Rick Steves’ Program on Immigration

Rick Steves, the well know travel writer and PBS personality, has developed a public television special about hunger, hope and the impact of smart development aid in the Global South. He is introducing the program at Town Hall in Seattle on Sept. 8. The web link includes more information about the program and a short video that will be live after Sept. 8. This program comes from Rick’s passion for “Travel as a Political Act.” The program shares lessons learned while traveling in Guatemala and Ethiopia.

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Current Immigration Program/Activities

St. Joe’s is continuing their immigration effort in 2019 & 2020 with a variety of programs and activities:
* Immigration subcommittee – We created a subcommittee of our Faith Justice Commission to support our immigration programs and activities.
* Casa Latina – We formed a partnership with Casa Latina, a local non-profit that supports low income documented and undocumented hispanic immigrants throughout the City of Seattle. Casa Latina will be presenting a public forum at the parish on Immigrant/Refugee/Asylum stories on 9/12.
* Sister Parish Celebration – This year in October, we celebrate 30-years in relationship with San Bartolme, Arcatao, El Salvador. Padre Miguel, the long time pastor will be joining us and on Oct. 23rd will speak about why people are leaving El Salvador for the US and other destinations. St. Joe’s supports a post secondary scholarship program and a sustainable livelihood program. The sustainable livelihood program provides an alternative to outbound emigration.
* KBI Immersion – St. Joe’s is leading a 10 person delegation to the border from 11/9-14/2019.
* Parish Witness/Action – The parish is planning a non-violent demonstration from our campus to the Federal Building in downtown Seattle. We hope to walk around or surround the Federal Building to call attention to the continued separation of immigrant families and the incarceration of immigrant children. We plan to do this in collaboration with other Catholic parishes and faith communities.

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JustFaith Resources

JustFaith has several new short programs or modules that are especially useful to parish social justice ministries:
* Faith and Racial Equity (Brand New)
* Cultivating Nonviolence, Harvesting Peace
* Exploring Migration: A Faith Journey (Global and National Migration/Immigration
* Hunger for Change (Food Insecurity)
* Just Engagement: The Power to Change (Advocacy)
These are excellent programs running 6-8 weeks that can be facilitated by parishioners. They are best suited for small faith sharing groups of 8-15 people. At St. Joe’s we have done Exploring Migration and plan to offer Faith and Racial Equity this year.

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Closing Prayers

List of Closing Prayers that might be useful for various social justice gatherings.

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Developing “Public Narratives” to engage others

At Bellarmine Chapel (Cincinnati), JustFaith “graduates” have prepared and shared “Public Narratives” (short talks, PNs can become e.g,. pulpit announcements and “graced history” reflections). Public Narratives are developed by leader-organizers to engage others (see introductory video (0:12:13, link) by Marshall Ganz and attached PN development workshop handouts from the Episcopal Diocese of California).

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Discernment, Capacity Building, and Parish Mobilization

Presentation by Tim Severyn from Bellarmine Chapel.

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Immigration Vigil Program

This is the program we used in our “Vigil in Solidarity with Detained and Separated Immigrant Families” event that our Peace, Justice & Reconciliation Commission organized. The purpose was to challenge the Trump administration’s family separation policies and stand in solidarity with immigrant families and their basic rights to dignity and family unity.

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St. Ignatius Pastoral Letter on Sanctuary Status

In November, 2017, on the Feast of Christ the King, St. Ignatius Parish San Francisco declared itself, along with St. Agnes Parish, a Sanctuary Community. Fr. Greg Bonfiglio issued a pastoral letter that summarized the process and discernment that lead to that declaration.

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St. Ignatius and St. Agnes Joint Sanctuary Statement

St. Agnes and St. Ignatius parishes in San Francisco jointly declared their status as sanctuary parishes in November, 2017. St. Agnes had previously declared; the joint statement was a reflection of the decision to issue a joint statement by the two Jesuit parishes in San Francisco.

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Sanctuary Discernment Process

In response to what was happening to migrants and refugees in early 2017, St. Ignatius Parish embarked on a discernment process to answer one question: Will St. Ignatius Parish declare itself a sanctuary parish or not? This is a brief summary of that process.

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