Pontiff: Time Has Come to Eliminate Hunger Addresses U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization "All forms of discrimination, and particularly those that thwart agricultural development, must be rejected since they constitute a violation of the basic right of every person to be 'free from hunger.' These convictions are in fact demanded by the very nature of your work on behalf of the common good of humanity," said the Pontiff. Zenit 11/22/2007

U. S Bishops urge congress to make changes to “Material Support” statute affecting refugee and asylum seekers
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) urged members of Congress to correct the unintended consequences of recent changes in immigration law language relating to the issue of “material support.” “Congress should revise these definitions to exclude groups that are no threat to the United States and do not meet the criteria for designation as foreign terrorist organizations,” Bishop Wenski said. USCCB 09/21/2007

U.S. Bishops Make A Call To Halt Human Trafficking, Urge Congress To Reauthorize Trafficking Victims Protection Act
Calling human trafficking a “horrific crime against the basic human dignity and rights of the human person,” Bishop Barnes, speaking on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged Congress to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which is set to expire in October. USCCB 09/12/07

Catholic Church Leaders Urge Senate To Increase Funding For Development, Humanitarian Needs Abroad
The U.S. Senate must offer “active support for essential funding for urgent humanitarian and development activities” for the most vulnerable people around the world, said Bishop Thomas Wenski, chair of the bishops’ International Policy Committee, and Ken Hackett, president of Catholic Relief Services, the bishops overseas relief organization. 09/06/2007

Vatican official: Ugandan thugs must stop forcing children to fight Warring thugs must stop forcing children to fight for them, and the international community must make more serious efforts to fund programs to help former child soldiers rejoin civil society, said the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. 08/06/2007

Pontiff Wants Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy Benedict XVI urged nuclear disarmament, suggesting that resources thus saved could be used to help the poor. The Pope asked that "scientific and technological knowledge be used with a sense of responsibility and for the common good, in complete respect for international law." 07/29/2007

Iraqi Refugee Plight Dire, Especially For Children, Bishops Tell Secretary Rice; Urge More Resettlement Aid
“It was clear that the countries we visited are in dire need of additional support from the United States and the international community in order to provide safe haven to the almost two million Iraqi refugees in the region,” they said. “Without a heightened commitment from our nation and others, we are fearful that these countries will no longer welcome and protect these refugees, particularly if the security situation in Iraq deteriorates and more Iraqis flee their homes.” 07/27/2007

ERADICATION OF POVERTY IS A MORAL COMMITMENT In his English-language talk, which he delivered on July 4, Archbishop Tomasi made it clear that "the continued effort to address the plight of people trapped in poverty and to search for new ways and means to free them from its destructive consequences remains essential if the international community wants to achieve truly integral human development." 07/14/2007

U.S. bishops back trust fund for affordable housing
The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 will establish a National Housing Trust Fund, a dedicated source of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. At least 75 percent of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30 percent of an area's median income. 07/13/2007