Humanity Care: UPGs and SDGs 20

 

Global Integration Updates  Special News--August 2022 Issue 74 View this email in your browser

Global Integration Updates Common Ground for the Common Good  Be the people we need--Build the world we need Special News--August 2022 Repentance and Reconciliation Learning from the Pope's Pilgrimage of Penance Pope Francis in Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada July 25, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane   "Dear brothers and sisters! I have come to your native lands to tell you in person of my sorrow, to implore God’s forgiveness, healing and reconciliation, to express my closeness and to pray with you and for you. I am here because the first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of again asking forgiveness, of telling you once more that I am deeply sorry. Sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the indigenous peoples. I am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities co-operated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools."  Pope Francis, 25 July 2022, Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada --------- Overview In this Update we probe into the crucial need for repentance (including giving and receiving apologies and forgiveness) and its central place in the efforts to further reconciliation (including restoring trust and relationships). It is a tough topic with huge implications for the wellbeing of all people and the planet! Repentance involves a significant shift in one's thinking and behavior as a result of understanding and acknowledging wrongdoing. Reconciliation involves a significant shift in broken relationships from alienation and animosity towards reconnection and restoration. There is so much more of course that could be said about these terms--please excuse the brevity here of our definitions! Specifically we present Pope Francis' current week-long "Pilgrimage of Penance" in Canada among Indigenous peoples and feature his 30 minute address on 25 July (links to the text and to the video). His public apology to Indigenous peoples on behalf of the Church has been long overdue and from our perspective reflects the courage and contrition needed to own the long-term grievous wrongdoings in the past and their ongoing negative consequences. "I myself wish to reaffirm this, with shame and unambiguously. I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples." Repentance is Good We believe it is good to repent and to seek reconciliation as much as possible and that this is something to be practiced by us all (people of faith or of no particular faith) and at all levels: individual-interpersonal-institutional-international and everything in-between. There may be other terms used rather than repentance and reconciliation such as "full apology" and "relational restoration" respectively yet the basic core aspects remain the same--to acknowledge wrongdoing and take responsibility for one's actions with a view to heal broken relationships. "I was wrong--I am sorry--Please forgive me--I will change--Let's maintain or restore our relationship."  We think that there is so much to learn from the Pope's address as well as the long and arduous process that it has taken to admit and repent from wrongdoings. The same is true for other institutions and countries who have been willing to confront ingrained leadership, systemic, and structural deviance and cultures of corruption. Agreeing on the "truth" and way forward however can be quite a challenging process for two or more parties in conflict since there can be so many issues, identities, and resources etc. at stake not to mention misinformation and disinformation etc.! Robert Schreiter’s sobering comments on reconciliation at the societal level are also applicable at all levels:   “Truth-telling, struggling for justice, working toward forgiveness: these are three central dimensions of the social process of reconciliation. In all situations I know, they are never undertaken on a level playing field; the consequences of oppression, violence, and war are not predisposed to honesty, justice, and even good intentions in all parties. Nor are the processes, for the most part, orderly. And they never seem complete, In fact, we usually experience them as truncated, prematurely foreclosed, high-jacked by the powerful....We can find ourselves acquiescing to half-measures, half-truths, compromised solutions.” (Schreiter, 2005, quoted in Wise Doves and Innocent Serpents? Doing Conflict Resolution Better). Applications--Making It Personal Consider these items below as you review the materials in this Update--especially reading the text and/or watching the video of the Pope's 25 July address: 1. How is the Pope specifically apologizing: acknowledging wrongdoing, taking responsibility, demonstrating changes, making amends, seeking to restore relationships, calling for justice? Is anything missing? 2. What helps and hinders "unambiguously" acknowledging wrongdoing and making full apologies? Can you cite other organizations and leaders that have publicly apologized fully (with or without having been "caught" for wrongdoing)? 3. List a few take-aways for your personal life and for your work settings. How might this example among Indigenous peoples be supportive of any efforts to reconcile with others? 