Editorial
In New Year, give solidarity a chance
What a great act of Christmas it would be to help make the world a more peaceful place.
Catholic Relief Services, which has been working furiously with other humanitarian groups to get food and shelter to the refugees of Afghanistan, has some good ideas about how it can be done.
In a recent fax to U.S. dioceses, CRS suggests that U.S. Catholic people and parishes can help in the long-term effort for peace through prayer and faith-inspired action.
It recommends the bishops’ document, "Called to Global Solidarity," which spells out Catholics’ responsibilities to the entire human family.
The document includes some disturbing facts:
• The U.S. ranks first in the world in weapons sold to poor nations, yet near last among industrialized nations in the proportion of resources devoted to development for the poor.
• Women perform two-thirds of the world’s work, but receive less than one-tenth of its income.
• Thirty-five thousand people die of hunger and its consequences every day.
"Global Solidarity" calls those who can to address such imbalances, injustices and inequities, and has pages of specific actions individuals and parishes can take.
It seems so simple: When human beings are desperate, they may resort to violence for survival. Violence usually expands by way of retaliation.
Desperation cannot be eliminated, but it can be reduced if people are willing to share their gifts with those in need.
For copies of "Global Solidarity," call the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, Publishing Services, at (800) 235-8722, or visit www.nccbuscc.org.
Catholic Relief Services also has a new Web site directed to children, which seems particularly appropriate in these formative times for the "9/11 generation." Go to www.catholicrelief.org/kids/index.html.
Let us rejoice in the coming of the Prince of Peace by committing to usher in an era of solidarity.