A.  Global warming:

Thousands Flood White House with e-protest on Climate Change: Tens of thousands of angry citizens from all over the world have "flooded" the White House with e-mails, as a part of a Friends of the Earth protest over Bush's climb down on the UN climate treaty, called the Kyoto Protocol. At peak times, every second an e-protest is sent. More than 10,000 e-protests a day. Since the start of the action March 29, more than 50,000 people from all continents participated, including representatives from industry, governments, churches, parliaments and NGOs. 200 persons from the European Commission were among the protesters as well as employees of BP and Shell, using their office computers. The world is telling Bush that we need to act against climate change now, not later. " FLOOD BUSH on-line: http://www.foeeurope.org/climate

 

B.    Two Scenarii to understand mentality behind ecological destruction: Timothy O'Riordan describes 2 Scenarii in his book "Environmental Science for Environmental Management" ed.

 

1.     Business As usual.

Predominant Ethos: 

§      Competitive materialism

§      Concentration of power among few people, few multinational companies and few nations

§      technological development used to reinforce the present distribution of power and resources

Consequences in the Ecosystem

Increased rate of tropical deforestation; increased output of greenhouse gases; desertification of marginal crop and grazing land; increased intensity of crop production in temperate lands; progressive destruction of marine fisheries; loss of biodiversity;

 

2.     Change of Direction

Predominant ethos: 

§      co-operative; respect for life, empowerment of individual human-scale development

§      Technological development environmentally friendly in the service of all people

Consequences in the Ecosystem

Environmental costs of development proposals taken fully into account; maintenance and re-establishment of tropical forests; restoration of degraded land; conservation of marine communities; low inorganic input agricultural systems; maximum ecological diversity consistent with efficient crop production; no human-induced progressive change in world climate.

BUT "there is no doubt that for the great majority of people in the world, Scenario 2 is preferable, but for a minority, it means very substantial sacrifices of power, prestige and resources.  There is no indication yet of a collective or individual preparedness to make such a sacrifice: there are strong psychological underpinnings for this...Many individuals who have been unloved or emotionally abused in early childhood seek at an unconscious level to satisfy their unmet infantile needs in inappropriate ways during adulthood. One of these is through the acquisition of more material resources than are necessary for healthy fulfilment; another is through attempting to exercise power and control over the lives of others.

 

This is problematical because at the other end of the scale there are hundreds of millions of people whose basic needs for living are not being met...the horror and despair of this experience in early childhood provide the roots of violence. A life begun in these conditions is not conducive to the development within an individual of a respect for life, for living things and for natural resources. Those whose childhoods were market by satisfaction of basic physical and emotional needs behave as adults with genuine caring and compassion towards people and all living things. This ethos is not predominant in the world. 

..Scenario 1 is predominant, and it is the product of a collective and largely unconscious philosophy of violence.

 

 To learn more about the dominant minority, you can visit the sites established by their critics!  such as that about Bilderberg, the Trilateral Commission, (just type in the names into a good search engine, such as alltheweb.com, and you will get lists of them) as well as http://www.corpwatch.org etc.

 

 

 

JPIC Conference meeting: the coordinators of the Conference met in Cali, Colombia at the end of February. All provinces were represented. The president of the Conference, the provincial of Ecuador, also participated. The San Pablo province is preparing a study guide for the JPIC Manuel, which will be available in April and will help implement one of the priorities, that is, the use of the manual in both initial and ongoing formation. Statues for the commission will be presented to the provincials for approval.

The Assembly proposes that a meeting for all JPIC coordinators of the Americas in 2002 be held in one of the countries, preferably in Ecuador or Colombia. This is based on a recommendation made by the ICJPIC, that the next meeting coincide with a continental gathering of coordinators. The proposal will be presented to the provincials during their meeting in May, supported by a letter from the JPIC office in Rome. In fact, a letter will be sent to all Conference presidents in order to ascertain whether any Conference is interested in hosting a possible meeting.

 

Urgent Action: The office received an urgent action from the brothers in Colombia related to para-military violence in Barrancabermeja. At dawn on March 22, six heavily-armed men wearing camouflage uniforms and arm bands of the notorious paramilitary known as the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), arrived in the Boston neighbourhood of Barrancabermeja, Colombia. The men banged on doors, saying they were with the army, and forced several families to abandon their homes. Three of the six men were recognized. The paramilitary told people they were coming to get guerrillas, guerrilla collaborators, and human rights defenders. They also said they wanted all residents to meet at the soccer field in the Danubio neighbourhood. The Army Special Forces did nothing to detain the paramilitaries, or search for them, even though their whereabouts were well known. Meanwhile, 200 metres away at the Nueva Granada Batallion, troop movements caused further fear and dread among inhabitants of the area.

