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Panama: Catholic Sister Considers Dam a Violation of Indigenous People's Right to Religion
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'The flooding caused by the Barro Blanco hydroelectric project nearly three years ago constitutes an ongoing violation of their religious and cultural rights, say Ngäbe-Buglé leaders, in addition to causing widespread damage to orchards, farmland and fishing that the communities depended on for food and livelihood. Sr. Edia "Tita" López of the Sisters of Mercy agrees.
Sr López has accompanied this indigenous group in its struggle for more than a decade, since before the dam was built...'
Story Source: Global Sisters Report. Image: Tracy Barnett / Global Sisters Report
Used with permission
Messages to: Edia "Tita" López rsm c/- Sisters of Mercy Justice Team
Vision in Action
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Prayer
Free Online Resources for Lent
To help each one of us prepare for the Season of Lent (6 March - 18 April 2019) and following past practice, we have compiled a list of new- for- 2019- free- online resources for your reading, listening, viewing, praying and reflection.
The resources listed on our web page include: ‘Put Your Mercy On!’, the Lenten 2019 Reflection Booklet prepared by Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community
As further resources are added to the listing over the next few weeks they will be identified with a 'new' icon.
Messages to: the Editor
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Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: Successful Outcomes from the Rome Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church
We welcome and support the Church’s commitment ‘to hear, watch over, protect and care for abused, exploited and forgotten children, wherever they are’, announced by Pope Francis in his Address concluding the four day summit.
Let us pray that all in leadership in the Church will respond to the commitment given by Pope Francis for the protection of the most vulnerable persons.
Post a prayer in our online chapel.
Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA
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Global Action
Participate in the Inherent Dignity 3-Part Webinar Series
Mercy Global Action is holding a three session interactive webinar series to take a closer look at MIA’s publication Inherent Dignity (PDF), an anti-human trafficking advocacy guidebook.
The first session, ‘Introducing the Human Rights-based Approach as Applied to Trafficking’ will be held on Thursday, March 7th, 11:00 A.M. - 12:00 PM [NYC time] [Your time here].
To participate, register here
A flyer and further information are linked to this item.
Messages to Marian Gardiner - MGA Intern
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L_R: Denise fmdm, Catherine rsm, BettyGlobal Action
Thank you and Au Revoir
Friends, we wanted to send a special 'thank you' to the Mercy Family, especially members that we have worked with and been in contact with over the years. For Betty and Catherine who joined the MIA Global Action Team in 2011, it has been close to nine years, for Denise it's been five with MGC and prior to that one year with the MECPATHS Team in 2013-14…
from Denise Boyle fmdm, Ms Betty Lacey and Catherine Gibbons rsm (Congregation) of the Global Action Team in Baggot St
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Vision
MIA Has a New Vision and a Process for Us to Each Make it our Own.
The Vision is presented in eight languages: English, Irish, Spanish, Maori, Samoan, Tok Pisin, Tagalog and Tongan, honouring Mercy’s presence in 6 continents of the world - Africa, Americas, Australia, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
All Members of the Mercy Family are invited to appropriate this worldwide Mercy vision as your own, first by reflection on the vision’s roots in Scripture and the legacy of Catherine McAuley.
You may also like to share your reflection.
Messages (Process) to: Sheila Carney rsm
Messages (Sharing) to Mary Reynolds rsm
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Stock imageGlobal Action
Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda
The Agenda of the UN in New York focuses, in many ways, primarily on Sustainable Development while the UN in Geneva focuses on Human Rights issues; however, while the two are distinct, they are multifaceted, interconnected, and one in the same.
At a meeting on 16 January to bridge the gap between the two agendas, notable presentations were given by Mrs Mary Robinson, Chair of the Elders and President of the Mary Robinson Foundation—Climate justice, Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Access their presentations and recorded webcast of sessions.
Messages to: Angela Reed rsm - MIA-MGA Coordinator at the UN
Members' News
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Aotearoa New Zealand
Whānau Mercy
‘To be whanau is to belong, to know you belong and to belong in a particular way. It provides an identity and a set of symbols, stories, whakapapa, and beliefs one can stand tall with, be proud of and be confident in. Whatever the weather or circumstance, you know you can count unequivocally on this support and expect it. This is tautoko – the support offered and provided because you belong to the whanau, you are the whanau…’
Messages to: Richard Kerr-Bell -Kaihautū/Mission Administrator for Ngā Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand.
