainees out of Guantanamo.  Click here to join NRCAT in writing to congress, https://nrcat.salsalabs.org/close-guantanamo-2022-3.