Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Working to Get Corporate America to Act Responsibly

May 31, 2018

For nearly 50 years, women religious have been working to get corporate America to act responsibly on issues such as workers’ rights and the environment. When there are victories, they are usually small, incremental, and often unseen by the public.

However, religious sisters such as Adrian Dominican Sr. Judy Byron have been winning very public battles lately, including forcing Exxon Mobil to analyze the risk climate change and attempts to address it pose to its business, and dialogue with Dick’s Sporting Goods executives that resulted in the company’s February announcement that it would stop selling assault rifles and raise the minimum purchase age for firearms to 21.

Sr. Judy Byron – Corporate Watchdog

On May 9, shareholders of gun manufacturer Sturm Ruger voted to require the company to report on its efforts to improve gun safety. Sr. Byron was the co-filer of the resolution along with Colleen Scanlon of Catholic Health Initiatives, who was the lead filer.

Executives had refused to discuss the issue, Byron said, but the shareholder resolution passed with 69 percent of the vote.

Byron related that, “wins are rare, especially with 69 percent of the vote. Resolutions on the environment, climate change, water — they might get good support, like 30 percent. Social resolutions are more difficult, but that’s changing. A win for us isn’t necessarily the percentage of the vote, but: Is the company listening, and are they going to change their policies and practices?”

Sr. Byron states, “We’ll continue to attempt to engage with the gun manufacturers, continue the dialogue with Dick’s Sporting Goods and the financial institutions financing the firearms industry and companies that have ties to the National Rifle Association.

“We aren’t saying “no guns” or “take people’s guns away.” We want safe guns. So we’re collaborating with other groups — I have a seven-page list of groups we’re working with — and we’re focusing on states that have significant legislation up in the next year. Personally, I think that’s how you accomplish it. You start with the states, and eventually, Congress will have to do something.” ~ Global Sisters Report

To read the complete account: http://globalsistersreport.org/blog/q/ministry/q-sr-judy-byron-forcing-sturm-ruger-report-gun-safety-54001

And a little child shall lead them…

March 23, 2018

Between 1900 and 2018 there have been at least 146 protest marches and rallies, gatherings of people to express their social and political views, in Washington, D.C. It is a time-honored way of making sure that the government “hears” the people, their passion and their political aspirations. The First Amendment allows this kind of speech and the government protects it.

Now we have another protest brewing, the March for Our Lives, which is being led by students. This First Amendment display of complaint is to protest the use of the Second Amendment to protect the widespread availability of military-style weapons on American streets.

It’s difficult to tell exactly what is driving the student anti-gun demonstrations that are taking place all across the country: It may, of course, be the actions of the most recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in High School in Parkland, Florida.

On the other hand, it may equally be the non-action of adults. Since the shootings at Columbine in 1999, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, and the 50 other mass murders or attempted mass murders at schools since then – 17 of them by children under the age of 15 – not one piece of national legislation has been passed to either stop the shootings or protect the victims, though some has at the state level.

Since no one else is doing anything about it, the young people have taken it upon themselves. They lay the responsibility directly at the feet of the politicians who define themselves as the guardians of the democracy. The students’ March for Our Lives on Washington, D.C. scheduled for March 24, defines three issues for r

esolution: age restrictions on gun purchase, a ban on assault-style weapons, and the demilitarization of police forces.

The point is that we now have two tragedies here: the first is the mounting numbers of deaths in classrooms, the second is the seeming political indifference to it. Where being re-elected in a country obsessed with guns is obviously more important than protecting schoolchildren, politicians have refused to regulate the sale of guns by either age or category.

As a result, young people can get a gun in the United Sates before they get a diploma and with it the hoped-for control it takes to decide how and when to use it. Worse, adults argue back at student activists with a straight face that taking military-style weapons off the streets would violate the Second Amendment rights of sportsmen. The adult arguments clearly do not persuade: “Protect children, not guns” one of the protest signs says, as students walk through city streets in protest. ~NCR

To read the complete story: https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/where-i-stand/and-little-child-shall-lead-them

Cabrini High School Students Pray in Solidarity with Stoneman Douglas

March 15, 2018

Cabrini High School, along with the rest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, gathered together for a 17-minute rosary prayer service on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 to end violence in schools. Lead by the Cabrini Rosary Club, the entire student body, faculty, and staff said two decades of the rosary, our Family Prayer, and students rang bells 17 times in honor of the 17 people who lost their lives in the Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy.

