Everyday Justice magazine
A monthly series of in-depth, curated articles exploring Mercy's Critical Concerns and their intersection with current events and the work of justice.
May 2025
Articles from Mercy:
- A letter to Pope Francis (Ana Siufi, RSM; Institute Justice Team)
- Critical Considerations: Is this really an emergency? (Karen Donahue, RSM)
- Trump’s attacks on women (Br Ryan W Roberts, OLF; Institute Justice Team)
Local Justice News & Upcoming Mercy Events:
Justice Resources & Links
A letter to Pope Francis
Ana Siufi, RSM; Institute Justice Team
A friend of mine, who is not very sympathetic to the Church, wrote to me this Easter Monday, “Today we are a little more alone in our search for justice.”
Francis you have departed, but as a simple and humble Latin American man who will be remembered by many with affection and gratitude. But for others, you were undesirable as pope for being an ecclesiastic reformer and for being critical of the market system and the business of war.
I don’t have much to add to all that has been said about your life, and in any case your encyclicals will continue to proclaim the Gospel with your voice. But I want to thank you for doing your best to thaw Vatican II so that the Church can be more transparent, poor, inclusive, defender of the impoverished, indigenous, migrants…, respectful of diversity, caring for Mother Earth, less clerical, and more synodal.
Thank you for seeking a more just world and for warning us about the dehumanization and desensitization that prevent us from feeling the pain of others and acting to restore their rights to the many who have been discarded by a system that kills.
Thank you for denouncing the business of wars, the extractivism that is devastating to ecosystems, and the enduring colonialism. Thank you for building channels of dialogue and peace, and for sowing hope, although you did not see much of a harvest.
Thank you for being so Argentine: a lover of soccer, mate, tango, literature, humor, coffee chats, for walking the streets as one of us, for the devotion to Mary.
Francis, rest in love and pray for us, who are called to continue this long journey of transformation of the Church and the world with courage and compassion. I embrace you from your land of Argentina.
Critical Considerations
Is this really an emergency?
Karen Donahue, RSM
Since taking office in January 2025, Donald Trump has issued eight emergency declarations, bringing the total for his entire presidency (including his first term) to twenty-one. By comparison, George W. Bush issued only sixteen during his eight years in office. These declarations have been issued to justify a number of policies including militarizing our southern border, expanding drilling for fossil fuels and logging on public lands, and imposing tariffs.
In 1976, Congress enacted the National Emergencies Act, legislation that gives the president power to act in sudden, unforeseen crises where the normal legislative process does not provide the speed and/or flexibility circumstances demand. As a protection against presidential overreach, the bill also gave Congress the power to rescind an emergency declaration by a simple majority vote, also known as a legislative vote.
However, in 1983 the Supreme Court ruled that a legislative vote was unconstitutional, thus making it harder for Congress to challenge a presidential emergency declaration. Now, if Congress wants to end a state of emergency it must pass legislation with enough votes to overcome a presidential veto.
There is the real danger that a president could use an emergency declaration to circumvent Congress in an effort to achieve her/his policy goals. For example, during his first term, Donald Trump declared an emergency at the US/Mexico border after Congress failed to appropriate funding for his border wall. Similarly, he is using an emergency declaration (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) to impose his tariff scheme. This act can be invoked when the US faces an unusual and extraordinary threat to its national security, foreign policy or economy. US trade relationships, many of long duration or with small countries, hardly meet this standard.
Fearing a presidential power grab, the Founders constructed a complex system of checks and balances. These checks and balances are under severe strain today as the executive branch usurps greater power and Congress seems to be incapable of exercising its constitutional prerogatives.
Trump’s attacks on women
Br Ryan W Roberts, OLF; Institute Justice Team
Among the many alarming attacks the Trump administration is making against a wide variety of identity categories, one that isn’t receiving as much focus is the coordinated assault on women. One attack is the systematic removal of support for survivors of sexual assault, a group not exclusively but primarily composed of women.
By placing abusers and harassers in positions of power, President Trump creates an environment hostile to women and amenable to control through gender-based violence. Grants and studies are being canceled, data is being removed from publicly accessible spaces, and programs to educate about and reduce sexual violence are being abandoned. Canceling DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, of which women are significant beneficiaries, reduce the resources that empower women’s independence and makes them more vulnerable to all kinds of injustice. False claims that immigrants drive sexual violence perpetuate unnecessary fear and distract from the truth that most survivors knew their attackers.
In many ways, the U.S. government has become an abuser who revictimizes survivors and emboldens those who would choose to harm women. The National Women’s Law Center has summarized some of the ways the Trump administration has jeopardized resources that protect women and support survivors. The article contains links to a number of supporting materials. Women deserve better, and awareness is an important tool in Mercy’s work on the Critical Concern for Women.
Article Archive
2025
May
Critical Considerations:
April
Critical Considerations:
Water extractivism in Palestine
March
Critical Considerations:
Who benefits from tax cuts? Who pays?
NETWORK webinar on U.S. federal policy
February
National declaration of emergency in Bajo Aguán
Critical Considerations:
Has the United States declared war on immigrants?
January
If you make a mess, clean it up! (Advocacy success in NY)
Youth claim climate victory in Montana court
Critical Considerations:
(click years to expand)
2024
December
Critical Considerations:
Is the United States becoming a plutocracy?
November
Critical Considerations:
What happened on November 5, 2024?
October
Overturning the Chevron deference
Critical Considerations:
Who are the Israeli settlers and what motivates them?
Assassination of Honduran water protector deeply grieves Sisters of Mercy
September
God walks with his people: National Migration Week September 23–29
Critical Considerations:
What does CEO compensation say about corporate priorities?
Anxiety – election season can heighten it!
August
Critical Considerations:
What is Project 2025 all about?
Working to stop weapon exports to Haiti
Participating in Elections, part 2
July
Critical Considerations:
Is there a better way to spend $91 billion?
Education, Agriculture, & Emigration in the Philippines
Participating in Elections, part 1
June
Critical Considerations:
Are we creating a prison-industrial complex?
Mercy student videos address the Critical Concerns
May
Critical Considerations:
Degrowth is the only sane survival plan
Argentina and the government of hate
Listening to a chorus of voices
April
Critical Considerations:
An Israeli Jesuit reflects on war in the Holy Land
Advocacy Success! Expanded Background Checks for Gun Sales
March
Military spending and national (in)security
February
The challenge Gaza war presents for American Jews
January
Gaza war threatens credibility of West’s commitment to human rights and the rule of law
2023
December
Climate Summit fails to adequately respond to gravity of climate crisis
November
Critical Considerations:
The dangers of conflating Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism
Red flag laws in jeopardy: faith voices speak to save them
October
Jewish and Palestinian perspectives on Gaza crisis
September
U.S. China tensions impact efforts to address climate change
August
When Good Economic Policy Isn’t Enough
July
States Move to Weaken Protections for Child Workers
June
Corporate Lobbyists at Climate Talks
May
Electric Vehicle Transition Challenges
April
Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery
March
February
The Rise of Christian Nationalism
January
2022
December
How Corporations Took Over the Government
November
The Independent State Legislature Theory Explained
October
Local Justice News & Upcoming Events
Check back soon!
Justice Resources & Links
Mercy Justice Resource Pages
- Resources for Immigrants
- Advocacy Amplified! (Mercy Justice Videos on advocacy tools)
- Mercy Walks with Migrants (interviews with Mercy sisters on immigration work)
- Mercy Tips to Care for the Earth