2014 List of Further Resources #4

The selection of Further Resources published in Mercy E-News throughout 2014 can be found below. If you hadn't time throughout the year to read, watch and listen to these, you might like to do so over the Christmas holidays and before Mercy E-news returns on 21 January 2015.

Note: Timebound news items, including UN observances, conferences, assemblies and other highlighted events, have been deleted and monthly links to newsletters such as Stop Trafficking and LCWR's Update have been replaced by a link to the current/latest issue:

CRC Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 3 - Fall 2014 (18 pps; PDF)
LCWR's Update December 2014 (12pps; PDF)
CORI Newsletter, December 2014 (20 pps; PDF)
Stop Trafficking, December 2014 (8pps; PDF)

DECEMBER 2014

Apostolic Visitation of US Women Religious

The long awaited final report on the Vatican's Apostolic Visitation of US women religious was released in Rome yesterday, 16 December, at a press conference. Watch the presentation of the report here (01:34:35)

A PDF copy of the final report on the Apostolic Visitation of US women religious, as well as the text of the remarks made during the press conference, have all been posted on the LCWR website. Read the Final Report and related materials here LCWR's response can be read here

Apostolic visitation report: Reactions and an interview with Sr. Sharon Holland can be found in the Global Sisters Report - A Project of NCR. Read it here

Sr. Rita Larivée, SSA, President of the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC), speaks of the importance of the Year of Consecrated Life and presents the activities planned by the Canadian Religious Conference to celebrate this Year. 'The year is significant because it is forcing us to do an interior search...' Watch the video here (15:50)

'Religious Life in the U.S.: A Vocation of Border Crossing' byJung Eun Sophia Park, S.N.J.M appears in the latest issue of New Theology Review (NTR), Vol 27, No 1 (2014), published by Catholic Theological Union (CTU) Chicago. Online and available without charge, the article can be read here (7pps; PDF)

'Sisters' History is Women's History' This essay by Syracuse University professor Margaret Susan Thompson considers the approach taken by 4 authors on writing the history of women religious. Published in the Journal of Women's History, Volume 26, Number 4, Winter 2014, pp.182-190. Read the article here (10 pps; PDF)

The statement for the World Day of Peace on 1 January 2015, 'No Longer Slaves, but Brothers and Sisters', was released 10 December at a Vatican news conference led by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The statement which stresses individual responsibility can be read here

'...we must never for a moment forget that we are each our brother’s keepers, and that a part of ourselves is trafficked every time a brother or sister of ours is...' Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) from the newly released Pastoral Letter on Human Trafficking. Read the Letter here

The Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Human Trafficking Initiative and the Massachusetts Medical Society Committee on Violence Intervention and Prevention have worked in partnership to create the first edition of Human Trafficking: Guidebook on Identification, Assessment, and Response in the Health Care Setting to educate and resource health care providers. The Guidebook can be downloaded here (56 pps; PDF)

'More than five trillion pieces of plastic, collectively weighing nearly 269,000 tonnes, are floating in the world’s oceans, causing damage throughout the food chain, new research has found.' Read the article in theguardian online

Calm me Lord by Margaret Rizza. As its name suggests, this track slows one down with a mantra style chant that is at once soothing and meditative. Listen/watch it here (04:55). Margaret's interview with Sally Harper 'A Music Birthed Through Silence' gives insight into the process by which Margaret came to write such music and how prayer underpins all her compositions. Read it here

'Politics and the Pope', topic of the Kennedy Library Forum held last week. Boston Globe writers James Carroll and Neil Swidey, author Mary Gordon, and Sister Simone Campbell, organizer of “Nuns on the Bus,” discussed Pope Francis and what the shifts initiated by his papacy might mean for both domestic and world politics. Margery Eagan, columnist for The Boston Globe's Catholicism-news website, Crux, moderated. Watch it here (01:31:42)

The long awaited final report on women’s religious life in the United States is set for release on 16 December, 2014 . John L Allen Jr. in A primer for the looming Vatican report on American nuns provides 'a primer on the report, and what’s at stake in its release'. Read it here

Pope Francis' Address to Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Vatican City, 27 November, 2014. Read it here.