Catholic School Students Join Walk Out to Protest Gun Violence

March 15, 2018

Thousands of students in the U.S. exited their classrooms on Wednesday as part of a series of nationwide walkouts protesting an action by lawmakers on gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting one month ago at a Florida high school.

The walkouts marked the anniversary of the February 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a 19-year-old former student armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle killed 14 students and three school officials.

Each walkout was set to begin at 10 a.m. local time and last 17 minutes in remembrance of the 17 people who died.

More that 3,000 walkouts across the country have been registered. The effort was organized by Women’s March Youth EMPOWER, a group of young people affiliated with the Women’s march organizers.

At least 30 Catholic

high schools and a dozen Catholic colleges had listed walkouts on their websites.

Jeffery Van Deven, a junior and one of the students who helped to plan St Borgia’s walkout said he and two classmates, Sean Bierman and Grace McKennis, were inspired to initiate the walkout at St. Borgia by the students at Stoneman Douglas.

“Enough is enough. That really made an impact,” Van Deven, told NCR.

In the Chicago Archdiocese, nearly 200 of its schools, consisting of upward of 80,000 students, staff and teachers, planned to hold peace-building activities in solidarity with the walkouts.

At Notre Dame High School in Belmont, California, students at the all-girls school were prepared to walk out and march outside the school before holding an assembly that would include a prayer service, student speeches and discussions. They would also have tables to register students to vote.

“We have encouraged our students to become active in the political dialogue and process. … We support and celebrate our students as they organize to make their voices heard,” Maryann Osmond, head of the school, said in a statement. ~ National Catholic

USCCB Backs Assault Weapons Ban

March 8, 2018

The U.S. Bishops’ Conference (USCCB) entered its voice Monday into the nation’s latest gun reform debate, renewing past support for gun control measures like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks with expressing concern with the idea of arming teachers as a deterrent of future shootings.

“Once again, we are confronted with grave evil, the murder of our children and those who teach them,” said Bishop Frank Dewane and Bishop George Murry, chairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Catholic Education, following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

“This moment calls for an honest and practical dialogue around a series of concrete proposals – no partisanship and overheated rhetoric,” said Bishops Dewane and Murry.

In that vein, they reasserted the Catholic bishops’ long-held support for a federal ban on assault weapons and limiting access to certain handguns and to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines.

The bishops also pushed against the idea of placing armed, trained teachers or other professional into schools as a means to deter a shooter – a concept that President Trump has repeatedly advocated in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas massacre.

“The idea of arming teachers seems to raise more concerns than it addresses,” the bishops said.

“We must explore ways to curb violent images and experiences with which we inundate our youth, and ensure that law enforcement has the necessary tools and incentives to identify troubled individuals and get them help,” the bishops said.

“The advocacy by survivors of the Parkland shooting – and young people throughout our nation – is a stark reminder that guns pose an enormous danger to the innocent when they fall into the wrong hands. The voices of these advocates should ring in our ears as they describe the peaceful future to which they aspire.” ~ National Catholic Reporter

MSCs Continue to Walk with Students from Parkland, Florida

March 6, 2018

This week, the courageous and articulate students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida returned to class. They are now much different young people than they were only two weeks ago. Their outrage continues. Their advocacy for changes in gun laws continues. Yet, they also seek a return to normalcy, to be teenagers, once again.

But, what their activism has brought about in the two weeks since violence struck their school and forever changed their lives, is nothing short of remarkable.

Cardinal Cupich of Chicago yesterday said, “the nation’s young people are “shaming the adult world into action” on gun violence. Their voices are a wake-up call that should have been heard years ago.”

“The time for words is over, our children are telling us. What is now required is action. It is now up to those we elect to serve the common good to act to stop the rampant gun violence that has turned our schools, churches, theatres and streets into places of slaughter.”

“Our elected officials…must begin the process of walking away from the moral compromises that doom our society to inaction,” he said. ~ excerpts from National Catholic Reporter

Making an Impact on Corporations

Yesterday, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc., one of the largest retailers of its kind in the United States, is taking new steps to curtail the sale of firearms, including ending assault-style rifles and banning the sale of guns to people younger than 21, the company announced.