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Americas
Maria College Unveils New Nursing Education Center
A state-of-the-art nursing teaching and learning facility was unveiled on February 8th in Maria College’s McAuley building located at 308 South Manning Boulevard in Albany, NY. This is part of a strategic expansion to ensure that Maria’s academic programs meet evolving health care needs. The Sisters of Mercy provided the College with a long-term lease of the former McAuley Residence to play a key role in securing Maria’s future as a leader in health professions…
Messages to: Elizabeth Wales - Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Image: L-R: Srs Phyllis Herbert, Jean McGinty, (Maria Trustee) Maureen Mitchell (Mercy Northeast Community president), Peg Sullivan (Mercy Northeast Community vice president)
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Brisbane
1 March 2019: 200th Anniversary of the Birth of M. Mary Vincent (Ellen) Whitty
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Mother Mary Vincent (Ellen) Whitty, a milestone she shares with Queen Victoria; Prince Albert; writers Walt Whitman, Herman Melville and George Eliot, as well as Christopher Sholes who devised the QWERTY keyboard system we still use today…
Whilst the Brisbane Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy venerate Mother Vincent as their founder, she plays an important role within the wider Mercy community….
Messages to: Pauline Smoothy rsm
Mercy Matters
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Reflection
The Next Great Human Achievement
‘Maybe the next great human achievement will be saving the world’
Video from The Climate Coalition
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Technical Tip
Gmail’s New Right-click Tricks Let You Reply Without Reading the Whole Thing
Google is adding a number of new options to its right-click any message menu, including Reply, Reply All, Forward, Snooze, Label, Mute, and Open in a new window. You can search for emails from the same sender, or quickly search for emails with the same subject if threaded conversations are disabled…
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Fact
On This Day
1840: M Clare Augustine Moore professed at Baggot St
1851: Sisters take charge of Illinois General Hospital
2005: The Sister Mary Hanrahan Arts Faculty Building is opened at Villa Maria College, Christchurch.
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Gospel
10 March 2019. 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
(Luke 6:39-45)
‘“Everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher,” says the Lukan Jesus. What might it mean to become “fully qualified” for discipleship? For Jesus, being fully qualified in the ways of discipleship is not so much a matter of acquiring book knowledge as it is a question of being like the teacher. This is not to discount the importance of acquiring a deep knowledge of the tradition…’
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International Days
1 March: World Day of Prayer
Celebrated annually on the first Friday in March, World Day of Prayer (WDP), is a global ecumenical movement led by Christian women in prayer and action for peace and justice. The theme this year, prepared by women in Slovenia, is “Come – Everything is Ready”, from Jesus’ parable of the Great Dinner (in Lk. 14:15–24). The theme invites us to ask ‘Who is not at the table?’
Let us pray the blessing from the service:
‘Good God, help us to respect human life And to accept it in its uniqueness….
To mutually support one another
On the path of freedom, justice and peace
As equal members of your family…
Post a prayer in our online chapel.
Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA
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Resource
Words Matter
“‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’ The old saying is well known, but also untrue. Words can hurt. They can startle and wound us personally, but also in more public ways. Words matter.’ *
*From the Foreword to Words Matter.
This little booklet provides an opportunity to reflect, pray and act. Divided into eight sections, it invites the reader to reflect on the words of some of the most influential people and to ask how we can use their words and thoughts to build a world fit for all.
Words Matter is a booklet for our times!
Copies cost $1, £1 or €1 each, plus postage. Discount negotiated for bulk orders. Download the flyer.
Messages to: Deirdre Mullan rsm
Further Resources
Worth Reading
Not enough resettlement solutions for refugees worldwide, says UN
Despite record numbers of people forcibly displaced across borders, with 1.2 million in need of a new permanent place to call home last year, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) released new data on Tuesday showing that only 55,700 of them – 4.7 per cent – were able to be resettled in 2018.
Read the article hereWorth Watching
Worth Reading
Theology colloquium brings together Asian 'Women of Wisdom and Action'
‘We need young female theologians if women's voices are to carry on the legacy of those women who began the work of breaking through patriarchal theological barriers and to continue contributing to the theological development of our Catholic Church!…’
Read the article hereWorth Reading
Worth Watching
Speech by President Michael D Higgins: 'Seek out a new horizon for nature'
Speaking at Ireland’s first ever biodiversity conference on 21 February, President Higgins said, ‘The idea that nature constitutes a form of capital that is no less legitimate for inclusion in policy formation or models as financial capital or manufactured capital, and that the economy, and indeed society, is wholly dependent on it, and should value and account for that dependency, is a crucial one that must be taken up on a much broader level.’
The speech can be read here
Watch the speech hereWorth Reading
World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity
The world’s capacity to produce food is being undermined by humanity’s failure to protect biodiversity, according to the first UN study of the plants, animals and micro-organisms that help to put meals on our plates…
Read the article hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2019 to The Editor
The Bottom Line
The world changes according to the way people see it, & if you alter, even by a millimetre, the way a person looks at reality, then you can change it.
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Mercy eNews
The online newsletter of Mercy International Association is published fortnightly, 24 weeks each year and distributed to subscribers via email.
For more information on the directors click here
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