human rights the way to peace lighting of the peace tree…december 10, 2013 12/10/2013congregation...
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Human RightsThe Way to Peace
Lighting of the Peace Tree…December 10, 2013
12/10/2013
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
St. Mary Springs Academy Students Display Their Ornaments
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Introductory Prayer
O God, you have created us in your image, and through the Incarnation of your Son, Jesus, you have bestowed on all humans an essential dignity. You speak to us about the precious humanity and potential of every person, and the duty to affirm and promote Human Rights for all members of the global family. Help us to listen to those who call for human dignity in our world, and to hear clearly the Good News that economic and social rights, as well as political and legal rights, are meant for every child of God, everywhere on earth. Amen.12/10/2013
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
“The right to water, the right to food, the right to health and the right to education are intrinsically linked to the right to life and to the right to development. Therefore, we must be bold in affirming them, and equally resolved to safeguard the evident reality that these rights are at the service of the human person…”
His Eminence Odilo Cardinal Scherer, Special Envoy of Pope Benedict XVI to the UN Conference on Sustainable
Development Rio de Janeiro, 22 June 2012
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
“If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just towards them. Not only is justice not extraneous to charity, not only is it not an alternative or parallel path to charity: justice is inseparable from charity, and intrinsic to it. Justice is the primary way of charity.”
Pope Benedict XVI: Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
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For it isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”Eleanor Roosevelt
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
“The rights of every (wo)man are diminished when the rights of one (wo)man are threatened”
John F. Kennedy
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 3: The right to life, liberty, and personal security
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 5: Freedom from torture or degrading treatment
Abu Ghraib
At Abu Ghraib
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 6: The right to recognition as a person before the law
Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center Biloxi MS12/10/2013
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 9: Freedom from arbitrary arrest or exile
In an opinion released on July 3, 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that the detention of an Afghan detainee in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was arbitrary and in violation of several international human rights standards. The Working Group requested the U.S. government to take the necessary measures to remedy the situation, including the release of Mr. Obaidullah from detention and the provision of the right to compensation.
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 10: The right to a fair public hearing
Arizonans vow to take law into their own hands
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 11: The right to be considered innocent until proven guilty
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 12: Freedom from interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 13. The right to free movement in and out of any country
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 14. The right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution in other countries
Edward Snowden meets with human rights activists and lawyers on July 12 in a transit zone of the Russian airport. He announced that he was seeking refuge in Russia while awaiting safe passage to Latin America, where he has been offered asylum.
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
In Lebanon, women do not have the same legal entitlements to citizenship as men. If a Lebanese woman marries a foreign national she is not entitled to pass her nationality to her spouse and children.
Article 15: The right to a nationality and freedom to change it
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
11.25.2013: NPR reported a story about forced marriage of young girls in Malawi. The Girls Empowerment Network helps girls re-imagine their futures.
Article 16: The right to marry and to found a family
Christina Asima says she had no choice but to marry at age 12 to help care for younger siblings after her mother abandoned the family. But her husband was abusive, so she left him, and now must look after her 8-month-old son, Praise, alone.
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 17: The right to own property
August 9, 2013: Colombian farmers from Montes de Maria receive formal titles to their land. Colombia’s Registry of Victims lists more than five million persons forcibly displaced from their lands during its nearly half-century civil conflict. 12/10/2013
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 18: Freedom of belief and religion
A woman takes a picture of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro after midday prayers in August in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Opponents of the mosque waged a two-year court battle trying to keep it from opening.
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 19: Freedom of opinion and information
BALANCING THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW, CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION, AND HOMELAND SECURITY
Our government classifies documents (e.g. restricted, confidential, secret and top secret), with differing clearance requirements.
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
A rtic le 2 0 : T h e rig h t o f p e a c e fu l a s s e mb ly a n d a s s o c ia tio n
Wisconsin Capital Police arrest people gathered in the WI Capitol rotunda for the daily noontime singalong (7.24.2013). Police arrested more than a dozen people in their first crackdown after a federal judge ruled large groups need a permit to gather in the building. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
Madison, WI: Solidarity Singer Arrested
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 21: The right to participate in government and free elections
Honduras. On November 28, 2013, Rights Watch reported numerous electoral irregularities including the buying and selling of votes, violence and intimidation of voters. Honduras’ Presidential Election
11.24.2013
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 22: The right to social security
Top countries for where-to-be-born index, 2013
1 Switzerland 8 Netherlands2 Australia 9 Canada3 Norway 10 Hong Kong4 Sweden 11 Finland5 Denmark 12 New Zealand6 Ireland 13 Austria7 Singapore 14 Taiwan
15 BelgiumThe Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, attempts to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead.
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 23: The right to desirable work and to join trade unions
Steady Decline of Union Membership in USA
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 24: The right to rest and leisure
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77% of working moms say they are responsible for more than half of the housework.
Meghan Casserly, Forbes Staff, June 2011
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 25: The right to an adequate standard of living
FAO Hunger Map 2010Prevalence of Undernourishment in Developing
Countries
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Congregation of Sisters of St. AgnesArticle 26: The right to education
Pakistani Malala Yousafzai addresses the UN on her 16th birthday.
“I said to myself, Malala, you must be brave. You must not be afraid of anyone. You are only trying to get an education. You are not committing a crime.”
