Racism Archives - Sisters of Mercy

October 2026

Articles from Mercy:

Critical Considerations: How much is too much? (Karen Donahue, RSM)
USCCB economic letter still guides voters (Rose Marie Tresp, RSM; Institute Justice Team)
MELF cohort closes by sharing gifts in Dublin (Angie Howard-McParland; Institute Justice Team)

Local Justice News & Upcoming Mercy Events

Justice Resources & Links

Resource pages
Photo Galleries
Spirituality Integration Resource for Justice

Critical Considerations

How much is too much?

Karen Donahue, RSM

Even though the federal government’s fiscal year (FY) 2027 began earlier this month, budget negotiations are still underway. However, the administration’s request for $1.5 trillion (1,500 billion) to fund the Pentagon is unprecedented. This sum represents an increase of almost 50% over the FY26 military budget.

Two recent articles shed light on the military budget and raise serious questions about the nation’s priorities. In a series of three charts, the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies shows how the military budget accounts for almost 70% of the federal discretionary budget (funding directly under congressional control). By comparison, only 3.6% goes to education and 5.2% to housing and community development.

Looking at the military budget itself, more than half (52.2%) is allocated for development and purchase of weapons. Only 14% is spent on the troops in the form of pay, benefits and military family housing. The third chart examines where these additional funds ($441 billion) will be appropriated. More than $300 billion will be spent on weapons development and procurement.

A second article posted on the TomDispatch website, looks at the Pentagon’s shadow budget. These are military expenditures buried in the budgets of other government departments and agencies. For example, funding for nuclear weapons is included in the budget for the Department of Energy even though the Department of Defense controls and deploys these weapons.

In this article, political anthropologist, author and retired American University professor David Vine observes that including these military expenditures now outside the formal Department of Defense budget would bring total military spending in FY27 to well over $2 trillion. While these numbers boggle the mind, Vine reminds us that “every single dollar spent on the Pentagon is a dollar not spent on our children, on healthcare, on affordable housing, on efforts to slow catastrophic climate change, and much more.”

He reminds us that “the public needs a full, accurate accounting of the military. Congress could provide an annual True Total Military Budget that tallies all of the Pentagon’s spending in one place and stop hiding funding in other agencies’ budgets. Until this happens, journalists and analysts can help by explaining the full scale of spending and no longer repeating incomplete totals.”

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USCCB economic letter still guides voters

Priorities for voters in guiding economic choices by Catholic Social Teaching on the 40th anniversary of the pastoral letter, “Economic Justice For All”

Rose Marie Tresp, RSM; Institute Justice Team

As we prepare to vote in the midterm elections, uncertainty and fear about work and the dignity of workers are prevalent, especially with the increasing use of artificial intelligence in the workplace. Our economic future as individuals and families seems uncertain with the increasing level of inequality in the United States and the world. The wealth gap today is higher than it was in the 1920s prior to the Great Depression.

Forty years ago, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a pastoral letter titled “Economic Justice for All” (EJA). This letter gives us norms and guidance:

The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich; the rights of workers over the maximization of profits; the preservation of the environment over uncontrolled industrial expansion; production to meet social needs over production for military purposes. (EJA paragraph 94)

Many Catholics probably don’t ever remember hearing these words. But these were spoken by Saint John Paul II during his visit to Canada in 1984 and repeated in the USCCB’s pastoral letter two years later.

The bishops’ pastoral letter provides some guidance for citizens today as we prepare to go to the polls. This guidance leaves to each person the responsibility of judging who and what to vote for while understanding that no politician and no laws or regulations perfectly fit these criteria.

In the words of the pastoral letter,

the pursuit of economic justice takes believers into the public arena, testing the policies of government by the principles of our teaching. We ask you to become more informed and active citizens, using your voices and votes to speak for the voiceless, to defend the poor and the vulnerable, and to advance the common good. We are called to shape a constituency of conscience measuring every policy by how it touches the least, the lost, and the left-out among us. This letter calls us to conversion and common action, to new forms of stewardship, service, and citizenship. (EJA paragraph 27)

In 2026, the USCCB again reiterates support for the norms and guidance in this document written 40 years ago. The principles of economic justice articulated by the bishops in 1986 remain just as relevant and necessary today amid persistent poverty, growing inequality, revolutionary technological changes, and the marginalization of many people and communities.