Friends of the Earth Europe released their report 'Fracking Frenzy: How the Fracking Industry is Threatening the Planet' on 1 December, the day the latest round of global climate negotiations opened in Peru. The Report examines the planned expansion of shale gas operators into vulnerable regions of Latin America, Asia and Africa, and highlights the threats posed to local environments and communities as well as the global climate. The Executive Summary provides an explanation of how fracking technology works and the key findings in the Report (pps1-10). Read the Report here (80 pps; PDF).

'A new study links shale oil and gas development to a host of developmental and reproductive health risks, and says the processes involved – including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking – pose a particularly potent threat to what researchers called "our most vulnerable population."'. Read the complete article from 'US News & world Report' here

Women and girls form the vast majority of human trafficking victims, both in and outside the EU. On 2 December the EP's women's rights and civil liberties organised a meeting with UN and European Commission representatives to find out the latest about the situation in the world and the implementation of the EU's strategy to eradicate human trafficking. See: Human trafficking: 80% of victims in the EU are women and girls and related resources. Access these here

Police chiefs and Church representatives from around the world joined UK Home Office ministers in London on 5-6 December for the second Santa Marta Conference organised by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Home Office, aimed at developing strategies to combat human trafficking. The Speech given by Home Secretary Theresa May can be read here . It was at the launch of the Santa Marta Group, named after the Papal residence where the participants stayed, in April 2014, that Pope Francis described human trafficking as “an open wound on the body of contemporary society; a crime against humanity”.The Pope's message for this second international conference can be read here.

'Poorly paid Indian tea workers and their destitute families are a major source for human traffickers who lure away mainly women and children with promises of a new life but who end up enslaved in factories and households, human rights organisations say in a report 'Tea workers in India falling prey to human traffickers', published in The Age Newspaper. Read the article here

The Adventures of Mary and Joseph - The Road Movie tells the Christmas story in nine entertaining and informative episodes. Produced for use in the classroom, they can be enjoyed by children of all ages. Watch the 9 episodes here. Start with the Angel Gabriel and click your way through in sequence.
Teachers: Creative activities to use in conjunction with each of the nine videos can be found here

'I am the river flowing, I am the desert dry. I am the four winds blowing, I am the sunset sky.' Lyrics from I Am The Earth. Listen/watch it here (03:48). Written for the International Year of Planet Earth, this song by Glyn Lehmann  imagines a dialogue between the Earth and the world's children. Lyrics, sheet music, recording and backing track available at Song Library

It is 35 years tomorrow since Maryknoll Srs. Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sr. Dorothy Kazel, and Maryknoll lay missionary Jean Donovan, were murdered in El Salvador.
On 10 November the New York Times featured on its homepage a video "retro report". The video is described by Commonweal as 'variously disturbing, heartbreaking, and enraging'. The video can be seen here (13:35).
It's just over 25 years (17 November) since the murder in El Salvador of the six Jesuits, their cook and her daughter. Read the reflection by Andrew Hamilton sj

The full text of the address delivered by Pope Francis to members of the European Parliament, Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday November 25, 2014. Read it here

The full text of Pope Francis’ address to the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France on Tuesday November 25, 2014. Read it here

One in three human trafficking victims is a child, most victims are female, and traffickers operate with wide impunity, the United Nations said in a report released on 24 November on modern-day slavery. The UNODC Global Report 2014 is the second of its kind mandated by the General Assembly. Download it here

The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) and The Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME-CEC) have called  on the EU and its member states to implement the legal framework already in place and to intensify cooperation with civil society and church organisations that work with victims of trafficking at the grassroots level. Read the press release here

20 November 2014 marked 25 years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF is taking the opportunity to raise the question: Does a child born today have better prospects in life than one who was born at the time the Convention came into being?   Read the report and various perspectives on this question

'We're better than this'. Prominent Australians sing out for the 766 children locked up in Australia’s secure immigration detention facilities in Australia and Nauru. Watch the video/play the song here (01:40). Find out more about this campaign. The single is available on iTunes with proceeds supporting the campaign.

