April 2009 - Volume 2, Issue 3
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Peace and All Good!
Blossoms, Budgets and Busy Schedules
by Russell Testa
FAN Executive Director
The first of April in Washington, DC is marked by two significant things: the cherry blossoms are out, a sure sign of spring, and the U.S. Congress is engaged in efforts to pass the Federal Budget. With the Federal Budget discussions, the Congressional calendar really shifts into gear. For Franciscan Action Network, this new activity provides us with multiple opportunities to bring our Franciscan message of social transformation to bear on the legislative landscape.
FAN has been and is very busy furthering our efforts. Be sure to check out the following items and stories in this month's newsletter:
1) The Action Commission met for strategy and implementation planning.
2) More than 100 Franciscans and Franciscan-hearted people participated in Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Two of our Action Commissioners, who participated in EAD this year, have shared their experiences in articles in the newsletter.
3) FAN sent letters to the leadership in the House and Senate encouraging them not to forget persons who are poor or the environment when developing the Federal Budget. 4) FAN is launching the first stage of its Campaign on Climate Change.
5) Efforts to develop a fair and humane immigration system moved forward with the submission of the DREAM Act in the U.S. House and Senate. The DREAM Act will enable non-U.S. citizens, who have been in the U.S. most of their lives, to be eligible for citizenship so they can complete college or join the U.S. military. The DREAM Act will come up for a vote in the next month, so watch for an Action Alert opportunity to stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters. In the meantime, view the report from Fr. Larry Janezic, OFM on some immigration support efforts in the Midwest.
6) FAN is also set to offer a new education opportunity with an upcoming "webinar" with Sr. Sheila Kinsey, OSF and Fr. Pio Jackson, OFM of the Action Commission. The two will help us learn from their experience in Brazil with Franciscans at the World Social Forum.
All of this and so much more is blooming amidst the efforts of the Franciscan Action Network. We have many reports of Franciscans and Franciscan-hearted people working to translate our shared message of social transformation into reality.
In this flurry of activity, we also have to take time for prayer and spiritual growth. All the work and all the pain in this world, to which we try to bring Christ, can eat us up; the countless actions and opportunities can drown us if we do not remember the foundations of our hope and effort, Jesus Christ For spiritual resources to help us stay grounded, click on the link in our "Short Takes" section to access our website's new "virtual hermitage."
As we move towards the celebration of the Resurrection, we must let the Risen Christ enter into our lives and work with us and through us. If we take the Cross on ourselves and do not share its burden with Jesus (and others), we are not being true to our faith. Our prayer at the Action Center is that we all unite in the spirit of Easter in order to share, lift and transform all our burdens.
Best Wishes for a Blessed Holy Week and Easter Celebration. |
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Event: Poverty
Franciscan Solidarity Experience Webinar
by Sr. Sheila Kinsey, OSF & Pio Jackson, OFM
FAN Action Commissioners
On April 16th, FAN members have the opportunity to participate in a FREE webinar experience focusing on the 5th Franciscan Solidarity Experience and the World Social Forum held this past January in Belem, Para in Brazil. (This webinar experience is a user-friendly interactive use of your personal computer and a telephone conference call. Be not afraid! Try it!).
 At the World Social Forum, 44 Franciscans from four continents and 15 countries came together to pray, to share in-country experiences and to determine future networking possibilities. The theme of this year's World Social Forum was "Another World Is Possible." The ecology focus of the meeting necessarily included such discussion areas as human rights, development and peace building strategies. Through the webinar, you can learn more.
Action Commissioners Friar Pio Jackson, OFM, and Sr. Sheila Kinsey, OSF represented FAN during these enriching days in Brazil.
Use this link to read more and to register for the webinar. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Additional information on how to join the webinar will be sent out by email to all registered participants about a week before the event.REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS TUESDAY, APRIL 14 at Noon Eastern time.
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Event: Care for Creation
Franciscan Campaign on Climate Change
by Russell Testa
FAN Executive Director
On March 31, 2009, Representative Henry Waxman (D-30th  CA) and Representative Edward Markey (D-7th MA) released a discussion draft of legislation designed to promote clean energy and reduce green house gas emissions. This piece of legislation marks the next step in addressing the issue of climate change in the 111th Congress.
Franciscans and Franciscan-hearted people have a credible and needed message on climate change. Now is a pivotal time for shaping the course our nation takes on this important issue, and the conditions impel us to launch our Franciscan Campaign on Climate Change.
To read more and to learn how to sign up for campaign informational webinars visit
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Article: Care for Creation
Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington
by Stephanie Sormane, SFO
FAN Action Commissioner
March 13-16 was Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) 2009. The gathering took place at the Alexandria Mark Hilton Hotel, just outside of Washington, DC, and culminated with visits with our Members of Congress at the Capitol on the 16th. It was a really good experience!
EAD was a very full weekend of seminars and workshops about climate change (the focus this year) and included some really outstanding prayer services and liturgies (which were developed in an ecumenical collaborative effort led by FAN's own Marc DelMonico). The quality of the speakers was tremendous - there was no doubt that the speakers knew what they were talking about; they gave us plenty of material to share with our Members of Congress to encourage them to take action on this very serious issue. Workshops also were held to help those visiting their representatives and Senators for the first time to be well prepared. A very elegant and delicious reception on Sunday evening left no one hungry, to be sure!
