Social Justice Tag: Women

February 2025

Articles from Mercy:

• National declaration of emergency in Bajo Aguán (Ana Siufi, RSM; Institute Justice Team)
• Critical Considerations: Has the United States declared war on immigrants? (Karen Donahue, RSM)
• What energy emergency? (Marianne Comfort; Institute Justice Team)

Local Justice News & Upcoming Mercy Events:

Justice Resources & Links

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National declaration of emergency in Bajo Aguánⁱ

Ana Siufi, RSM; Institute Justice Team

[A declaration issued on 01 February 2025 by activists in Honduras, including Mercy sisters and associates]

The organizations of the social, popular, feminist, human rights, indigenous, Garifuna, artistic, sexual dissident, Afro-indigenous, and student movements of Hondurasⁱⁱ declare the area of ​​the campesino (poor farmer) cooperatives of Camarones, El Tranvío, and El Chile as an emergency territory due to mortal risk from armed attacks by groups of hired assassins (sicarios) – supported by guards [employed by] the DINANTⁱⁱⁱ Corporation – who are displacing and killing campesinos to evict them from the land they have organized to defend.

In this context we [the signing organizations] warn:

1. That this is a strategy to dismantle the campesino and indigenous struggle in this territory and throughout the country.
2. In these settlements there are women, men, boys, and girls who have been living in terror every day for months, which has worsened in these last days of January. The calls for help and solidarity through broadcasts and calls from people who are in the area have not touched this government headed by President Xiomara Castro, now complicit in what is happening there. The national police stationed in the area with a deployment of agents and equipment do not intervene in favor of the lives of the land defenders; and the supposed judicial mechanisms are not effective in capturing the leaders of these groups that keep campesino families terrorized. The ministers and government officials who should preserve life only justify themselves, publicly lament, and put off a reality in which people are already reported injured, kidnapped, and murdered.
3. The campesino movement of the Aguán, accompanied once again by the entire social movement of this country, is once again denouncing the lack of compliance with the agreements that President Xiomara Castro signed with the Agrarian Platform and COPA on February 22, 2022, to resolve the situation that should never have reached this level of extreme and historic violence in the Bajo Aguán region.
4. We point out from now on that the government of the president and its officials are complicit in the aggression, displacement, persecution, criminalization, and murder of the families who are under fire on the sacred soil of Honduras that they promised to defend, because despite being fully informed of the gravity of the situation, they do not respond to the level of this lethal crisis. At this moment making this declaration, we receive the terrible news of the murder of two people, members of the Gregorio Chávez Association: Suyapa Guillén, a member of the Network of Peasant Women, and her partner, José Luis Hernández Lobo.
5. The people of the Aguán are not alone. We call on all organizations and communities to join in to protect the lives of campesino families who are under fire today. We ask you to disseminate this call and follow up on the actions that we will be calling for.

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1. Bajo Aguán – lower region of Aguán River valley, major agricultural producing region, 20% owned by DINANT
2. signatories’ logos listed below
3. DINANT Corporation: palm oil corporation of the Facusse family, heavily supported by World Bank, linked to numerous murders connected to land evictions and illicit drug trade, with a private army

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Critical Considerations

Has the United States declared war on immigrants?

Karen Donahue, RSM

Since taking office on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump has issued an avalanche of executive orders addressing a wide range of issues. While many of these orders are of dubious legal and/or constitutional standing, few are more problematic than those dealing with immigration.

Shortly after Donald Trump signed executive orders addressing immigration, the American Immigration Council, an organization that advocates for just and humane immigration policies, released After Day One: A High-Level Analysis of Trump’s First Executive Actions, a document which looks at the key policy changes the president is proposing, what’s already happened, what happens next and what does it all mean?

These policy changes can be summarized under the following four headings:

• Turning the U.S. interior into an enforcement dragnet
• “Sealing” the border—using the U.S. military and more
• Rolling back existing legal protections—up to and including U.S. citizenship
• Restricting future arrivals to the United States

The report notes that the president is following up on the record his first term and his campaign promises to redefine and limit who is an American. Even more troubling are novel legal arguments about using the military to repel asylum seekers, including invoking the Insurrection and Alien Enemies Acts.