Practically, what does the USCCB support? In brief, when deciding who to vote for, citizens are invited to consider supporting a wide range of issues that could build a just economy. The USCCB names issues and problems that people of faith should recognize and take into account when entering the polling station: “food security and hunger, work and joblessness, homelessness and affordable housing, and tax credits for low-income families, as well as protecting programs that serve poor and vulnerable people throughout the federal budget.”

A summary resource has been published for the fortieth anniversary of Economic Justice for All.

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MELF cohort closes by sharing gifts in Dublin

Angie Howard-McParland; Institute Justice Team

The close of summer this year also marked the end of my year-long journey with the Mercy Emerging Leaders Fellowship (MELF) as we presented our final projects and graduated at the house on Baggot Street in Dublin, Ireland. Even as I continue to reflect and discern how I can best share the gifts I received, I know that no articles or webinars will quite capture the grace of this experience. But anyone who has been able to connect with the broader Mercy world across international borders and cultures knows that it changes your work and ministry going forward with new perspectives and appreciation.

First-day project presenters in Catherine’s office: Angie Howard-McParland of the Mercy Justice Team in the Americas; Pamela McLoughlin, Mercy College Coolock in Dublin; and Tatiana Diaz, Gwynedd Mercy University.

I was a member of the fifth MELF cohort, following in the footsteps of dozens of other Mercy women from around the globe. Last fall, the nine of us from Colombia, Guyana, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, the Philippines, Tonga, and the United States met for the first time in-person in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where we witnessed Mercy in action at the heart of war, peace, and reconciliation. In March, we reconvened at the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, learning from Cecilie Kern and the work of Mercy at the UN. Finally, we concluded our time together in Dublin, presenting our unique justice projects from our own contexts, reflecting on the future of Mercy where it all began in Coolock and on Baggot Street, and resolving for this to be the beginning of more collaboration across the Mercy world.

Our projects ranged from creative leadership development in the Philippines to support of women and children in New Zealand to environmental education in Kenya and more. Every single fellow focused her efforts on a vulnerable population such as immigrants, elders, or youth, and, in the spirit of Catherine McAuley, worked in the local context to pull levers of influence and power to offer care and compassion. I was honored to present the work of the Mercy Justice Team in this current iteration of politics in the United States, illustrating the ways our sisters, associates, and ministries truly live out Mercy values and the Critical Concerns at this point in history.

MELF Cohort 5 fellows with MIA staff at graduation in the classroom at Baggot Street.

More than anything else, this experience has strengthened my resolve to make the extra effort to connect across institutes and time zones. It is an immense gift to be part of the Mercy world and the way it adapts and serves in localities far from the red door in Dublin. While our justice work necessarily looks different around the world, the grounding in Mercy values and the commitment to making the world better today than yesterday connects us to the ministry and to one another. We all have something to learn from one another to continue Catherine’s vision and, in a world in dire need of justice and mercy, we also have a responsibility to offer it wherever we are.

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Article Archive

2026

October

Critical Considerations:

How much is too much?

USCCB economic letter still guides voters

MELF cohort closes by sharing gifts in Dublin

September

Critical Considerations:

Will my vote count?

Nonviolent civil resistance and the 3½%

My life as a sister and Justice Team member

August

Critical Considerations:

Moral courage or moral cowardice?

Every action counts!

A day in the life: a sister on the Mercy Justice Team

July

Critical Considerations:

Are contradictions determining U.S. elections?

Ecumenical Advocacy Days as a first timer

June

Critical Considerations:

What does habeas corpus have to do with immigration?

Nutrition assistance and the Farm Bill

Guns, Pride, Juneteenth, and the Emanuel 9

May

Critical Considerations:

Has Eisenhower’s worst nightmare come true?

The nonviolent struggle in Peru (español)

Participation in democracy

Report on global fossil fuel transition conference

Catholic high school visits Casa Misericordia and Sister Mary Waskowiak

April

The dangers of ending TPS for Haiti

Santa Marta conference on fossil fuel transition

Voting: How we know voter fraud in the U.S. is very rare

U.N. Commission on the Status of Women

“What? and “Now what?”