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Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 27: The right to participate in the cultural life of the community
Aboriginal Day in Canada: Two young First Nations men dance in full regalia on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 11, the National Day of Reconciliation. The occasion marked the one-year anniversary of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's historic apology for abuses in the residential school program (Matthew Little/The Epoch Times) 12/10/2013
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 28: The right to social order assuring human rights12/10/2013
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Article 29: The right to be subject only to such legal limitations that secure the rights of others
One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sits in jail cell in Birmingham, AL in October, 1967.
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Article 30: Freedom from state or personal interference in the above rights.
Noam Chomsky
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St. Mary Springs Academy Students Show Artistic Creations
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Tree Ornaments Decorated by St. Mary Springs Academy Students
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
We hear your voice, O God, as your Church affirms the right to food:
“One Human Family, Food for All”
“Consumerism and a “culture of waste” have led some of us to tolerate the waste of precious resources, including food, while others are literally wasting away from hunger.”
Pope Francis: World Environment Day Message, June, 2013
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Thus we pray:• That we unite in prayer and action with Pope
Francis and Caritas International to provide food for all in the human family
• For the 925 million people in the world who are malnourished
• For the 46.7 million people in the U.S. who must rely on food stamps
• For the millions of people who lack access to nutritious food
• For the agribusiness corporations that they may recognize the right of all humans to nutritious food
All: Hear our prayer, Lord of Mercy, compassion and justice.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
We hear your voice, O God, as your Church affirms the right to health care:
“Affordable and accessible health care is an essential safeguard of human life, a fundamental human right for all people.”
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Faithful Citizenship, 2003
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Thus we pray:
• For the 60 million people in the US who lack access to adequate health care and the 48 million who are uninsured
• For parents throughout the world who sacrifice their health treatment in order to provide care for their children
• For those dying of treatable diseases while politicians and pharmaceuticals debate about patents and profits for drugs
• For deeply indebted countries that must cut social spending on health care in order to repay loans
All: Hear our prayer, Lord of Mercy, compassion and justice.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
We hear your voice, O God, as your Church affirms the right to decent housing:
“By virtue of their human dignity, all persons must be guaranteed housing which not only offers physical shelter, but a suitable place for satisfying social, cultural, and spiritual needs.”
Pope John Paul II, St. Peter’s Address, June 16, 1996
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Thus we pray:
• For the 400,000 Haitians who remain homeless after the 2010 earthquake
• For the 830 million people world wide who live in urban slums without proper sanitation and clean water
• For the 45.2 million displaced people throughout the world forced to flee because of conflict or persecution
• For the thousands left homeless by natural disasters around the world
• For the 1.1 million homeless in the United States
All: Hear our prayer, Lord of Mercy, compassion and justice.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
We hear your voice, O God, as your Church affirms the right of workers to decent jobs with adequate pay:
“Work is a fundamental right and a useful good, belonging to all people, and must be made available to all who are capable of engaging in it…A society in which the right to work is thwarted or denied, … , cannot be justified from an ethical view, nor can that society attain social peace. The State has the duty to promote active employment policies.”
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Teaching of the Church, 2004:
#287-291.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Thus we pray:• For workers of companies that make very high
profits but do not respect the dignity and rights of their employees
• For workers who lose their jobs because corporations seek cheaper labor in developing countries
• For workers in developing countries who labor long hours in unsafe conditions for low pay, no benefits, and no job security
• For workers who are denied their right to form trade associations and to bargain collectively
All: Hear our prayer, Lord of Mercy, compassion and justice.
12/10/2013Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
We hear your voice, O God, as your Church affirms the dignity of every person and that all be treated justly:
“The duty to respect the dignity of each human being, in whose nature the image of the Creator is reflected, means in consequence that the person cannot be disposed of at will. Those with greater political, technical, or economic power may not use that power to violate the rights of others who are less fortunate. Peace is based on respect for the rights of all.”
Pope Benedict XVI: Message for the World Day of Peace, 1.1.2007
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Thus we pray:• For gender equity throughout the world, that the
rights of women and girls be fully respected
• For the millions of lives lost through abortion
• For the 2.3 million prisoners in the U.S., the majority of whom are African American and Hispanic
• For the abolition of Capital Punishment in the U.S. and globally
• For the victims of modern slavery and prosecution of those who commit these crimes
• For those still held in the U.S.’s war prison at Guantanamo Bay
All: Hear our prayer, Lord of Mercy, compassion and justice.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Closing Prayer on Human Rights Day
Leader: God of justice and mercy, help us to remember that you have
created each and every person with dignity and worth.
All: In all that we do, help us to build peace by treating one another with the respect and
honor due to each person.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Closing Prayer on Human Rights Day
Leader: This day we remember and give thanks for the 65th anniversary of the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
All: We honor the courage of those who came
before us, who sought to declare that
regardless of any differences among
peoples that we all share basic human
rights.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Closing Prayer on Human Rights Day
Leader: We pray for fortitude in the face of fear
that we might create a path to peace by doing what is right and just whenever we see a human right being violated.
All: In all that we do, help us to treat one another with the respect and honor
due to each person.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes 12/10/2013
Closing Prayer on Human Rights Day
All: We pray for strength and steadfastness in
the work of establishing peace in the
world. In all things may we honor you, O
God, and honor the dignity of each
person made in your image. We as this in
the name of Your Son, the Prince of
Peace. Amen.