The report warns immigrant advocates that “it is important to understand not just the scope of the executive orders, but also what precisely they aim to do, and on what timescale. The flurry of first-day activity was itself a signal to immigrant communities that they are under attack—but it is also a blueprint for future actions.”

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What energy emergency?

Marianne Comfort; Institute Justice Team

Among the early executive orders that President Donald Trump signed soon after his second inauguration is a declaration of an “energy emergency.” This despite the fact that the U.S. is producing more oil and gas than ever, and exporting more than any other country.

The declaration provided a rationale for a slew of related executive orders that signal a distinct policy shift away from renewable energy expansion and toward fossil fuel development. These include opening up more oil and gas drilling in Alaska, reversing President Biden’s pause on new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export terminals that threaten communities along the Gulf Coast, freezing congressionally allocated investments in renewable energy, and restricting wind energy and pausing approvals of renewable energy on public land and waters. The president also pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, and revoked policy that was designed to ease the disproportionate burden of pollution on low-income and Black, Indigenous and other  communities of color.

The energy emergency declaration specifically calls out obstacles to this agenda in the Northeast and West Coast, “where dangerous State and local policies jeopardize our Nation’s core national defense and security needs, and devastate the prosperity of not only local residents but the entire United States population.” It will be worth monitoring to see if this leads to attempts to overturn state and local laws and regulations that ban certain forms of energy development, such as fracking, and that restrict siting of pipelines and other infrastructure.

The emergency declaration also appears to indicate support for speeding up permitting of energy projects, electricity transmission lines, and mining for minerals used for renewable energy and the military. Members of Congress are working on bills that would loosen environmental regulations around mining and energy development and limit public input, including from communities located near pr0posed projects.

The Sisters of Mercy’s Awakening to a New Consciousness on Extractivism theological reflection process offers many examples of the harms of extracting natural resources, analysis of the impacts of this extraction, and calls to action.

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Article Archive

2025

February

National declaration of emergency in Bajo Aguán

Critical Considerations:

Has the United States declared war on immigrants?

What energy emergency?

January

If you make a mess, clean it up! (Advocacy success in NY)

Youth claim climate victory in Montana court

Critical Considerations:

Was January 1, 2025 a wake-up call?

(click years to expand)

2024

December

Gender and climate justice

Critical Considerations:

Is the United States becoming a plutocracy?

Making nuclear weapons taboo

November

Critical Considerations:

What happened on November 5, 2024?

The Ecological Debt

October

Overturning the Chevron deference

Critical Considerations:

Who are the Israeli settlers and what motivates them?

Assassination of Honduran water protector deeply grieves Sisters of Mercy

September

God walks with his people: National Migration Week September 23–29

Critical Considerations:

What does CEO compensation say about corporate priorities?

Anxiety – election season can heighten it!

August

Critical Considerations:

What is Project 2025 all about?

Working to stop weapon exports to Haiti

Beyond Voting:

Participating in Elections, part 2

July

Critical Considerations:

Is there a better way to spend $91 billion?

Education, Agriculture, & Emigration in the Philippines

Beyond Voting:

Participating in Elections, part 1

June

Critical Considerations:

Are we creating a prison-industrial complex?

Conscience

Mercy student videos address the Critical Concerns

May

Critical Considerations:

Degrowth is the only sane survival plan

Argentina and the government of hate

Listening to a chorus of voices

April

Critical Considerations:

An Israeli Jesuit reflects on war in the Holy Land

Advocacy Success! Expanded Background Checks for Gun Sales

March

Military spending and national (in)security

February

The challenge Gaza war presents for American Jews

January

Gaza war threatens credibility of West’s commitment to human rights and the rule of law

2023

December

Climate Summit fails to adequately respond to gravity of climate crisis

November

Critical Considerations:

The dangers of conflating Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism

Red flag laws in jeopardy: faith voices speak to save them

October

Jewish and Palestinian perspectives on Gaza crisis

September

U.S. China tensions impact efforts to address climate change

August

When Good Economic Policy Isn’t Enough

July

States Move to Weaken Protections for Child Workers

June

Corporate Lobbyists at Climate Talks

May

Electric Vehicle Transition Challenges

April

Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery

March

Misrepresenting War

February

The Rise of Christian Nationalism

January

How the News is Reported Affects What We Know

2022

December

How Corporations Took Over the Government

November

The Independent State Legislature Theory Explained

October

The Next Phase in the Voting Wars

Local Justice News & Upcoming Events

Check back soon!

Justice Resources & Links

Mercy Justice Resource Pages

• Resources for Immigrants
• Advocacy Amplified! (Mercy Justice Videos on advocacy tools)
• Mercy Walks with Migrants (interviews with Mercy sisters on immigration work)
• Mercy Tips to Care for the Earth

Peace & Justice Calendars

Purpose

For this year’s contest we are seeking short, PSA style videos (30 to 90 seconds) that are suitable for sharing on social media platforms such as TikTok or Reels. Video entries must focus on one of these topics:

Who Can Enter

Any student or group of students, high school age or older, enrolled in Mercy high schools, colleges/universities, or involved in a Mercy-affiliated ministry.

Use this tip-sheet to help you as you begin the process of creating your video.

Format

Read the complete rules

Length: 30 to 90 seconds

Language: English or Spanish

Other Requirements

1. Title. Each video must have a title. The title must be indicated on the submission form. The title does not need to be included in the video itself.

2. Credits. Credits must include the name of those involved in the creation of the video. The credits must also include citations for any images, audio, or text used in the video that is not original. The credits do not need to be included in the video itself, but must be included in the submission form.

The Sisters of Mercy may delete title and credit screens before posting videos on social media.

Entrants are strongly encouraged to use original footage and graphics as much as possible.

Important Note on Rules: In order to honor copyright protections, rules regarding use of images and music were updated for the 2022 contest and remain in effect for 2025. See the complete rules for details.

Deadline

All entries must be received by April 1, 2025.

Prizes

A panel of judges will use these criteria to select the winning video. Individual winners will receive financial awards. The Grand Prize Winner receives $500.

Winning entries may be featured on the Sisters of Mercy Institute web site and social media channels. Winners and their winning institution will be formally announced.

Interested?

If you think you might be interested in entering this contest, fill out this form to receive contest information and updates.

Past Winners

Click here to view all of our past winners.

These are some of the ways in which the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas will more fully live Laudato Si’ in 2024. To see the second year action plan click here.

Responding to the Cry of the Earth

• The climate sustainability director will:
  • Collect utility usage data for smaller residences (i.e., apartments and houses) located throughout the United States. 
  • Expand community solar subscriptions to many of our houses and apartments for which such programs are available. 
  • Continue the electric vehicle (EV) pilot project at Merion, PA, with the purchase of an additional vehicle and the installation of additional EV chargers.  One other location will be selected to house an EV. Official guidance regarding the use, maintenance, and charging of EVs, along with concerns regarding metal mining, will be developed and implemented. 
  • Finalize guidance regarding the use of various sustainable and compostable alternatives to single-use plastic products.  A pilot location will be selected to test the overall process for implementing various parts of the guidance and determining what is needed (in addition to the installation of water-filling stations) in order to make the elimination of certain plastic products practical.  Complete the pilot solar project on the Belmont, NC, campus by the end of 2024.
• Mercy Focus on Haiti aims to support the construction of 10 cisterns per month in the Gros Marne region, for the collection of rain water, using locally available materials. Cistern beneficiaries will receive training in the fundamentals of vegetable gardening, tree planting and reforestation, supporting both food production and the opportunity to sell surplus at market.

