The State of the Land

For several years now I have been walking with a young couple through their struggle against a Canadian mining company in Mexico and their flight to Canada as a result. The documentary attached here was prepared by a young Montreal filmaker. Enrique has an unusual story as a refugee in Canada fleeing a Canadian mining company. You will find it on the internet here.

(The photo is of Enrique, with a band of activists from several countries officially "opening" a gold mine on Mount Royal in the heart of Montreal.  It drew quit a bit of attention to the struggle)

Speech by Peter Monk, President of Barrick Gold

For several years now I have been following the growing movement against the activity of Canadian mining companies. Mostly I have focused on their presence in Latin America, but not exclusively.  I invite you to listen to a speech given by Peter Monk, founder of Barrick Gold at the last stockholders meeting. The speech is accompanied by photos that illustrate another side of his statements -- in this sense it is not neutral. It will be for you to decide.

However, I can also say that I have visited mines in several areas, especially of Latin America, and read a lot of documentation as well as listening to representatives of local communities in a wide range of areas. What the pictures show, as far as I can tell, is authentic.

(I should add that Barrick Gold is suing the authors and the publishing house of Noir Canada, a study of the operation of Canadian mining particularly in Africa. They want 5 million dollars in damages. The case will go before the Supreme Court of Canada, with the authors arguing that this is a case of an unjustified attempt to muzzle opposition, a case of a SLAPP suite designed only to intimidate people from speaking out.)

Here is the reference for the VIDEO: PETER MONK

Tatic Samuel Ruiz

Samuel Ruiz falleció en la Ciudad de México el 22 de enero. Es una perdida para Chiapas, para la Iglesia de los pobres, para el mundo indígena, para la teología de liberación.
Tuve tres ocasiones para encontraro: en mi primera visita a Chiapas (1979) en la cual conocí el labor extraordinario que se  hizo en Chiapas; otra vez hacia 1998 cuando acompañé una delegación canadiense para mostrar nuestra solidaridad; y otra vez en algún momento de los 2000 cuando lo encontré en la Ciudad de México donde vivió después de pasar la responsabilidad para la diócesis a otros. (Sin embargo mantuvo su presidencia del Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas para los derechos humanos.) Estuvo todavía bien aún con problemas de salud.

Estoy de duelo. Sin embargo siento que su presencia seguirá siendo muy fuerte y no sólo en Chiapas. ¡Que él nos acompañe en el camino hacia ese otro mundo posible"!

Para saber un poco más sobre su vida y muerte,vea por ahora el artículo en El Pais.

The Failure of Peace: War

This is a little piece I wrote for a publication of the Montreal Archdiocese a while back. It was meant to introduce people to the Compendium mentioned below.

    On Holy Thursday, 1963, Pope John XXIII published a letter to the world entitled Peace on Earth.  It marked the first official declaration of the Roman Catholic Church supporting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the peace building efforts of the United Nations. In it he declared that “it no longer makes sense to maintain that war is a fit instrument with which to repair the violation of justice” (PT, 127).   The Secretary General of the United Nations organized a major international conference to study the document.   Two years later, in October of 1965, his successor, Paul VI visited the United Nations. This was one of the first international voyages of a Pope in over a century. His address to the General Assembly of the United Nations concluded with a cry that echoed around the world: “never again some peoples against others, never again! ... no more war, no more war!” 

Religious Diversity and the Danger of Catholic Integralism

This is a conference I gave some time ago at the Canadian Ecumenical Centre in Montreal.

    We are faced today with the most profound crisis since the rise of civilization
7,000 years ago.  The planet, our shared home, is being ravaged by human presence to the extent that the result may be the near extinction of humanity. In addition, the race to get control of natural resources is driving humanity more and more toward extensive economic, cultural and social exclusions often through the use of violence.
     The underlying source of the destruction lies in attitudes that have shaped public policy and economic activity. Thus the question of values and of motivation is crucial to any solution.

          The great world religions propose to humanity a way to live on this planet that will give meaning to life and assure a path through suffering toward fullness of life. The traditional Christian formulation of this finds its home in the theology of salvation, which is understood to include also our responsibility as faithful disciples to collaborate with God in ensuring earthly conditions that correspond to God’s will for us and for creation.

Señor de la Esperanza

Renato, un amigo peruano, me hizo conocer este video del grupo Siembra candando una canción comusionado por mi parroquia cuando yo estuve allí en los años 80.  Me conmueve encontrarlo en el internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOYO4kj4hW0&feature=related

Allí tambien se encuentre otros videos del mismo grupo, tan conocido desde más de 30 años en el Perú comprometido.

Recent Trends in Liberation Theology: Pluralism and Eco-theology

   I don't think I posted this before. It is a talk I gave at the 2009 Call to Action Conference in Milwaukee. It announces some topics that will be central to a workshop at the World Forum on Liberation Theology next month in Dakar, Senegal. It also relates quite nicely with the topics discussed in the preceding blog on evolutionary theology, which I am currently trying, slowly, to digest.  
   The title of the workshop, “Recent Trends in Liberation Theology” is vast.  I will speak mainly of some trends emanating from the Latin American Theological Commission of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) with whom I have most contact. I realize that, in doing so I am cutting a narrow slice of all that is going on: EATWOT has also an active Women’s Commission. It is organized internationally to include Africa, Asia and also minorities in the USA. Moreover EATWOT is not the only association of Liberation Theologians.  There is also the important work of Amerindia, a group that has contributed enormously to shaping the thinking of the Latin American Catholic Church. I repeat that I will speak only of two threads in one commission of this ecumenical association. Nevertheless those two threads already provide more than enough material for the time we have together.