The threats made by the paramilitary are of particular concern to the Franciscan Fraternity, given that one aspect of their pastoral work involves human rights education and promotion, through a collective called CHRISTIANS FOR LIFE. One member of the collective has already had to flee the city because of previous threats from paramilitary groups from surrounding neighbourhoods.

Four Franciscan brothers living in the neighbourhood are at great risk, along with the pastoral work they carry out. Paramilitary forces have been waging a campaign of intimidation and violent aggression against other grassroots organizations that engage in the defence of human rights.

Actions: If you wish to write to the authorities or require more information write an email to the JPIC office pax@ofm.org, or to the JPIC office in Bogata ffi-col@colnodo.apc.org

 

 

 

JPIC animators meet with Provincials: The executive Council of the Conference were invited to meet the provincials of the English Speaking Conference in Burlington, WI in February. The provincials expressed their support of the vision and values of JPIC and want to animate their support to their respective provinces.

The following themes were discussed: the FWOFLA, the JPIC manual, the Conference structure, the October 2000 meeting in Germany, Franciscans International and our desire to continue to invite members of the greater Franciscan movement to the ESC-JPIC Council (esp. the sub-conference of England, Ireland, and Malta).

 

Immigration: Brian Jordan, a brother working full time on refugee issues, presided over an information seminar on immigration issues. More than 400 people, mostly from Central America, Africa, Haiti, and South America participated in the afternoon sessions with officials from the Immigration Department, the Labour Department and other legal experts on immigration laws. Brian's reflection paper on immigration has been published in booklet form. The booklet is intended for use within provincial ministries and by concerned men and women to raise awareness, promote informed conversation and encourage advocacy for justice. Support information and other action resources are available on the Holy Name Province Web site www.hnp.org or call (212) 967-6300.

 

 

 

 

JPIC Conference meeting: four of the six provinces were present. The Conference plan was evaluated. The commission will work on some of the following issues: familiarize themselves with the legal issues related to migrants as well as make the reality more understood. In fact, the ESC-JPIC commission have translated the “Peace Mission” report into English and are making it known in the North. Inter-conference initiatives will be supported such as the Washington JPIC office and the Franciscan family Indo-Afro-America gathering planned to take place in Washington possibly in 2003. At least one friar will participate in the JPIC formation course organized by the Brazil conference in August.

 

 

News from Provincials: In the annual meeting of the Superiors in Anyama, Ivory Coast on February 15 February Statutes for the JPIC commission were approved

 

 

Urgent Action request from JPIC India- Unarmed tribals killed by police. On 2 February 2001, ten Munda tribals (the third largest tribal group in the state of Jharkhand, India) were killed and twelve injured when police fired on their protest. The tribals had assembled to demand an explanation from the authorities who destroyed their symbolic protest barricade in a village in the Koel-Karo region (Tapkara Ranchi District) of the newly formed state of Jharkhand in India.

Requested Action: Please write polite letters to express your concern about the death and injuries of the Munda tribal protestors. Request the authorities to investigate the case, take legal action against the perpetrators of the assault and compensate the injured and families of the dead. Sample letters and address can be accessed on this web page: www.acpp.org

 

Ill Treatment of West Papuan People Condemned: We received information from Theo Van den Broek in March based on a statement by Bishop Stephen Reichert OFM Cap. It is as follows: “Allegations that police officers have engaged in attacks on West Papuan people in Vanimo must be investigated at the highest levels. The Catholic Bishops Conference views with great distress and serious concern allegations that members of a special police unit have participated in an un-provoked, vicious, and violent attack on defenceless people in a Church run care centre…

The Bishops are also concerned that failure by the government to take immediate action will reflect badly on this country, particularly in the light of similar and apparently orchestrated attacks the world witnessed in Timor.