Responding to the Cry of the Poor

• The Justice Team will deepen education and advocacy about the harms of extractivism to communities and the environment through: 
  • Mapping of extractivism near locations where the Institute has a significant presence; 
  • Educating the wider Mercy community about the experiences of communities most harmed by extractivism; 
  • Sharing more widely the statement on extractivism distributed among Chapter participants; 
  • Expanding our knowledge of extractivism to include practices such as agribusiness extracting nutrients from the land and the tourism industry dredging ports for cruise ships; and  
  • Solidarity and accompaniment of communities most harmed by extractivism

• Sisters will continue participating in ecclesial networks (ie, in Meso-America and the regions of El Gran Chaco y el Acuífero Guaraní in South America) and will educate the rest of the congregation about how the Church is accompanying communities in these critical eco-systems.   
• The Justice Team will participate in the “we are going to change the history of the climate and the planet!” campaign with the peoples of the Amazon in advance of international climate talks (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, in 2025.
• Mercy Volunteer Corps has placed a volunteer yet again at Sanctuary Farm in Philadelphia and will offer short-term volunteer experiences at Mercy Ecological Center in Vermont.

• Mercy Investment Services will expand and deepen the integration of environmental, social and governance investment strategies by:
  • Actively allocating capital to address diversity gaps amongst decision-makers and financial access within the Inclusive Opportunities Fund;  
  • Expanding the emerging managers program supporting firms owned or products managed by people with diverse or underrepresented backgrounds;  
  • Deepening Mercy Partnership Fund’s continued dedication to racial and gender equity as well as those that emphasize international opportunities; and  
  • Using our shareholder voice to explicitly call on companies to mitigate their impacts on people of color and to increase equity for disadvantaged communities.
• Mercy Focus on Haiti will complete the fourth cohort of its poverty eradication program for women, and raise funds and set the stage for the fifth cohort. Participants from the first cohort will be able to create Village Savings and Loan Associations, which was offered to later cohorts as safe places to save money and access small loans. The first cohort participants also will be offered a tablet-based training program to develop the basics of finance and business skills.   Mercy Focus on Haiti will arrange for a physician member from the U.S. to make virtual visits with residents and walk-throughs of Bon Maison Samaritain, a house for persons who are elderly and infirm or mentally ill. Deteriorating conditions in Haiti have prevented in-person visits from the U.S.

Ecological Economics

• Mercy Investment Services will:
  • Participate in learning opportunities to deepen our understanding of Catholic investing through documents such as Mensuram Bonam and Laudate Deum; 
  • Increase funding of mission-based environmental, social and governance investment managers and thematic managers in the equity fund;  
  • Originate additional commitments to impact managers in the Environmental Solutions Fund, which invests in renewable energy, energy and water efficiency, materials recycling, green buildings and sustainable agriculture;  
  • Commit additional investments to projects whose primary thematic area is environmental sustainability, impacts from the extractive sector or migration, or that address a just transition to a low‐carbon future in the Mercy Partnership Fund;  
  • Partner with other investors to engage corporations on water stewardship, greenhouse gas emissions, plastics use, biodiversity and other important issues; and  engage with other like-minded impact investors through the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative, which is led by Francesco Collaborative, and through continued leadership within the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. 

Sustainable Lifestyles

• The Justice Team and Climate and Sustainability Director will start exploring possibilities for working with other congregations of women religious to influence practices of dining service companies who serve our convents, retirement centers and other facilities. 
• The Justice Team and Climate and Sustainability Director will continue the  Mercy Tips to Care for Earth as a monthly feature on the website. 

Ecological Education

• Mercy Education has planned several activities for 2024:
  • “Generation Mercy,” an online meeting for students who are involved in Earth initiatives/clubs at their school, in the first half of the year; 
  • A commitment to highlight Earth in their newsletter at least 1 issue per month; 
  • Promote Mercy Meatless Mondays for the Lenten season; and 
  • Share some suggestions for Earth challenges for schools (i.e. zero waste meetings) to try to implement before Earth Day in April, then share about these in the newsletter/social media.
• The Justice Team will organize an immersion trip to a region of western Pennsylvania experiencing an expansion of fracking and petrochemical facilities. 
• The Justice Team will organize three immersion experiences at the U.S.-Mexico border to expand the number of sisters, associates, companions and co-workers who are educated about immigration policy and the reality at the border. One of these experiences will be solely for staff and board members of Mercy Investment Services.  
• A Mercy associate in Guyana will develop a guidebook and set of advocacy tools for communities to understand the risks of the growing oil and gas industry in her country, and that will become a template for similar education elsewhere.  

