Today's newsletter has information and writings about the situation in Ukraine. How the U.S., Russia, western European nations, and the Ukrainians deal with the situation will very likely have major consequences for decades to come. It behooves all of us to think about and talk with each other about what concerns the U.S. should have and what goals the U.S. should pursue. Then we should communicate our thoughts to members of Congress, State Department officials, and the President. The Pope and the U.S. bishops urge our prayers. Our thoughts and prayers should be joined together.
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Idealist March 11 Follow-On
By February 22, 18,000 people in 145 countries had signed up to participate in the network being launched on March 11. As announced the founder of Idealist Ami Dar gave essentially the same talk via the Internet at 9:00 am and 8:00 pm PST on March 11. A video of Ami Dar's talk is available here
Essentially, the network will consist of "connectors", "teams", and "groups". As of March 25, 1,717 people in 90 countries had signed up to be connectors. These connectors identified their locations and were able to find other connectors nearby to form 764 teams. The groups evidently will be larger aggregates. The "groups" are to be explained in mid-April.
Further information is available:
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Upcoming Events
Saturday & Sunday, April 5 & 6, All Masses
Fair Trade Easter Sale
Both churches, more info
Friday, April 18, 4:30 P.M.
Good Friday Cross Walk
The Cross Walk will begin at 4:30 P.M. on Good Friday at St. Augustine's Church Parking Lot. We will process from St. Augustine's to St. Elizabeth Seton Church, a distance of 3.3 miles, stopping for prayer and reflection. All members of the CCOP community are encouraged to attend. The walk will take place rain or shine.
Tuesday, April 22
3rd annual Transportation Choices Summit more info
Embassy Suites, 100 Capitol Mall - Sacramento, California 95814
Wednesday, April 23
Optional Advocacy Day
Capitol Bldg, Sacramento
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U.S.-Russian Relations
The situation in Ukraine is causing a major confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. Links to important relevant posts and videos have been assembled in order to bring this situation and its possible future consequences to the attention of the readers of this newsletter.
You are welcome to send comments to socialjustice@catholicsofpleasanton.org, with subject: "Letter to the Editor" or "Comments to the Social Justice Committee". You may also post comments to either of David Cortright's posts below.
The first is a 2 ½ minute introductory video:
You Tube video: Why Ukraine matters to the U.S. & Russia (CNN three weeks ago), link
Second, an in-depth discussion:
Time for Realism and Common Sense on Ukraine: the international community should be pushing for compromise to prevent this fragile and bitterly divided country from breaking apart (Editorial in The Nation, March 24), link
Next, two posts by David Cortright, the Director of Policy Studies at Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies:
David Cortright's March 24 blog post, "Putin's Pique", link
David Cortright's March 18 blog post, "Sanctions, diplomacy and the crisis in Crimea", link
Finally, an article from the Catholic News Service and three more videos:
Crisis in Ukraine 'replay' of what led up to World War II, says priest (Joyce Coronel, Catholic News Service, March 5, via NCR), link
You Tube video: Ukrainian-Russian tensions discussed (Catholic News Service), link
You Tube video: Putin speaks about Ukraine, Yanukovich, Maidan & Crimea, link
PBS Newshour video: Margaret Warner interviews Ukrainian Acting Prime Minister Arsenly Yatsenyuk (March 25), link
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Brief Links
Francis the Peacemaker (Faith and Justice column by Thomas Reese, SJ, senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, January 31), link
Best practices for charity and justice (Jack Jezreel article in the March issue of U.S. Catholic magazine), link
America magazine, link
Russia Without Illusions (Ross Douthat op-ed piece, New York Times, March 22), link
The Women at the Top (Review by Marcia Angell of The XX Factor: How the Rise of Working Women Has Created a Far Less Equal World by Alison Wolf), link
Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine (Article by Timothy Snyder in New York Review of Books, March 20), link
Francis's Anti-Imperial Papacy (E.J. Dionne article in Commonweal magazine, March 13), link
Engaging New Players in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (three articles from Kroc Peace Policy newsletter), link
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