“Based on what’s happened and looking at those kids and those parents, it move us all unimaginably,” company Chairman and CEO Edward Stack said yesterday on “Good Morning America,” referring to the shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“To think about the loss and the grief that those kids and those parents had, we said, ‘We need to do something,’” Stack, whose father, Dick, started the business 70 years ago, explained. “And we’re taking these guns out of all our stores permanently.”

When asked whether there is a chance the company will reverse its position on the newly announced ban, Stack replied, “Never. We’ve just decided that based on what’s happened with these guns, we don’t want to be a part of this story and we’ve eliminated these guns permanently.”

Prepared for the Backlash

In addition to the steps Dick’s has taken to improve gun safety and mitigate the harm associated with gun products, more than a dozen companies, ranging from hotel operators to insurance providers, have announced plans to stop offering discounts and cost-saving programs for members of the NRA in light of the Florida shooting.

Students who survived the attack are lobbying for tougher gun laws, and many have demanded companies stop doing business with the NRA.

Discussing the possible repercussions for Dick’s, Stack pointed to the courage of those students, many of whom are responsible for mobilizing and organizing gun control rallies, marches and social media-inspired boycotts.

“When we take a look at what those kids and the parents and the heroes in the school, what they did, our view was if the kids can be brave enough to organize like this, we can be brave enough to take these [assault style weapons] out of here, he said of the guns. “Not everyone will be happy [with our corporate decision].”

~ ABC News

Corporations Pulling Their Ties to the NRA

As of today, the following corporations have altered their business practices and/or corporate relationship or business practices with the National Rifle Association (NRS) as a result

of the Parkland, Florida mass shooting.

Alamo-Enterprise-National Car Rental Group – ending discount programs for NRA members

Allied Van Lines – discontinued their affiliation with NRA.

AVIS – Budget Car Rental Group – ending discount programs for NRA members

Chubb Insurance – discontinuing NRA special programs

Delta Airlines – no more discounted travel for NRA members. Asked for their name to be removed from the NRA website.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. – will no longer sell assault rifles/ raised age for gun buyers to 21

First National Bank of Omaha – discontinued special rates and discounts for NRA members

Met Life Insurance – ending discount program for NRA members

North American Van Lines – no longer will have an affiliation with NRA.

Simply-Safe – discontinuing their existing relationship with the NRA.

Starkey Hearing Technologies – ending discount rates for NRA members

Symantec Cyber Security – ending discounts for NRA members

True Car – ending its car buying service relationship with NRA members

United Airlines – no more discounted travel rates for NRA members

Walmart – will no longer sell assault rifles/raised age for gun buyers to 21

Guns: Violence and Safety – A Lenten Lecture Series topic

March 7, 2017

Guns: Violence and Safety

A Panel Discussion

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Iadarola Lecture Hall

4:30 pm

Panel discussion addressing regional initiatives to address gun ownership and gun violence.

Diana Trasatti – NJ Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Diana Trassati is an alumna of Cabrini University and volunteer Communications Lead for the New Jersey chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. She and the NJ chapter recently drove more than 4,000 messages to protest Gov. Christie’s veto of a bipartisan law requiring domestic abusers to turn in their guns.

Charles Howard, PhD – UPenn Chaplain, Activist and Poet
Rev. Charles Howard, PhD is the University Chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania, and has launched the Gun-Free World initiative that uses music, poetry and visual art to spark encounter and dialogue around issues of gun violence.

Bryan Miller – Heeding God’s Call

Brian Miller is the executive director of Heeding God’s Call, a faith based group working to prevent gun violence, and previously was executive director of Ceasefire NJ. After Miller’s brother, a DC metro police officer, was killed in a shooting in a police station he has committed himself to gun violence prevention.

Gun ownership continues to be a contentious issue in our society, and shootings account for a staggering number of deaths each year, whether in the form of mass shootings, gang-related killings, or handgun-inflicted suicides. This panel of regional experts, activists, and institutional leaders address recent developments and continuing challenges in this area.

This panel discussion is part of the Lenten Lecture Series: Blessed Are the Peacemakers. It will present an intimate conversation among practitioners and allow students, faculty, and staff to enter into dialogue with people working in the trenches of social justice issues.

All events are free and open to the public. Course attendance is welcome.