March

Voting: Threats to this fundamental right in democracies

Nurturing Justice and Living Faith

Permitting reform and extractivism

High School student’s reflection on advocacy immersion in Washington, D.C.

February

Critical Considerations:

We have a choice: oligarchy or democracy?

Critical Concerns in Focus: Immigration (español)

Names and naming make a difference in perceptions of reality

Reflections on Honduras

January

Critical Considerations:

Is history repeating itself in Venezuela?

U.S. withdraws from UNFCCC

(click years to expand)

2025

December

The Catholic Church responds to the threat of authoritarianism

Post—COP 30 report

Critical Considerations:

The United States: global citizen or global pariah?

November

Critical Considerations:

NSPM-7: Countering or perpetrating political violence?

Advocating on harms of extractive industries

Argentina y el avance del colonialismo / Argentina and the advance of colonialism

Countering misinformation

October

Critical Considerations:

Is it time to reform the Insurrection Act?

COP 30 in the Amazon & Raising Hope in Rome

The dangers of falsely linking Tylenol to autism

September

Mercy sisters call for urgent defense of immigrants

Social extractivism

Critical Considerations:

What is Posse Comitatus all about?

Everyday pilgrimages: the Earth is the Lord’s

August

Critical Considerations:

Are we doomed to a perpetual nuclear arms race?

Love and care of creation in local ecologies

Church document ahead of COP30

July

Critical Considerations:

What’s at stake in Israel’s destruction of Gaza?

Have you heard of Black August?

DEI—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Mercy Life Gathering in Panama

June

Vampires, Sharecropping, and the Real History of Juneteenth

Protecting Children and Vulnerable Adults from Abuse in the Philippines

Critical Considerations:

What’s really driving border enforcement?

May

A letter to Pope Francis

Critical Considerations:

Is this really an emergency?

Trump’s attacks on women

April

The cultural battle advances

Critical Considerations:

What’s going on with tariffs?

Water extractivism in Palestine

March

Hope for Panama in truth

Deportation stigma in Jamaica

Critical Considerations:

Who benefits from tax cuts? Who pays?

April is SWANA Heritage Month

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?

What energy emergency?

January

If you make a mess, clean it up! (Advocacy success in NY)

Youth claim climate victory in Montana court

Critical Considerations:

Was January 1, 2025 a wake-up call?

2024

December

Gender and climate justice

Critical Considerations:

Is the United States becoming a plutocracy?

Making nuclear weapons taboo

November

Critical Considerations:

What happened on November 5, 2024?

The Ecological Debt

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

Beyond Voting:

Participating in Elections, part 2

July

Critical Considerations:

Is there a better way to spend $91 billion?

Education, Agriculture, & Emigration in the Philippines

Beyond Voting:

Participating in Elections, part 1

June

Critical Considerations:

Are we creating a prison-industrial complex?

Conscience

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

Misrepresenting War

February

The Rise of Christian Nationalism

January

How the News is Reported Affects What We Know

2022

December

How Corporations Took Over the Government

November

The Independent State Legislature Theory Explained

October

The Next Phase in the Voting Wars

Email the team

Mercy Justice Team

Email the team

Team Members

Marianne Comfort

Director

Sr. Sue Gallagher, RSM

Program Coordinator

Angie Howard-McParland

Program Coordinator

John Charles McAllister-Ashley

Program Support & Operations Specialist

Mike Poulin

State Advocacy & Program Manager

Br. Ryan W. Roberts, OLF

Data & Knowledge Coordinator

Jean Stokan

Federal Advocacy Coordinator:

Immigration & Nonviolence

Sr. Rose Marie Tresp, RSM

Program Coordinator

(vacant)

Federal Advocacy Coordinator:

Anti-racism, Earth, & Women

(vacant)

Communications Coordinator

Local Justice News & Upcoming Events

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Justice Resources & Links

Mercy Justice Resource Pages

Photo Galleries

Spirituality Integration Resource for Justice (SIRJ)

Nurturing Justice and Living Faith / Fomentar la justicia y la fe viva

Women / Mujeres
Other Critical Concern-focused documents are planned but not yet completed

LCWR 100 Days of Prayer, Fasting, & Advocacy

Labor Day 2025 (Español) (01 September 2025)
Black Friday 2025 (Español) (28 November 2025)
Michaelmas 2026 (Español) (29 September 2026)

Peace & Justice Calendars

View the current month’s Mercy Peace & Justice Calendar on our website.