Stories, Facts, Experience: Ecumenical Advocacy Days
by Dorothy Moczygemba, CSSF
FAN Action Commissioner
Stories are natural teachers. Before Ecumenical Advocacy Days, I could not comprehend why people in Kenya would run to an overturned petrol truck to "steal" fuel from it. At EAD, I heard the real story of one such person: a woman whose husband was dying. Deprived of his wages, she knew the price of a liter of petrol could feed her family for a week. When she heard of the overturned truck, she quickly found her son to teach him how to salvage petrol. Instead, the boy saw his mother burned to death when a spark caused the tanker to explode!
American media, muffled by program sponsors, tends to discredit scientific facts about the acceleration of climate change. So it was helpful to have access to this information from the standpoint of international scientists. Stories from the Global South, where climate change is already causing ecological migration, corroborated the scientific data presented in various sessions.
I care about global issues but have been politically timid. EAD trains you for visiting your legislators. Doing this on Capitol Hill for the first time after EAD 2008 petrified me! But I survived, and then, during the year, had the courage to call my New Mexico legislators regarding several issues. So, after EAD 2009, I was amazed about my comfort, confidence and even enthusiasm for going again to advocate for the most vulnerable with my legislators on Capitol Hill.+ + +
To read the official press release from the FAN Action Center about EAD, click here. |
Human Rights: Immigration
Franciscans Demonstrate Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Midwest Franciscan groups, FAN representatives participate in immigration rallies
by Fr. Larry Janezic, OFM
FAN Issue Advocate
The chant "Se Puede" ("We can") permeated the atmosphere of rallies to promote immigration reform in Chicago, Joliet and _thumb.jpg) Milwaukee over the week-end of March 21 and March 22. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus in collaboration with non-profit organizations and church communities promoted a series of events to demonstrate and articulate the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Click here for more. | |
News: Action Commission
The following is a reprint of an article about FAN, composed by Action Commissioner Dan Mulholland, SFO. It originally appeared in Dan's SFO regional newsletter.
Franciscan Action Network (FAN) at One Year
by Dan Mulholland, sfo
FAN Action Commissioner
FAN got started one year ago this March, and it's had a very busy year indeed. FAN was formed to speak with one voice across the national Franciscan family (friars, sisters and seculars) and bring a Franciscan perspective in advocacy to the US Government with a spirit of healing and reconciliation to transform our world. Not a small task...
FAN got their Action Center set up and staffed with dedicated people in the office, on their Board and with their Action Commissioners for six geographic regions in the US. The SFO Action Commissioners are: Ken Beattie; Tom Bello; Dan Mulholland; Jan Parker; Stephanie Sormane; Carolyn Townes. Each Action Commission Region has a friar, sister and secular representative who provide contacts and meet twice a year in Washington, DC: once in September and once in March right before the Ecumenical Advocacy Days, to which FAN has become a sponsor.
The recent FAN meeting looked at where FAN as been this last year and where it will be going next year.
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FRANCISCAN INSPIRATION
The Promise of Easter Peace
(or, How to Respond to the Rage) by Marc DelMonico,
FAN Web Outreach
The Orthodox icon above of the Harrowing of Hell depicts Christ after his death, descending into the abode of the dead, releasing all those who languished there. Christ is also depicted as crushing the Ancient Enemy, Satan. The traditional image of the Descent into Hell may be the perfect image of hope in the face of the entombing injustices that seem to pervade our world.
Click on the icon for some thoughts on how we can find our way through the justifiable anger we might feel at the injustices all around us and embrace Easter Peace.
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SHORT TAKES
FAN welcomes Grant Clifton to Action Center Staff
Action Center Staff members already are grateful a hundred-fold for the expertise and energy that Grant Clifton, our new Coordinator of Outreach, brings to efforts to grow the network!
Read more about Grant here, and send him an email of welcome!
Password Upgrades on Website
The FAN website underwent maintenance
some months ago to ensure that the password protocols for member accounts are sufficiently secure. The process requires members with passwords failing to meet the new standard to update their passwords. Some have reported difficulty with the udpate process. If other members have had similar issues, please use the contact us form on our website to communicate them to us in as much detail as possible, so we can assist you in resolving any problems. FAN Builds International Solidarity
In response to requests from our international brothers and sisters, FAN now features an "international" registration option in the blue rectangle in the upper right corner of our webpage. Cognizant that spiritual and social transformation spans national boundaries, FAN anticipates cooperation among citizens of all nations, citizens of our planet.
FAN Develops 'Virtual Hermitage' on Website
FAN is pleased to dedicate a new section of its website to nourishing the work of social transformation through personal and common prayer.
FAN Website Discussion Forums for Members
To read about the latest enhancements to the FAN website, click here. To visit the discussion forums page and comment (member login required), click here.
Summer Franciscan Peacemaking Retreats
FAN Executive Director Russell Testa, and Ken Preston of Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service will be offering retreats in Colorado and Kentucky in June and July 2009, respectively. For more information and to register, download and complete this PDF form. FAN and the Conscience Protection Rule
Many FAN members recently have approached the Action Center Staff for guidance on the government rules concerning health care workers and the conscience protection clause. As the inquiries involve an area outside of our immediate concentration and expertise. we consulted the Catholic Health Association of the U.S. for input.
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OTHER NEWS
Solidarity with the Victims of the Postville Raids FAN members have been invited to participate in a remembrance of the May 2008 Postville, Iowa immigration raids.
Peacemaking Needs in Sri Lanka
Our sisters and brothers at Franciscans International invite the global Franciscan family to stand in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka. Please review this message from Sr. Denise Boyle, fmdm, Executive Director of Franciscans International.
Pace e Bene launches new website
Our partner in peacemaking efforts launched their new website recently. Check it out at :
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