120 participants attended VIVAT’s Workshop in Indore, India

One hundred and twenty members of VIVAT International from the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), Society of the Divine Word (SVD), Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ (ASC), Congregation of the Holy Spirit (CSSp), and the Comboni Missionary Sisters (CMS) met at St. Arnold’s Seva Sadan, Indore, India, August 7 -12, 2011 to reflect on our missionary concerns for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and the role of VIVAT International in advancing these concerns.

We began our deliberations asking for the guidance of the Spirit as we gathered to receive God’s gift of Word and Eucharist.

Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Reports

All the Provinces reported on their JPIC activities. Included in their reports were the following topics: HIV /AIDS treatment, prevention and rehabilitation; Street Children; Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Land alienation and tribal lands; Children; Women; Domestic/Migrant Workers; People affected by leprosy; the Physically and mentally challenged individuals; and Rag Pickers. Additional reports were given on initiatives for income generation, vocational training and the conflicts in the Middle East (Palestinian Rights), Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.  The reports stressed the importance of networking both with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the governments for the rights of the people.

Noted experts gave scholarly presentations and reflections on:

 1.   Justice and Peace in the Bible

2.   Social Teachings of the Church

3.   Advocacy and Networking

4.   Human Rights

VIVAT INTERNATIONAL AND THE UNITED NATIONS

1. VIVAT International’s representatives at the UN gave an overview of the nature, scope, and the functioning of the UN.  This served as the background for understanding our presence and participation of VIVAT at the UN.  The UN is a complex system with various organs and commissions. Civil Society gains access to the system through ECOSOC accreditation.
2. VIVAT International began in 2000 with two member congregations and has expanded to include 10 congregations.  We now have representatives in UN head quarters New York, Geneva (2009), Vienna (2010).  The representatives gave an overview of the achievements realized during its first ten years of participation. This helped engender a sense of ownership, affinity and belonging to VIVAT and an impetus to promote its goals and objectives.
3. The members became aware of the role of NGOs and their activities, including how they fit into the overall goals and objectives of the UN. The NGOs act as the link between the UN and members on the ground through a two way communication.
4. Participants came to understand some of the workings of the UN system and the Human Rights Council in Geneva. They examined issues from a Human Rights perspective.  The Human Rights council in Geneva provides many avenues to defend and promote the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) holds governments accountable for their commitment to Human Rights. Shadow Reports by civil society organizations can point out human rights violations.  The Geneva Office can assist VIVAT members in preparing these reports.

ADVOCACY

“Advocacy is arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy. … (it)

occurs when individuals engage in dialogue about an issue they care about. It can occur in many forms.” California State University, Fullerton

“It is an action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others.” Alliance for Justice

It is “to take action for another” World Vision

 The participants saw the following as areas for further study and advocacy.

1. Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Discrimination is any exclusion, restriction or distinction based on gender that denies them their basic human rights. CEDAW provides appropriate measures for women to enjoy their rightful place and dignity in society. Several articles of the Convention can be highlighted and governments can be held accountable for their implementation.

2. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). We can work to enhance our networking and collaborating with the agency through JPIC promoters in Rome.

3. Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) and review on progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of their respective countries.

4. The rights of Dalits and domestic workers within the Constitution of India. Study the situation of other marginalized and excluded groups.

5. Human Rights education in our schools and other institutions.

ACTION PLAN

1. The participants, as members of VIVAT International, prioritized the following areas of JPIC work for advocacy and networking at the national level.
1. Human Rights of Domestic and Migrant Workers
2. The Rights of the Child
3. Food Security
4. The Constitutional Rights of Dalits
5. Mining and Displacement
2. The members from Sri Lanka chose to address issues according to their specific needs and situation.
3. The workshop participants recommended the creation of National VIVAT (National JPIC Council) to most effectively implement advocacy on the priority issues at local, national and international level.

STRUCTURE

The National VIVAT Team works under the guidance and approval of the Board of VIVAT International. It works in collaboration with the VIVAT Executive Team in New York. All other JPIC activities undertaken at the local/national level will continue as it is today.

