Host a Pope Francis Watch Party

Pope Francis is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on September 24, at 9:20 a.m. Will you be watching? If so, will you be watching by yourself or your parish?

The Ignatian Solidarity Network is organizing “watch parties” across the nation. The group is offering “free resources like Pope Watch BINGO cards, suggested discussion questions, and fun giveaways for your participants.”

The Ignatian Solidarity Network is a national social justice education and advocacy network working in partnership with Jesuit universities, high schools, and parishes, along with many other Catholic institutions and social justice partners.

In order to receive the free resources, parties must be registered by September 12. More details are available here.

The Iran nuclear deal

The Chair of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has written to Congress urging passage of the recent nuclear deal with Iran. The deal aims to curb Iran’s development of nuclear weapons while allowing the country to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In his letter, Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, wrote:

Since 2007, our Committee on International Justice and Peace, reflecting the longstanding position of the Holy See, has urged our nation to pursue diplomacy to ensure Iran’s compliance with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. For years, we have supported dialogue and a negotiated resolution of the conflict in collaboration with international partners.

It is no small achievement that the United States, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, China, Germany and France have reached this agreement with Iran. We hope that the full implementation of the agreement will gradually foster an environment in which all parties build mutual confidence and trust, so that progress will be made toward greater stability and dialogue in the region.  In that spirit, our Committee will continue to urge Congress to endorse the result of these intense negotiations because the alternative leads toward armed conflict, an outcome of profound concern to the Church.

The entire letter is available here.

The debate on immigraton

Recent comments by presidential candidates have re-ignited the debate over immigration. Therefore, it is useful to know what the Catholic Church teaches on the subject, as well as some facts that are relevant.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has a webpage devoted to immigration. It includes links to their 2001 pastoral statement, Welcoming the Stranger Among Us; Unity in Diversity, as well as Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, a pastoral statement by the Bishops of the United States and the Bishops of Mexico.

The USCCB also sponsors the Justice for Immigrants website that provides facts and figures about immigration, gives answers to frequently asked questions and debunks some of the myths that are at the center of the debate.