4. Where else in the world is cultural genocide taking place currently? See the final section below on "Cultural Genocide--Into USA history and current practices internationally." Going further--see these Global Integration Updates: --Genocide: Studying, Preventing, Confronting, Punishing, Healing (December 2020) --Wellbeing for Who? Global Reports from Seven Sectors (February 2020) --Peace, Justice, Inclusion and Strong Institutions: SDG 16+ (December 2019) Warm greetings, Kelly and Michèle       MCAresources@gmail.com Featured Resources Repentance and Reconciliation Learning from the Pope's Pilgrimage of Penance Pope Francis is in Canada to personally affirm Indigenous peoples and to apologize for the Church's abusive and catastrophic roles in their history and lives including in residential schools. 25 July 2022, Maskwacis, Alberta Canada "Dear brothers and sisters, many of you and your representatives have stated that begging pardon is not the end of the matter. I fully agree: that is only the first step, the starting point. I also recognize that, “looking to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient” and that, “looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening” (Letter to the People of God, 20 August 2018). An important part of this process will be to conduct a serious investigation into the facts of what took place in the past and to assist the survivors of the residential schools to experience healing from the traumas they suffered." Pope Francis, 25 July 2022, Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada ----------- "A woman sings Canada's national anthem in the Cree language during a visit by Pope Francis" Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada July 25, 2022.  Adam Scotti/Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS." Text --Read the text of Pope Francis' 25 July address HERE --See the short commentary by the Editorial Director of Vatican News HERE "Remembering the devastating experiences in residential schools is shocking, indignant, painful, but necessary." Pictures See 40+ pictures of the Pope's tour in Canada HERE (Reuters) Videos  --Watch the video (30 minutes) of Pope Francis' 25 July address HERE --Watch somme of the short videos of the Pope's "Pilgrimage of Penance" in Canada on the Vatican News site HERE  Cultural Genocide Into USA history and current practices internationally   Screenshot from the opening of the PBS documentary described below --See the Vox documentary on Native American children and boarding schools in the USA HERE (2019, 14 minutes). "How the US stole thousands of Native American children." --See the PBS documentary on Native American children and boarding schools in the USA HERE (2017, 57 minutes). "A moving and insightful look into the history, operation, and legacy of the federal Indian Boarding School system, whose goal was total assimilation of Native Americans at the cost of stripping away Native culture, tradition, and language. #NativeAmerican #Indigenous #IndianBoardingSchools" --And there are other countries currently doing the same with "colonial, re-educational and vocational etc." boarding schools where indigenous children and people are being forcibly assimilated in order to change their cultures (including political and religious beliefs) in line with those of the state and dominant party in power. --See the Wikipedia entry on "Cultural Genocide" including the many historical examples --See the Wikipedia entry on "Truth and Reconciliation Commissions" including descriptions of various commissions Member Care Associates MCAresources@gmail.com Member Care Associates Inc. (MCA) is a non-profit, Christian organization working internationally from Geneva and the USA. MCA's involvement in Global Integration focuses on the wellbeing and effectiveness of personnel and their organizations across sectors (e.g., mission, humanitarian, peace, health, and development sectors) as well as global mental health and integrity/anti-corruption, all with a view towards collaboratively supporting sustainable development for all people and the planet. Our services include consultation, training, research, resource development, and publications. Click on these items below to access our: Member Care Updates, Global Integration Updates, member care books, and recent MCA publications. Global Integration     Global Integration (GI) is a framework for actively and responsibly engaging in our world--locally to globally. It emphasizes connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of human wellbeing and the issues facing humanity, in light of our integrity, commitments, and core values (e.g., ethical, humanitarian, human rights, faith-based). GI encourages a variety of people to be at the “global tables” and in the "global trenches"--and everything in-between--in order to help research, shape, and monitor agendas, policies, and action for all people and the planet. It intentionally links building the world we need with being the people we need.   Our Global Integration Updates are designed to help shape and support the emerging diversity of global integrators who as learners-practitioners are committed to the "common ground for the common good."  2015-current (70 issues). Some examples of foundational ones: Doomsday?--June 2017 Living in Global Integrity--April 2017 Peace and Security--December 2016 Global Citizenship--June 2016 Faith-Based Partners in Transformation--August 2015 Global Pearl The image at the top of the Update (global pearl) is a cover detail from our edited book, Global Member Care (volume 2): Crossing Sectors for Serving Humanity (2013). William Carey Library.  ------   Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.  Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail (April 1963)