CONCLUSION

As disciples of Christ we are engaged in building the kingdom of God through our efforts towards Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation. As we journey on our pilgrimage we realize the complex world of today requires appropriate structures and interventions to meet our goals. VIVAT International is one means to meet the present challenges. The Workshop at Indore helped us to realize the importance of networking, advocacy and lobbying at all levels through a coordinated effort by the members of VIVAT International.

28 participants attended VIVAT’s Workshop in Kinshasa, DRC

“I have seen the misery of my people… I have heard their cry…” (Ex. 3, 7) “I have come so that they may have life and that they may have it in abundance” (Jn. 10, 10).

The cry of life, the theme of justice and peace are found at the heart of the biblical message. The Church through its social teachings and its institutions unceasingly pleads in favour of the poor and marginalized. The Catholic church of the D.R. of Congo is always committed to promoting Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC). And, the bishops affirm: “For the love of my people I will not stop speaking.”

Faithful to the mission of the Church, prolonging our commitment at the side of the weak, we, members of VIVAT INTERNATIONAL, a Non-Governmental Organization of missionary Congregations, network for the respect of human life and the safekeeping of the environment through lobbying, sharing of information and  advocating with the instances where decisions are made, nationally as well as internationally.

Challenged by the diverse situations which dehumanize the human person and harm the environment, gift of God, in the central African and Great Lakes sub-region of Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we note:

• From the social perspective : the enlisting of child soldiers, children in conflict with the law or from broken families, unemployed youth, girl mothers, difficulty in accessing an education and health care, rape and female mutilation, lack of proper care of Indigenous Peoples;

• From the political perspective: corruption, lack of civic education, presence of the LRA, FDLR, Maï Maï, Mbororo, tracasseries, insecurity, impunity, inhuman incarceration, problems of refugees and displaced by war;.

• From the economic and environmental perspective: the plunder of natural  resources, pollution, insalubrity …

Conscious of the prophetic dimension of our missionary commitment, we, delegates of the Divine Word Society (SVD), of the Spiritains (CSSp – both the male and female Congregations), the Comboni (both MCCJ and CMS), the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), the Little Sisters of the Assumption (PSA) and the lay associates, met at a workshop from the 23^rd to the 29^th of October 2011 at the Spiritual Center “Peace on Earth” of Mbiti at Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, declare that we commit ourselves to:

1. Make VIVAT International know;
2. work, according to the spirit of VIVAT International, in collaboration with governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and all persons of good will;
3. raise the awareness of our respective communities about the harm caused to the environment due to human behaviour;
4. Promote the culture of life and peace through dialogue.

We write, in fine, that it is our wish to see the major superiors of our congregations support the birth of VIVAT International-DR-Congo.

Kinshasa, 29/19/2011

Flags at the United Nations

There is a Chinese Proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Today we might well ask: “Why are the fish not as plentiful as before?” or “Who controls fishing rights?” or even “Why are the fish dying?” We are confronted by the immediate needs of people who are hungry or marginalized. But in our globalized world we also need to address the root causes at the level of politics and unjust social structures.

Many problems facing the world in the last century have become increasingly difficult to solve within a nation itself. International treaties and international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, created to address these difficulties, are often perceived as being too centered on the interests of capitalist enterprises. Non Government Organizations (NGOs) have developed to counterbalance this trend and to highlight humanitarian issues, developmental aid and sustainable development when governments and international monitoring bodies such as the UN have been unable or unwilling to do so.

VIVAT was established as an NGO in the year 2000 by the Divine Word Missionaries and the Missionary Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit.  In his letter to the SVD and SSpS, Antonio Pernia,SVD said “We anticipate that this will give us the opportunity to witness at what Pope John Paul II has called ‘the new Areopagus’. … We believe that the humanitarian goals of the United Nations are very consistent with our own goals and that collaboration with the United Nations can be an important way of working for the kingdom.  It can also bring us into contact and allow us to collaborate with a large number of NGOs working for similar goals. … We have long-term presence with the poor and the marginalized in many parts of the world, a high level of education and an effective international network. Therefore we have the resources to bring the voice of the poor and marginalized to the decision-making levels of world bodies. To achieve this is the goal of VIVAT International.”

