Politics

A coalition of Western Apache people, along with other Native American and non-Indigenous supporters, under the banner of the non-profit Apache Stronghold, asked the U.S. Supreme Court Sept. 11 to protect their sacred site at Oak Flat, Arizona, from destruction by a copper mining giant after a federal appeals court rejected their request.
 

Visiting the Oceania region where Pope Francis will head next week, the United Nations secretary-general called for international action, and financing, to bolster Pacific island nations facing rising seas and other impacts of climate change.

One of the meeting's top priorities was to explain how faith communities can better use federal funds for clean energy initiatives. 

By strategically using both radical forms of civil disobedience and more mainstream public actions, such as lobbying and state-sanctioned demonstrations, activists can grab the public’s attention while making less aggressive tactics seem much more acceptable.

Catholics like urban planner Jamie Kralovec say congestion pricing, like the plan recently halted in New York, is a way to live out the teachings of Laudato Si'. Not all Catholics agree the idea is rooted in justice.

The committee not only has papered investment firms with document preservation letters, but they also have set their sights on the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Caldwell, Mercy Investment Services, Christian Brothers Investment Services and Loyola Marymount University. These Catholic ministries and religious communities operate under the authoritative teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which tell us, "Every economic activity making use of natural resources must … also be concerned with safeguarding the environment."

Six Catholic investment funds are among the 130 groups in the Climate Action 100+ that were sent letters from the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee claiming they may have violated U.S. antitrust law.

Two activists from animal rights group PETA interrupted Pope Francis’ general audience on Wednesday, shouting and holding up banners against bullfighting before being escorted out of Paul VI Hall. The two were wearing t-shirts reading “Stop blessing corridas” and holding banners saying “Bullfighting is a sin.” PETA has been pleading with the Pope to cut the Catholic Church’s ties with bullfighting and condemn the “despicable blood sport.”