NOVEMBER 2014

The second edition of the Global Slavery Index which estimates the number of people in modern slavery in 167 countries is now available. Readers can View the Findings; Download the Report, Download the Data and View the Methodology used in the report at the Global Slavery Index website

'The sustainability challenge is huge, and will require wholesale changes to the world’s economies. Because of its potentially devastating impact on the poor on all continents, the church has a strong interest in mounting a robust response this century to the challenge of sustainable development...' The article 'Renew This World: A churchwide strategy for a sustainable planet', published in 'America' magazine can be read here

Helen Maher Garvey, BVM who wrote the Introduction to 'Spiritual Leadership for Challenging Times: Presidential Addresses from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (2014)' and who was president of LCWR from 1986-1989, has written 'I Want to Be a Sister', published last week in 'Commonweal'. Read the article here

The Renewal of Religious Life Is Ongoing, by Gaétanne Guillemette, NDPS
This article was first published in the CRC Bulletin, Volume 11, issue 2. The theme of the Bulletin was 'Who Are We Post-Vatican II Religious Now and Where Are We Headed?'  The Canadian Religious Conference (CRC) has drawn the attention of its website visitors to this article, as a 'timely article' in this Year of Consecrated Life. Download the article here (4 pps; PDF). CRC Bulletins Fall - Winter 2006 (vol 3; issue 2) - Fall 2014 (vol 11; issue 3) can all be downloaded here

'Planet Money makes a T-Shirt'. The world behind a simple shirt, in five chapters: 'Cotton', 'Machines', 'People', 'Boxes', 'You'. The chapter 'People' is concerned with the lives of the workers in Bangladesh and Colombia who make our shirts, women like Jasmine and Doris working long hours in difficult conditions, dreaming of better lives for their families. (06:21)

'Happy' by Pharrell Williams. Syrian refugees at Darasakran refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq who have had everything taken from them – their homes, education, security, innocence, and often their families, too – still find joy in dancing. Watch it here

'Holy Mystery, Sacred Presence, All-embracing, Creator God...' A Reflection On The Sacred by Monica Brown. (06:34). Watch the video here.

Sr Estrella Castalone FMA, Co-ordinator of Talitha Kum, an International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons, based in Rome, spoke recently to the group U.S. Catholic Sisters against Human Trafficking. Watch the video here (01:16:44)

Rev Ruth Patterson, Presbyterian minister and Director of Restoration Ministries, a non denominational, Christian organisation committed to peace and reconciliation based in Northern Ireland, addressed the recent AGM in Omagh of CORI Northern Ireland. Click here to access input one. Click here to access input two

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Thomas Berry's birth, a new publication entitled Thomas Berry: Selected Writings on the Earth Community, selected and introduced by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, is available now at a 40% discount when ordered from the Orbis website

'Staying focused on the world’s most valuable resource: water'. Article by Barbara Frost, Chief Executive, WaterAid,

Denton, Texas has become the first Texan city to ban fracking. Read the article on their site. For further news about the story, follow @frackfreedenton on Twitter.

'Human Development Magazine', a publication for people involved in the work of fostering the growth of others, is being relaunched. Details of the contents of the first issue can be found online here. To subscribe to 'Human Development Magazine' in print or digital formats, click here

The seventh paper in the Occasional Paper Series on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings, published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OCSE), has just been released online (3 November 2014). The paper, 'Ending Exploitation', outlines the measures that businesses can take to ensure that trafficking in human beings does not occur in their workplaces or those of their suppliers. Download the  paper here (PDF; 105 pps). To access the series, click here

'During our 2011 General Chapter, we Sisters of Providence chose to refound the Congregation. We deliberately chose refounding — not reconfiguring, not restructuring, not regressing, not retiring and not choosing to end the mission of Providence.' From 'Refounding the Sisters of Providence' in their magazine 'Hope' (Fall 2014) online here. See also the article 'Congregations in transition: Office helps with pastoral aspects of change' which can be read here