VIVAT is taken from the prayer “Vivat Deus unus et trinus…” which is common to both congregations.  “VIVAT” means “Let live.”  It can be “let the people live,” “let peace live,” “let justice live,” as well as “may God live among us and in our hearts.” The VIVAT logo depicts three persons embracing, welcoming and supporting one another while at the same time looking beyond their own circle to the larger outer world that is longing for unity and communion. The three olive shoots springing from the second letter of VIVAT stand for the hope and the transformation that VIVAT International envisages for the world.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to spend four weeks with the VIVAT executive team in New York.  Felix Jones SVD and Zelia Cordeiro SSpS welcomed me, organized a security pass for the UN complex and arranged that I could attend sessions of the Economic and Social Council and a number of other sessions and gatherings.  Prior to my coming I had thought of the UN mostly in terms of the General Assembly and the Security Council.  So it was an eye-opener for me to learn about so many other bodies within the UN framework, and particularly the way NGO’s such as VIVAT participate in this international forum as advocates for issues that affect people in developing countries. The reality of poverty and inequities, as perceived from communities and grassroots, is different from top-down views.

Felix Jones,Svd and Zelia Cordeiro,SSpS with intern in the VIVAT Office, NY

The executive team has a small office on the seventh floor of a tall building in Manhattan, New York; about ten minutes walk from the main UN compound. The office serves as a base for a variety of activities. A typical day might start with a short team briefing, attending to urgent correspondence, then a meeting with members of other NGOs concerned with one of the four principal concerns of VIVAT: respecting human rights, eradicating poverty, gender justice, and environmental issues.  Afterwards there are reports and the newsletter to prepare.  When UN Commissions are in session, such as the Commission for Social Development or the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Sustainable Development, or the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, there are many events to prepare for and attend.

Felix Jones resides in a parish close to the UN. Zelia  Cordeiro commutes from her community to Manhattan by bus and metro.  Whether in the office or out on different engagements they operate as a team.  I asked how they understand teamwork. One said that teamwork means making an effort to put the other person’s ideas into practice knowing that the other does their best to put your ideas into practice. Another said that teamwork is about pursuing a common goal in a positive way. With a common goal it doesn’t matter so much who does it, but that it is done.  So it is important to give the other the space and freedom to do their best.  It was an educational experience for me to witness those ideals being put into practice.

Zelia and Felix are involved in networking with groups and organisations at various levels. On the local level I witnessed how Zelia arranged for translators during a Civil Society Forum at the UN on Eradication of Poverty. She had contacted a number of language schools and received applications from thirteen young language teachers who were prepared to volunteer their time for the demanding task of simultaneous translation into English, Spanish and French.  At the end of the day they had done a fine job of communicating ideas in different languages, but also had themselves learned more about the situation of people in developing countries.

Participants in VIVAT workshop, Quito, October 2010

Workshops are another form of networking.  So far there have been VIVAT workshops in Italy, Brazil, Bolivia, Kenya, USA, and Ecuador. Workshops provide insight into the inner workings of the United Nations and its relation to VIVAT, and also allow members the opportunity to share and network with Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) coordinators, as well as with each other.  Workshops also help establish national VIVAT branches bringing new members into the ministry of advocacy and networking at the local level.

Networking with the grassroots means becoming involved in advocacy for people such as the Quilombo people in Brazil who are being forced off their land because of dam construction. Quilombos are Afro-Brazilian rural communities – descendents of runaway slaves. Having escaped from slavery, their ancestors formed independent settlements. The Quilombo population has been historically oppressed and marginalized, and proposed dam construction that would generate electricity for a company that produces and exports aluminium, will only further complicate life for them. Already over 230 families have been evicted from their land without any compensation due to the proposed dam construction. The displacement of these communities presents violations of human rights, as people’s lives are completely disrupted. Current VIVAT is taking up this issue with committees at the UN.

There are many other issues, for example, the East Flores Provincial Chapter of the Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit have raised the issue of water pollution and destruction of land due to mining in Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia. The environmental pollution affects people’s health, and the land destruction reduces people’s capacity for a sustainable livelihood. The sisters are proposing alternatives such as tourism and new forms of agriculture and fisheries.  Many other issues, some associated with the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations, or alternatives to military spending, come to the New York office through the VIVAT network, and the Executive Team and other members in New York try to raise these issues in appropriate forums at the UN.  It is a fascinating but difficult task.