Download Past Calendars

2026

2025

These are some of the ways in which the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas will more fully live Laudato Si’ in 2026. To see the fourth year action plan click here.

Responding to the Cry of the Earth

The Department of Climate and Sustainability commits to:

Groundbreaking for the solar project in Belmont, NC.

• Estimate 2025 carbon emissions from utilities (e.g., electricity, gas) and vehicle usage throughout the Institute and compare to 2024 emissions to determine the impact of energy efficiency initiatives implemented over the past year;

• Finalize the development of a Sustainability Dashboard to assess, monitor, and effectively communicate the implementation of sustainability initiatives at major properties throughout the Institute;

• Complete construction of the Belmont, NC, solar array project;

• Finalize details of a strategy to stabilize the shoreline and prevent future erosion from coastal storms and sea-level rise at the Mercy by the Sea Spiritual Retreat and Conference Center; and

• Continue engaging in research that fosters awareness of potential environmental and social justice concerns related to plastic/paper consumption alternatives, renewable energy, and fuel-efficient vehicles. A dynamic webpage or app will be developed to share the results of this research within and external to the Sisters of Mercy.

Mercy Volunteer Corps will continue to partner with Mercy Ecology/Mercy Ecospirituality Center with hopes to place four volunteers in a short-term summer opportunity focused on care of the land and animals and sustainability practices.

Responding to the Cry of the Poor

The Justice Team will launch its extractivism map to showcase examples of Mercy sisters, associates and co-workers educating about, advocating on and resisting extractivism projects around the world.

Mercy Volunteer Corps will:

• add a short-term placement at ARISE Adelante, a ministry that focuses on women’s empowerment, immigration and the environment in the Rio Grande Valley near the Texas-Mexico border.

• continue its partnership with Sanctuary Farm Philadelphia by offering a yearlong volunteer placement opportunity focused on supporting healthy communities in an economically deprived neighborhood and healing through a relationship with the Earth.

Mercy Investment Services will expand and deepen the integration of environmental, social and governance investment strategies by:

• actively allocating capital to address diversity gaps amongst decision-makers and financial access within the Inclusive Opportunities Fund;

• continuing to expand the emerging managers program supporting firms being shut out of traditional capital markets and overlooked by mainstream investors;

• discouraging companies from being involved in activities that identify and exclude immigrants from full participation in society; and

• deepening Mercy Partnership Fund’s continued dedication to racial and gender equity as well as those investment strategies that emphasize international opportunities.

Staff and volunteers at ARISE Adelante in McAllen, TX.

Ecological Economics

Mercy Investment Services will:

• Continue to ground our investment actions in seeking prophetic change in climate action and solutions;

• Partner with other investors to engage corporations on water stewardship, greenhouse gas emissions, plastics use, biodiversity and other important issues; and

• Speak out against regulatory and legislative changes that negatively impact creation.

Sustainable Lifestyles

The Department of Climate and Sustainability will:

• visit sisters and staff at various locations throughout the Institute to discuss concerns related to climate and sustainability as well as ongoing projects and also to continue to serve as a resource for Mercy ministries and other religious congregations around more sustainable lifestyles.

• continue providing articles on sustainability topics to the Mercy Tips to Care for Earth, with the Justice Team and Communications Department, and to the Mercy schools’ newsletter on a monthly basis.

Mercy Volunteer Corps will:

• Collect utility usage data for volunteer residences located throughout the United States and investigate renewable energy options.

• Invite the Institute Justice Team and Climate and Sustainability Director to volunteer formation retreats to promote awareness about current work and to motivate/empower for personal lifestyle changes.

• Include monthly “Care for Creation” reflections (offered by the Cincinnati Mercy Community) as a regular resource in our monthly newsletter.