On 9 November Germany celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A beautiful temporary artwork called 'Lichtgrenze' (Border of Light) installed 8,000 luminous balloons along the wall’s former route, 9.3 miles (14.9 kms). View the installation here (01:42) Read the article in Quartz  Meanwhile, in London, 888,246 red ceramic poppies captivated Britain and brought WWI to life. View the spectacular images and accompanying article here

Mary Lou Mitchell,ssj on 'The Role of Contemplation in the Midst of Leadership'. View it here (42:40)

'Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One...' from Give Thanks - The Maranatha! Singers. Watch it here (04:03)

NETWORK's Nuns on the Bus 2014 "We the People, We the Voters!" -- in a parody of Meghan Trainor's "All about that Bass". Watch it here (01:41) and enjoy.

As the question of how we set about tackling climate change increasingly becomes not just an economic and political issue, but a moral one too, a new paper from Christian Aid draws inspiration from the Biblical prophets. Song of the Prophets: A global theology on climate change reflects the views of theologians from the global south where climate change is having its greatest impact. The paper says that the manner in which a number of Biblical prophets confronted opposition in their own times, gives hope in a demoralised and demotivated world. Read the paper here (PDF; 32 pps)

As more and more stories of human trafficking appear in newspapers and on television, consumers are increasingly asking what they can do to fight this problem. Madina Jarbussynova, Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, responds. Read the article in the Huffington Post here

'Does the church need a new theology of women?'
Pope Francis himself has stated that the church needs a "new theology of women." But what does that mean, exactly? And who might write it? Read the article in U.S. Catholic online by  Emily Reimer-Barry, assistant professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego and consider taking the survey.

OCTOBER 2014

'The water sustains me without even trying...' from the song 'Water' - Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling. Listen to it here. Words and guitar chords here Purchase on iTunes here

'The Elephant in the Church: A Woman’s Tract for our Times' by Mary I. Malone. The Columba Press (2014). Details and how to order can be found here

'This Changes Everything' by Naomi Klein. Simon and Schuster (2014). Details and how to order can be found on the book's website here

PeerSpirit Circle methodology, developed by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linne, teaches participants how to listen carefully, speak intentionally, and act with clarity. This 3-part video introduces the circle process. Part 1:(05:02); Part 2: (03:04); Part 3: (04:05)

In a new study conducted in the US, the Urban Institute and Northeastern University examined each step of the trafficking process and found that perpetrators are often able to commit these crimes in plain sight because embassies fail to identify glaring red flags when victims obtain U.S. visas. Download the research report 'Understanding the Organization, Operation, and Victimization Process of Labor Trafficking in the United States' (307 pps; PDF) Read a news article in the Huffington Post on the research report.

Born out of a much-needed initiative to unify the anti-trafficking movement, the recently launched online Global Modern Slavery Directory currently identifies over 850 organisations committed to ending modern slavery in over 120 countries across the world. The Directory will continue to expand in order to provide 100 per cent geographic coverage, with a minimum of 3000 contacts to be incorporated by 2017. Access the Directory here

Is your Mercy OHT organisation listed in the Directory? If not, you can apply via the form in the 'Contact' section to have your organisation listed in the Directory

'Wisdom, compassion, love, understanding
Come be in my heart...'
From the lyrics of 'Come Be in My Heart,' a beautiful, lyrical, gentle song by Sara Thomsen from her album 'Fertile Ground'. Experience the video prayer of this song by Susan Rose Francois CSJP. Watch it here. (02:58). Purchase the song on iTunes here

'Living with Limits, Living Well! Hints for Heighbours on an Endangered Planet' is produced by the Jesuit Forum for Social Justice and Faith. $15.00  Further details and how to order online can be found here

Sacred Seed. A Collection of Essays. Compiled and edited by the Global Peace Initiative of Women with an introduction by Dr Vandana Shiva, physicist and environmental leader. 'Essential to survival, seeds have profound spiritual implications. For centuries the planting of seed in the earth not only nourished humanity, but also symbolized the mystery of life and the journey of the soul.' Further details can be found here

The forthcoming issue of Occasional Papers includes an interview with John Sivolon, MM, author of God’s Mission and Postmodern Culture: The Gift of Uncertainty . His book can be purchased from Amazon or Orbis. A reflection on Sivolon's book by Tim Williams CM can be found here

