KathyO's blog

Pax Christi USA's television ad, "Father Joe on Keeping Racism out of the Election", went national on Monday, October 27, when it was featured on CNN's "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer. The ratings for the show were over 1.4 million.

Click here to view the segment

Visit www.paxchristiusa.org for additional resources for voting for the common good and donate now to help Pax Christi USA in this ad campaign.

On Friday November 21st, at the Episcopal House in Newark, NJ the American Friends Service Committee Immigrant Rights Program in Newark will be hosting a party for families of recently deported immigrants and immigrant detainees.

Detention and deportation creates both an emotional and a financial strain on the families who are left behind. These family members are often legal residents or American citizens. (Up to 15% of US families are of mixed immigration status.) As a result, deportation will effectively permanently separate immediate family members, including parents from their young children.

At the party the families will be given each family a Thanksgiving basket of food stuff to celebrate the holiday. A list of items requested is listed below.

[Ownership] becomes illegitimate... when it is not utilized or when it serves to impede the work of others, in an effort to gain a profit which is not the result of the overall expansion of work and the wealth of society, but rather is the result of curbing them or of illicit exploitation, speculation or the breaking of solidarity among working people. Ownership of this kind has no justification, and represents an abuse in the sight of God and man. Pope John Paul II from Centesimus Annus

A group of investors who have no background in law enforcement or running residential facilities of any kind has just been awarded a contract by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to build and run a 1000 bed facility in the city of Farmville, Virginia.

According to this article in Facing South the contract was hastily awarded to keep pace with increased demand for space and overcrowding in current facilities as a result of the stepped up pace raids and incarceration.

We had beautiful weather on Sunday and a great turnout. Over 200 people showed up to protest the inhumane treatment of immigrants at the Elizabeth Detention Center. The march stretched almost the entire length of Evans St.
To see the rest of the photos with captiosn go to the Pax Christi NJ Facebook page.

Do you want join in the conversation with other NJ Catholics who are interested in advocating for social justice and in promoting the principles of Catholic Social Teaching? Here is your opportunity. Join Pax Christi NJ on Yahoo! Groups.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paxnj/

Yesterday I received an email with a "grassroots video" from the Associate Director of Parish Outreach & Training for the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at the Archdiocese of Newark. I watched the video which focused solely on abortion and gay marriage. It also glorified war and America's "economic power". (more after the jump)

I just sent this email to the Newark Archdiocesan Pro-Life Office. I may submit it as a letter to the editor in some of the NJ papers.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

The bishops are responding to Biden on abortion but they say something very interesting about all life issues. I hope this statement is not overlooked by those who received this email:

“Which living members of the human species should be seen as having fundamental human rights, such as a right not to be killed? The Catholic Church’s answer is: Everybody. No human being should be treated as lacking human rights, and we have no business dividing humanity into those who are valuable enough to warrant protection and those who are not.”

Please join the Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast and Pax Christi NJ as we host Fr. Michael Lapsley on Tuesday October 14th at 7:30 pm at St. Patrick's Theater, 509 Bramhall Ave, Jersey City, NJ.

In April 1990, while living in exile from South Africa, Fr. Michael Lapsley became a victim of the violence of apartheid when he received a letter bomb. He lost both his hands, an eye, and his eardrums were shattered.

After leaving the hospital he became an international advocate for reconciliation, forgiveness and restorative justice. In 1992 he returned to South Africa to found the Trauma Center for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town.

His organization provided assistance to Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which is credited with putting South Africa on a path toward healing. It serves as a model for other countries including Rwanda, Guatemala and Argentina.

He is now Director of the Institute for Healing of Memories, Cape Town, South Africa.

The Healing of Memories method began as an alternative form of providing support for victims and survivors of apartheid violence and is now seen as way to contribute to the healing journey of individuals, communities and nations.

Please join IRATE (the Interfaith Refugee Action Team - Elizabeth) and Pax Christi NJ at 1:30 pm on Sunday, October 12th as we march with the flags of the nation to honor our immigrant heritage and protest the treatment of immigrants held at the Elizabeth Detention Center. We will assemble on Progress Street, just off Dowd Avenue in Elizabeth and march two blocks to the Detention Center where we will hold a vigil to remember those who are being held inside and at similar facilities across the country.
Immigrants in detention include families, both undocumented and documented immigrants, many who have been in the US for years and are now facing exile. They include survivors of torture, asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups including pregnant women, and children. Individuals who are seriously ill are held without proper medication or care. Immigrants detained during this process are in non-criminal custody because being in violation of immigration laws is not a crime. It is a civil violation similar to a traffic ticket.

IRATE is an alliance of grassroots organizations whose members believe that the current U.S. policy of detaining immigrants in prison-like conditions is contrary to our tradition of welcoming refugees. Currently in New Jersey, the Bureau of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) has some 300 people detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center and an unknown number of people in county jails throughout the state.

For more information on Pax Christi or the the vigil contact Kathy O’Leary 908-273-0751 kathy-wargo@comcast.net

For more information on immigration detention go to www.irateweb.org, www.detentionwatchnetwork.org or www.cliniclegal.org