 

 

 

JPIC International Council recommendations: The council made 21 recommendations to various bodies in the Order, including 7 to the General Definitory. The office sent a copy to the members of the council of the short reflections made by the Definitory on the recommendations. The animation Committee, meeting in Berlin from April 23^rd onward will study these recommendations. In particular, a session is organized to examine the issue of ethical investments and will make recommendations to the General Definitory after consulting with the General Economo. Each Conference and province to which recommendations were made are expected to reflect on them and look for creative ways of implementing them.

 

Italian Inter-Franciscan meeting: the three branches of the first Order meet in Reiti, May 8-10, to discuss the theme “Franciscans and Europe”. Roman Prodi, the European commissioner will participate.

 

Inter-Franciscan JPIC commission (Romans6): the group met on April 3 in the OFM Curia in Rome. The group needs a person who can dedicate 3 days a month in order to ensure continuity for the Urgent Action Network. Agosthino Diekman ofm, Franciscans International (FI), explained that FI is at the service of the Franciscan Family (FF) for issues related to the United Nations. FI is one organization with two offices. It is not a parallel structure to the JPIC commissions of the Provinces or of the Order. They will try to inform, educate and advocate on interest to the F.F. The Generals of the CFF will be asked to sign a letter to President Bush with regard to global warming.

 

International Inter-religious JPIC working group: A working group on “climate change” has been set up by the Inter-religious JPIC coordinators in Rome. Between the Spanish and English language groups there are more than 100 animators. Agostinho Dieckmann Ofm, new Executive Director of F.I. was also present. The first meeting took place in the OFM Curia on April 4. In order to responded to the critical state of the environment, especially with the refusal of the US government to sign the Kyoto protocol the following was decided: to lobby the U.S president, G. Bush to sign the Kyoto protocol as well as encourage religious to write to their local Senators; arrange a “gathering” of members of congregations involved in and who are knowledgeable about global warming; if there are enough interested this meeting will take place in Bonn, Germany, during the next meeting of the United Nations Framework for Climate Change from July 21-26; distribution of a fact sheet on global warming; meet with Superiors General of as many congregations as possible and support the Earth Charter (www.earthcharter.org) for ratification in 2002.

 

Changed hearts/change structures: Changed hearts result in changed laws in a society that works somewhat democratically. But changed laws can also result in changed hearts. A very good example is the civil rights movement. It operated predominantly in a non-violent mode that was geared towards changing hearts. Changed hearts helped bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But, at that time, most Southern whites were segregationists. The changed law meant that they were integrated with blacks in public accommodations. This exposed the lies of the segregationist leaders about the consequences of integration. There was a remarkable change in the hearts of many Southern whites on this issue over a period of only a few years. It is unlikely this rapid change would have occurred without the change in the law. C.f. http://www.earlham.edu/mailman/listinfo/quaker-p

 

 

 

Useful information and petitions:

Ø       Global Economic Policy and the Restoration of Right Relationships, A Statement of the Religious Working Group on the World Bank and IMF: for copies in English and Spanish write to ogc@maryknoll.org

 

Ø      Amnesty International Reports: The torture of women and girls persists on a daily basis across the globe, Amnesty International reported in a new report on the torture of women worldwide in March. “It is fed by a global culture which denies women equal rights with men, and which legitimises violence against women.”

Violence in the home is truly universal. According to World Bank figures at least 20% of women have been physically or sexually assaulted. To register your support for the Campaign Against Torture, visit

www.stoptorture.org

Ø      Urgent Deadline: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) asks you to support South Africa's efforts to make essential medicines more accessible to its people by signing the global "Drop the Case" petition at http://www.msf.org by April 15.

The petition calls on 39 pharmaceutical companies to drop their lawsuit against the South African government. The lawsuit is blocking the implementation of legislation that aims to improve access to essential medicines by making drugs more affordable. With over four million already infected with HIV, South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Very few can afford the treatment that has extended and improved the lives of people in richer countries. High prices are effectively denying medicines to poor patients, condemning them to a premature death.

Ø      According to the UNDP  the richest 20% of the world's people share 82.7% of world income, the second 20%, 11.7% and the remaining 60% (or 3.6 billion humans) just 5.6% between them all!!

 

Peter and Francisco wish all JPIC coordinators a Prayerful and peaceful Easter.

 

Gearóid Francisco Ó Conaire, OFM

OFM JPIC Office

Via S. Maria Mediatrice 25

00165 Rome, ITALY

E-mail: pax@ofm.org Web: http://www.ofm.org/

Tel: (+39-06) 6849-1218       Fax: (+39-06) 6849-1266