To mark the 8th EU Anti-trafficking day on 18 October 2014, the European Commission is taking stock of all coordinated efforts which have been made during the 2010-2014 European Commission mandate towards the goal of eradicating human trafficking. The article and  the mid-term report of the 2012-2016 EU strategy, can be read here

Three United Nations human rights experts have called for a concerted global response to fight human trafficking worldwide as all over the world, child trafficking – often connected to the sale and sexual exploitation of children – is on the rise as a proportion of all human trafficking. Children represent 27 per cent of human trafficking. And, in recent years, the increase has been greater for girls: two out of every three child victims are young girls. Read the article here

'Bread for the world
a world of hunger.
Wine for all peoples
People who thirst...'

Lyrics from ' Bread for the World' on the album 'God Beyond All Names' by Bernadette Farrell. Available here on YouTube (01:59). Purchase it here on iTunes

'Francis of Rome & Francis of Assisi: A New Springtime for the Church' by Leonardo Boff. Paperback released August, 2014. Read the interview with Leonardo Boff in Publisher's Weekly Order from Orbis Books or Amazon

'Power of Sisterhood: Women Religious Tell the Story of the Apostolic Visitation' by Margaret Cain McCarthy, PhD and Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM, PhD. Order through the publisher, University Press of America, and use its code to get a 30% discount which is valid until 31 December 2014. Details of how to order and further information about the text can be found here

'Report takes deeper look at statistics about women's religious orders'. Read the article in Catholic News Service here. Access the report 'Population Trends Among Religious Institutes of Women' by Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) staffers Mary L. Gautier and Mark M. Gray, and Erick Berrelleza, a Jesuit scholastic at Boston College, released 13 October. (8pps; pdf)

'Advent in the New Universe Story' is a free four-session resource created by Terri MacKenzie for those interested in deepening their understanding of the Christmas/Incarnation reality in the context of the new creation story.

'"Modern-day slavery is real and occurring every day in Silicon Valley," according to a new human trafficking report based on hundreds of cases of sexual exploitation and forced labor in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties since 2011...' Read the news article here. The Report, produced in partnership with Juniper Networks and human trafficking advocacy group Not For Sale, can be read here (36 pps; pdf)

' In pure numbers, the past few decades have been marked by destruction: over the last 40 years, Earth has lost 52 percent of its wild animals; nearly 17 percent of the world’s forests have been felled in the last half-century; freshwater ecosystems have witnessed a 75-percent decline in animal populations since 1970; and nearly 95 percent of coral reefs are today threatened by pollution, coastal development and overfishing...' Read the complete article 'Humanity Failing the Earth’s Ecosystems' here

Come Healing from the album: 'Old Ideas' (2012) by Leonard Cohen. Play video clip here (02:53)
Lyrics: 'O, gather up the brokenness Bring it to me now...Lyrics can be accessed here

Caritas Australia has produced a Catholic Social Teaching (CST) online toolkit with resources developed for multiple age ranges: Lower Primary: K-2, Middle Primary: 3-4, Upper Primary: 5-6, Secondary: 7-12. The Educational toolkit explores the principles of CST through cartoons, comics and videos. Access the free kit here

Sunday 19 October 2014 is Freedom Sunday. On that day (or Saturday 18 October for those for whom Saturday is the Sabbath), churches all over the world will join together to raise awareness of the crime of human trafficking and show the world our compassion for men, women and children who are trafficked and exploited.

Details and resources for the day can be downloaded for free here

Britain's National Crime Agency has warned that human trafficking gangs are tattooing their victims to “signify ownership”. The National Crime Agency has published the third annual Strategic Assessment of the Nature and Scale of Human Trafficking in 2013. The Report shows a surge in the number of British people exploited by gangs and disclosed that some victims of human traffickers are sold between gangs for as little as £200. A news item and the report can be found here

On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. This year, the theme is "Empowering adolescent girls: Ending the cycle of violence". See more at UN Women and at Day of the Girl Summit

Image courtesy of watcharakun at FreeDigitalPhotos.net