Ecological Spirituality

• The Justice Team will promote Laudato Si animators’ trainings and create a network of Mercy animators to work together and support one another. 
• The Institute will participate in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious’ exploration and implementation of transformative justice work. 

Community Participation and Empowerment

• The Justice Team will educate our network on the issues and the importance of voting our values in advance of the 2024 elections in the United States. 
• The Justice Team will participate in a newly forming collaborative of Catholic organizations engaged in environmental and climate justice education, advocacy and practices.  

Purpose

For this year’s contest we are seeking short, PSA style videos (30 to 90 seconds) that are suitable for sharing on social media platforms such as TikTok or Reels. Video entries must focus on one of these topics:

Who Can Enter

Any student or group of students, high school age or older, enrolled in Mercy high schools, colleges/universities, or involved in a Mercy-affiliated ministry.

Use this tip-sheet to help you as you begin the process of creating your video.

Format

Read the complete rules

Length: 30 to 90 seconds

Language: English or Spanish

Other Requirements

1. Title. Each video must have a title. The title must be indicated on the submission form. The title does not need to be included in the video itself.

2. Credits. Credits must include the name of those involved in the creation of the video. The credits must also include citations for any images, audio, or text used in the video that is not original. The credits do not need to be included in the video itself, but must be included in the submission form.

The Sisters of Mercy may delete title and credit screens before posting videos on social media.

Entrants are strongly encouraged to use original footage and graphics as much as possible.

Important Note on Rules: In order to honor copyright protections, rules regarding use of images and music were updated for the 2022 contest and remain in effect for 2024. See the complete rules for details.

Deadline

All entries must be received by April 3, 2024.

Prizes

A panel of judges will use these criteria to select the winning video. Individual winners will receive financial awards. The Grand Prize Winner receives $500.

Winning entries may be featured on the Sisters of Mercy Institute web site and social media channels. Winners and their winning institution will be formally announced.

Interested?

If you think you might be interested in entering this contest, fill out this form to receive contest information and updates.

Past Winners

Click here to view all of our past winners.

Purpose

For this year’s contest we are seeking short, PSA style videos (30 to 90 seconds) that are suitable for sharing on social media platforms such as TikTok or Reels. Video entries must focus on one of these topics:

Who Can Enter

Any student or group of students, high school age or older, enrolled in Mercy high schools, colleges/universities, or involved in a Mercy-affiliated ministry.

Use this tip-sheet to help you as you begin the process of creating your video.

Format

Read the complete rules

Length: 30 to 90 seconds

Language: English or Spanish

Other Requirements

1. Title. Each video must have a title. The title must be indicated on the submission form. The title does not need to be included in the video itself.

2. Credits. Credits must include the name of those involved in the creation of the video. The credits must also include citations for any images, audio, or text used in the video that is not original. The credits do not need to be included in the video itself, but must be included in the submission form.

The Sisters of Mercy may delete title and credit screens before posting videos on social media.

Entrants are strongly encouraged to use original footage and graphics as much as possible.

Important Note on Rules: In order to honor copyright protections, rules regarding use of images and music were updated for the 2022 contest and remain in effect for 2023. See the complete rules for details.

Deadline

All entries must be received by April 1, 2023.

Prizes

A panel of judges will use these criteria to select the winning video. Individual winners will receive financial awards. The Grand Prize Winner receives $500.

Winning entries may be featured on the Sisters of Mercy Institute web site and social media channels. Winners and their winning institution will be formally announced.

Interested?

If you think you might be interested in entering this contest, fill out this form to receive contest information and updates.

Past Winners

Click here to view all of our past winners.