Philip at UN, New York

Accompanying Zelia and Felix I noticed how they would attend meetings extending over several days, listening to the presentations from the representatives of different countries, and then take the time to wait for an opportunity to present a VIVAT perspective on the issue under discussion; or they would go and speak personally with government and UN representatives. They helped arrange for me to visit and talk with the UN Human Rights Advisor, and there was also a chance to interact with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many NGO groups.

VIVAT is not the executive team based in New York.  All SVD priests and brothers, and SSpS sisters, are part of VIVAT by virtue of membership in the founding Congregations. VIVAT is growing too as members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (CSSp) and Adorers of the Blood of Christ (ASC) are now full members of VIVAT, and Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ), Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary (MSHR), Comboni Missionary Sisters (CMS), Missionary Sisters of the Holy Spirit (Cssp) and Little Sisters of the Assumption (LSA) have become associate members. The executive team is now networking with 30,000 full and associate members in 130 countries of the world. Letters, emails and the quarterly newsletter are important means of communication. Members in the field can provide grassroots documentation and feedback to the executive team or to the recently established VIVAT office in Geneva. I had conversations about human rights via Skype on several occasions with Edward Flynn, CSSp the VIVAT representative in Geneva.

VIVAT is a special ministry and a prime opportunity for prophetic dialogue today. Like most areas of dialogue, immediate results are not readily apparent and it might take a number of years for benefits to appear. Perhaps what I learned most at VIVAT is the importance of faith, patience and bold humility.

By Philip Gibbs,SVD

Working Group on Mining and Mario Sepulveda

VIVAT International had the opportunity, alongside the Working Group on Mining, to meet with Mario Sepulveda.  He was one of the Chilean miners who endured the 69-day ordeal of being trapped underground. Beyond his joking nature, Mario surfaced from the mine as one of the leaders of the group who helped carry the 33 miners to survival through his humor and strong spirituality.

As we listened to Mario, he reflected significantly on the meaning of getting a second chance at life and feeling called to a clear commitment in the face of that, something he is currently expressing through his “Miners Miracle” funding work to rebuild houses for the Chilean earthquake victims.  He described how through his spiritual faith, it gave him the strength to survive the ordeal. He made a promise to God that when he was out of the mine, he would stay by his side to continue to serve him.  He related his experience with God in the mine by saying, “I was with God and with the devil.  They fought for me, and God won.”

The rescue of the 33 miners was a blessing and victory for miners everywhere, as many similar situations don’t have such a happy ending.  Miners from around the world should not have to worry about returning home after a day’s work due to the lack of safety protection in the mines.  Often, in the blind pursuit of profit, safety becomes a corner that is cut, and it is demonstrated over and over again with tragedies like what happened to Mario Sepulveda and his 32 fellow workers.

When we asked Mario about his views and plans for the reformation of the mining industry in regards to safety, he spoke out about whom to hold accountable. He looked toward the government and companies who have the responsibility of the implementation of laws that serve to protect the miners and the standards within their work.  Beyond the level of policy, an important role is the supervisors in the field.  They are the ones responsible for maintenance of the workspace to remain up to standard with regulations and laws of safety.  Since at the top level of the corporations focus is money, the supervisors need to be proactive in the implementation and remain adamant about the safety procedures necessary.

Through our meeting with Mario, we were able to understand the raw emotion and struggle of what a trapped miner went through and it further emphasizes the necessity of the rights that miners should have and the safety that needs to be implemented in the field of work.

WSF Space for Network and Social Mobilization

The World Social Forum (WSF) at Dakar in February was the third WSF and the second World Forum on Theology and Liberation (WFTL) that I took part in.  I suffered a certain uneasiness at Belem and Nairobi, but I inexplicably warmed to Dakar as if affected personally by the African sun.

At the WFTL in Nairobi the well-known, well-paid theologians arrived, deplaned, gave their speeches and left, virtually ignoring the WSF.  By contrast, the theologians took part in the WSF at Dakar, but suffered from its disorganization.

