“It was magical to see the students interact and respond among themselves to issues as they came up in class prior to the main assembly,” said St. James School in Madison science teacher Annya Fahey in describing her students’ participation in a modified model UN conference held in March at the school.
Tag: United Nations
Do our part to live Laudato Si’
To the editor:
Your recent article on St. Dennis Parish’s solar panel installation is welcome news. Congratulations to Fr. Randy Timmerman for embracing and acting on the message of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. St. Dennis is leading by example and paving the way for their parishioners and more parishes in the diocese to do likewise.
I am also grateful for the article informing parishes that there is grant funding available from RENEW Wisconsin to assist in the costs of installing solar. Parishes who are struggling to find the time to explore energy options can simplify the process by checking out Catholic Energies at https://catholicenergies.org
Millions of refugees with no place to call home
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Emergency: Syria! Emergency: South Sudan! Emergency: Democratic Republic of the Congo!
These are the alarming messages being displayed on the homepage (www.unhcr.org) of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
People uprooted from their homes
According to the UNHCR, Syria has more people forcibly displaced than any country on earth. Over nine million Syrians have been uprooted from their homes due to civil war — over 2.5 million of them have fled to neighboring countries as refugees. And most distressing, more than half of the displaced are children.
In South Sudan, UNHCR reports the civil war and growing food shortages there has led to approximately 2,000 people crossing into nearby countries per day. Many of these refugees have been arriving exhausted, nutritionally weak, and in poor health.
Haven’t we learned? Pursue negotiations before taking military action in Syria
In the September 12, 2002, issue of the Catholic Herald, I wrote an editorial called “Iraq war: President has not made the case.” At that time, I didn’t think President George W. Bush had succeeded in mounting a convincing argument in favor of invading Iraq.
I agreed that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous dictator who had sacrificed his own people’s well-being to become a military power. However, it wasn’t proven that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Later, we learned here weren’t any such weapons in Iraq.
Committed to two wars for over 10 years
Yet on March 20, 2003, the United States led an invasion into Iraq. At the same time we were also committed to a war in Afghanistan.
It has been more than 10 years, and we’re still involved in both of those countries. Fortunately U.S. involvement is lessening, but we’ve spent a great deal of money and resources — and most importantly lost many lives — in these past 10 years.
Now we’re contemplating military action in Syria. Haven’t we learned our lesson yet?
Pope is right on target: We all have responsibility to respect creation
As the United Nations climate summit gets underway in Copenhagen this week, Pope Benedict XVI was right on target — as usual — in giving some advice to the delegates from around the world attending the summit in Denmark.
The Holy Father said he hoped the December 7 to 18 conference would identify policies that “respect creation and promote a cooperative development founded on the dignity of the human person and oriented toward the common good.”
Pope is right on target: We all have responsibility to respect creation
As the United Nations climate summit gets underway in Copenhagen this week, Pope Benedict XVI was right on target — as usual — in giving some advice to the delegates from around the world attending the summit in Denmark.
The Holy Father said he hoped the December 7 to 18 conference would identify policies that “respect creation and promote a cooperative development founded on the dignity of the human person and oriented toward the common good.”