|
September 1, 2017
| |
In This Update:
|
|
| |
- Catholics Spearhead Recovery Efforts After Hurricane Harvey
- September 1 is the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation
- U.S. Bishops Urge President Trump to Continue DACA Program
- Labor Day Statement from the U.S. Bishops Calls for Action
|
|
| |
Catholics Spearhead Recovery Efforts After Hurricane Harvey
|
|
| |
Hurricane Harvey has caused significant damage on the Texas coast. The bishops of the fifteen Texan dioceses are working together to coordinate the Catholic Church's response to this disaster. Individuals looking to help relief efforts may donate to any Texas Catholic Charities or local St. Vincent de Paul Society, which will be used to assist evacuees and contribute to local needs.
Catholic Charities USA is also accepting donations through text message (text CCUSADISASTER to 71777) and online that will be directed to the area. The U.S. bishops have called for a special collection across the country to help victims on the weekend of September 2-3 or September 8-9. For continued updates on how to help those in need as the storm develops, visit http://txcatholic.org/harvey/. |
|
| |
September 1 is the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation
|
|
| |
 The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church are jointly celebrating the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on Friday, September 1st. Pope Francis first celebrated this day of prayer in 2015, joining with the Orthodox Church, which had been commemorating it since 1989. In the Holy Father's letter instituting the day for the Catholic Church, he spoke about the purpose of the event:
"The annual World Day of Prayer offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of Creation, raising to God our thanks for the marvelous works that He has entrusted to our care, invoking His help for the protection of creation and his mercy for the sins committed against the world in which we live."
Prayers on the care of creation are available from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). |
|
| |
U.S. Bishops Urge President Trump to Continue DACA Program
|
|
| |
 In 2012, the Department of Homeland Security allowed for undocumented individuals who came to the country as children to receive temporary reprieve from deportation, as well as employment authorization for legal work in the United States. Over 750,000 youth have received this protection through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Ten state attorneys general (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia) have called on the federal government to phase out DACA by September 5 or they will challenge the program in court. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, and Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc (CLINIC) have joined together to urge President Trump and his administration to preserve DACA.
"Your decision to continue this program would ensure that young people can continue to work, study, and be protected from deportation while Congress debates broader legislative fixes to our broken immigration system. A decision to end this program would turn our nation's back on immigrant youth who are seeking to reach their full God-given potential and fulfill the promise of gratefully giving back to the only country most have ever known."
The USCCB's Justice for Immigrants campaign is also asking for individuals to contact the president and urge him to maintain the DACA program. For more information, click here. |
|
| |
Labor Day Statement from the U.S. Bishops Calls for Action
|
|
| |
In honor of the annual celebration of Labor Day, the U.S. bishops have released a statement on the importance of work. Within the letter, the bishops call for action based on a vision of work that supports the flourishing of the family, a clearer understanding on the nature of poverty, and solidarity with those on the margins. Here is an excerpt from the letter, written by Most Reverend Frank Dewane, Bishop of Venice and chair of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development:
"What does our Lord's 'gaze of love' see today? Surely he honors the parents and grandparents who offer their work as 'prayers said with the hands' for their family and future. In turn, we thank God for the vocation of work, which, when healthy, 'anoints' with dignity, helps children grow into adults, and strengthens cooperation across all people in our society. 'Brother work,' in Pope Francis' words, is formational and sustaining for every human life and community, and is essential to our faith. God's 'gaze of love' also receives all those who are struggling with work. A lack of work can be devastating to the human person, and it can undermine solidarity and destabilize society. '[T]he entire social pact is built around work,' Pope Francis told a gathering of factory workers in Genoa. 'This is the core of the problem. Because when you do not work, or you work badly, you work little or you work too much, it is democracy that enters into crisis, and the entire social pact.'" (Quotes within: Pope Francis, 5/27/17)
If this email was forwarded to you, please click here to join the Catholic Advocacy Network, which will enable you to receive regular electronic updates and alerts.
For other news and information, click here to follow MCC on Twitter, like MCC on Facebook, follow MCC on Instagram, or visit MCC's webpage. |
|
|
|
|
|