In Nairobi and in Belem government ministers were involved in financing the WSF, while we were protesting against the public and private institutions that control the economy. Meanwhile, the WSF itself has never given transparent accounts of its own finances. In Dakar, the government played games: at the last moment the WSF was denied the use of the promised university classrooms and was left homeless and barefoot like the poor whose voice it wants to be. The government was afraid that the university students would behave like their counterparts in Tunisia, or Egypt.

The University was the meeting place of the WSF at Dakar, and yet massive and peaceful presence of the young people was a surprise. Although the young people were demonstrating to obtain their constitutional right to be on the University Campus and the university employees were demanding the dismissal of their manager, there was never any physical or verbal violence, nor did even one police officer show up.

My key to understanding the whole event came unexpectedly, a word springing up like a spark from the fire-sticks of a Khoisan nomad [see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpPNgJu2GRY] that made me change my mind. This word is mouvance, a French word used by a Canadian theologian.  The meaning is that the WSF revealed a deep tidal wave, barely rippling the surface of the sea until it comes to shallow water.  It is perceived but not visualized, nor can it be analyzed, and yet it exists.  It is strong; it is growing; it changes even the course of fish in the depths, and when it comes to the surface it sweeps away everything in its path. The Dakar WSF seems to be a mouvance.

We find ourselves in a liminal moment of cultural history, a space and time in which the past has already been dissolved but the future hasn’t taken shape yet, even though some of its characteristics can be intuited. This mouvance is very significant for the political and economic life of society, and also for the WSF and the WFTL.

First of all, the WSF and the WFTL in Dakar manifested a major shift in orientation.  Even if the WSF takes place soon after the World Economic Forum, the dialogue or contrast is no longer between an economic event of powerful governments and a social celebration of the grassroots.  Certainly at the WSF economics are important and some aspects of globalization are criticized, but the focus is on an interpretation of current global political, social, economic and cultural matters.  The true future counterpart of the WSF is the “United Nations System” which was founded to be a “Family of Peoples” but has instead become a dreadful “Club of Governments”.  Today the WSF is unique as a free and democratic open space for civil society.

It is in this open space that, despite the Statutes of the WSF itself, will be forged the intermediary organizations between people and governments, between states and nations.  And there will be indicated the operational and daily plans for moulding a different World.

It’s remarkable that the FMTL experienced the same change.  The theme of the FMTL was no longer the Theology of Liberation, but Theology and Liberation. The dialectic movement is not found in the struggle against the structures of evil that dominate society and economics, but in the universal context that takes shape wherever you find human groups and churches. In India, the encounter between suffering and compassion speaks “God” and gives birth to the Theology of the Dalit.  In Africa the visceral religious dimension of life is faced with the violence of weapons and rape as tools of war while the theology that wants to free people speaks of reconciliation. At Dakar the theologians brought many examples of this new path, and the panels of the WSF proposed an abundance of creative initiatives, such as a world passport to abolish border posts and recognize people as citizens of the world, a meeting of the two African diasporas created by slavery and migration with the African nations to overcome the dichotomy between Africans and Afro descendants and the search for a new language, new categories and new actions that are inclusive.

And so my irreconcilable differences with the WSF and even with the WFTL became reconciled at Dakar. The various groups gathered in Nairobi and Belem reminded me of the story about a monk who left his community to found his own group.  His former abbot went to visit this monk and found him on a top of a hill talking to himself.  When the abbot asked “Why are you doing this?” the good monk answered: “It is more comfortable for me to listen to someone who thinks as I do.”

For me, in Dakar, a true mouvance occurred, that sprang up from the deep, from the bowels of the people and the earth. There they could begin to look for, and even to find the road towards unity and a global theology starting from the concrete experience of different people and moving ahead that speaks “God”.  The WSF and WFTL have morphed through the open door to the future where, with differences but without clashes, sincere people can hope to build and live in this possible, different and better world that we all continue to seek.

By John Paul Pezzi, MCCJ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQbUPjprwJY&feature=player_detailpage

Edward Flynn CSSp of the Geneva Office of VIVAT International follows the activities of the UN Human Rights Council, including the UPR process.  When a country in which VIVAT members are present has been reviewed, Edward will send us a short report with links to more complete information, such as the documents on which the Review is based and the draft conclusions adopted by the Human Rights Council.