Ecological Education

Mercy Education, building on progress made in 2025, will continue to deepen our ministry’s commitment to ecological awareness and sustainable practices in these ways:

• Continue publishing the monthly column in our Flash newsletter, sharing practical sustainability insights to help schools put Mercy values into environmental action;

• Issue a special edition of Mercy Impact to spotlight major sustainability projects across its network, celebrating how Mercy schools are leading by example in caring for our common home;

• Explore and implement alternatives to traditional lanyards for events, since they cannot be reused for sanitary reasons. We estimate this change will keep approximately 400 lanyards out of landfills each year; and

• Engage in education around the environmental cost of technology use, including email, artificial intelligence, and digital storage. We will explore practical steps—such as adding an optional note in email signatures encouraging thoughtful communication—to reduce unnecessary digital energy consumption.

Mercy college students at the United Nations.

The Justice Team will plan a series of educational programs to deepen understanding of the root causes of our critical concerns of Earth, immigration, nonviolence, racism and women.

Mercy Volunteer Corps will collaborate with the Justice Team to host an online session for volunteers to more clearly draw links between care for the Earth, earth justice and spirituality.

Ecological Spirituality

The Justice Team will:

• promote Laudato Si Animator training to equip sisters, associates and co-workers to shift consciousness of their communities around environmental and climate justice.

• continue Friday reflections sent out to our 6,000 advocates that offer spiritual nourishment and encouragement amidst the struggles for social and environmental justice and nonviolence.

Sisters and others participate in a Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation on the Hudson River.

Community Resilience and Empowerment

The Justice Team will:

• begin to plan for targeted state-level advocacy on issues related to our critical concerns.

• begin planning for building out a Mercy justice network to more intentionally reach out to others in Mercy beyond the sisters to engage them in education, advocacy, public witness and solidarity.

View last year’s grand prize winning video. (*Note: the contest themes have changed for 2026.)

The Mercy Justice Team needs you, a Mercy student, to create a short, social media style PSA (public service announcement) video – think Reels or TikTok – that reflects the Sisters of Mercy’s Critical Concerns. Put those creative ideas and video skills to work and you could win $500!

What does it mean to allow others to be fully human without judgment?

The 2026 contest theme is: Embracing Dignity and Respect. Through the lenses of the Mercy Critical Concerns and the Core Values of Mercy Education, use your video to engage one of these ideas:

How can we stand up with others or stand up for others?

How can we go beyond tolerance to embrace diversity?

To receive information, updates and reminders about this year’s contest, sign up here and we’ll be in touch. Click here to learn rules for entry and how to upload your video.

View the grand prize winning video from 2024. (*Note: the contest themes have changed for 2026.)

Purpose

For this year’s contest we are seeking short, PSA style videos (30 to 90 seconds) that are suitable for sharing on social media platforms such as TikTok or Reels. In an increasingly divided and polarized world, your video should reflect the charism of Mercy and connect to one or more of the Mercy Critical Concerns. Videos could focus on:

Why it is important to value or celebrate our differences

Encouraging support of oppressed or marginalized groups in society

A story of standing in solidarity with others

Contest Webinar

Watch our 13 minute webinar to learn more about this year’s contest.

Who Can Enter

Any student or group of students, high school age or older, enrolled in Mercy high schools, colleges/universities, or involved in a Mercy-affiliated ministry.

Use this tip-sheet to help you as you begin the process of creating your video.

Format

Read the complete rules

Length: 30 to 90 seconds

Language: English or Spanish

Other Requirements

1. Title. Each video must have a title. The title must be indicated on the submission form. The title does not need to be included in the video itself.

2. Credits. Credits must include the name of those involved in the creation of the video. The credits must also include citations for any images, audio, or text used in the video that is not original. The credits do not need to be included in the video itself, but must be included in the submission form.

The Sisters of Mercy may delete title and credit screens before posting videos on social media.

Entrants are strongly encouraged to use original footage and graphics as much as possible.

Important Note on Rules: In order to honor copyright protections, rules regarding use of images and music were updated for the 2022 contest and remain in effect for 2026. See the complete rules for details.

Deadline

All entries must be received by April 1, 2026.

Prizes

A panel of judges will use these criteria to select the winning video. Individual winners will receive financial awards. The Grand Prize Winner receives $500.

Winning entries may be featured on the Sisters of Mercy Institute web site and social media channels. Winners and their winning institution will be formally announced.

Interested?

If you think you might be interested in entering this contest, fill out this form to receive contest information and updates.

Past Winners

Click here to view all of our past winners.

These are some of the ways in which the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas will more fully live Laudato Si’ in 2025. To see the third year action plan click here.