What is the UPR process?  The information given in italics immediately below this paragraph is taken from the official information website of the UPR at http://www.upr-info.org/-UPR-Process-.html .  A more complete explanation of the UPR process is given at this same website as well as a video presenting the process.

“The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a new and unique human rights mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council aiming at improving the human rights situation on the ground of each of the 192 UN Member States.

“Under this mechanism, the human rights situation of all UN Member States is reviewed every 4 years (48 States are reviewed each year during three UPR sessions dedicated to 16 States each).

“The result of each review is reflected in an “outcome report” listing the recommendations made to the State under Review (SuR) including those that it accepted and which it will have to implement before the next review.

“The UPR is a full-circle process comprising 3 key stages:

“1) Review of the human rights situation of the State under Review [SuR].

“2) Implementation between two reviews (4 years) of the recommendations accepted and voluntary pledges and commitments by the SuR.

“3) Reporting at the next review on the implementation of those recommendations and pledges and on the human rights situation in the country since the previous review.”

Edward says that the recommendations that are made during the review process are an area where NGOs can make a valid contribution:  “The country in question (or State under Review SuR) is being asked by other countries to make changes regarding the exercise of Human Rights within their territory. Hence, the recommendations are very important in relation to any future action or developments regarding Human Rights within a country.  Those recommendations that are accepted will be implemented by the SuR.  That is the promise.  NGOs can also take these recommendations into their future plans.  They can continue to lobby their government in relation to those recommendations that have been accepted.  They can also continue to campaign about those recommendations that have not received the support of the country concerned.”

AUSTRALIA |  AUSTRIA |  SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS |  NAMIBIA

The Commission on Social Development meets annually at the UN Headquarters in New York to bring together states, civil society, and others to assess global themes in social development worldwide. The priority theme of the 49th Session of the CSocD being held in February is “Poverty Eradication”he Commission for Social Development (CSocD) focusing on “poverty eradication”. VIVAT International has submitted a written statement  Poverty and Culture for the 2011 UN Commission on Social Development (CSocD 49). Philip Gibbs, SVD is participating in the Commission and was the speaker for a side event entitled “Voices from the Grassroots”. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) focusing on “Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work”, will take place during the month of March. Petra Bigge, SSpS will be participating in the CSW, which begins next week.

"Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice; and let the oppressed go free." Isaiah 58:6

College of the Holy Spirit of Manila has been an advocate of Human Rights for many decades now and this annual observance of the International Human Rights Day is a concrete manifestation of such commitment.  This year’s theme, “Speak Up – Stop Discrimination” centered on non- discrimination as “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity,” as stated in the UDHR. The Community Involvement and Human Rights Month is celebrated every December to reaffirm the school’s commitment to human rights and justice.

An exhibit on the present human rights situation was mounted from December 9-11 to raise the CHSians’ social awareness, and impel them to action. On December 10 at 4:00 pm during the global observance of the Human Rights Day, CHSians gathered for an afternoon of reflection and prayer. There were testimonies on the people’s continuing struggle for human rights given by Dr. Edita Burgos, Chairperson of Desaparecidos and mother of Jonas Burgos, one of the victims of enforced disappearance, Mrs. Ofel Balleta, mother of Jane, one of the “Morong 43” and Mr. Alwyn Alburo, Vice Chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and Senior Desk Editor of GMA News and Public Affairs.  It was followed by a Eucharistic celebration with Rev. Fr. Joey Evangelista, MJ as the Presider. Inspired by the gospel of Luke, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord!,” his homily centered on the present human rights situation in the Philippines and the call for Christians to be the prophets of today—ordinary vigilant people who courageously respond to the cries of the world for compassion, justice and freedom.

As a closing rite, a candle lighting ceremony was done to pay tribute to the martyrs and human rights defenders who selflessly offered their lives for the cause of justice and human rights. The participants left with a hopeful prayer that the Lord of Advent will lead them through until the oppression and exploitation of the struggling masses and God’s Anawim will be put to an end.