Global Integrators—18

Global Towers and Global Trenches

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to join together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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We recently wrote to several colleagues who teach psychology courses at universities and seminaries. We have met each of them before, and know that many are actively involved in international applications of psychology and are concerned about a variety of local, national, and world issues. As we see it, most work in the global towers (a positive term for us) with a view towards meaningful involvement in the global trenches. They get dirty. And if you have ever worked in the academy, you know you can get just as dirty in the towers as you can in the trenches! Dirt (problems of all types) is no respecter of settings.

We wrote our colleagues to let them know about the very important events that are happening right now at the United Nations in New York at the annual General Assembly (number 70) concerning sustainable development. We are not sure how many colleagues though, in spite of their interests in our world, are tracking with these landmark events. We knew everyone was super busy and focusing on many important areas. Yet we were hoping they could take some time this week to have a look at any of these four current updates/resources below. We believe the materials would not only inform their work in mental health practice, training, research etc., but also point to relevant ways for greater involvement in our globalizing world for faculty, students, and colleagues. 

We are aware that there are different perspectives about the UN. Among other things (such as end of the world concerns/deception in some Christian views, concerns about global anti-capitalism, loss of national autonomy etc.), some say there is so much talk with no real accountability, with too many nice speeches and too many overpaid bureaucrats resting comfortably in the ivory towers of privilege, with little impact on the ground in the human trenches of poverty. There is quite an array of skepticism and positive hope intertwined in the diverse viewpoints as people consider (discuss/debate) how best to try to steer the developmental course of our world.

Nonetheless, in spite of its shortcomings, we have been tracking with and involved in different aspects of the UN work for the last several years (including global mental health, humanitarian psychology, and sustainable development). This experience has and continues to shape our understanding of Global Integration, the missio Dei, and above all, the very vulnerable and needy in our world. We are convinced of the crucial opportunities--and moral responsibilities--that are before us all via the Sustainable Development Agenda highlighted in this entry. We also strongly believe that personal transformation is necessary for there to be transformation at all levels of society (principles, resolutions, policies are important yet not enough). So we say again, as we have in previous entries, there is no health and development without moral health and moral development.

Let’s continue to be involved in both the global towers and the global trenches. And as civil society becomes more actively involved in global affairs, let’s connect global integrators in the towers with global integrators in the trenches, helping to forge partnerships as encouraged by Sustainable Development Goal 17.

Four Current Items
1. The current five minute overview report, "This Week at the UN." Link below.

UN photo/Loey Felipe, 28 September 2015

http://webtv.un.org/watch/the-week-in-review-%E2%80%93-26-september-2015/4511920102001

2. Barak Obama's speech to the United Nations General Assembly (filled with many heads of state) 27 September 2015.Excerpts: "Cynicism is our enemy....800 million men, women, an children scrape by on less than {the equivalent of] $1.25 per day...that is a moral outrage..."

UN photo/Mark Garten, 27 September 2015

The video link below begins with a promo/info piece on the new/just ratified and HISTORIC sustainable development agenda (two minutes)  followed by Obama's 20 minute presentation. While there is plenty to challenge/clarify in his comments (including for example, the need to mention that five of the six biggest arms suppliers/sellers in the world hold the five permanent seats in the UN Security Council), this speech will hopefully give us all some more perspective on our world as well as an updated context for all of our lives/work.

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/part-12-un-sustainable-development-summit-2015-general-assembly-11th-plenary-70th-session/4513768360001

Here also are a few excerpts (3 minutes):
http://www.unmultimedia.org/avlibrary/asset/1446/1446777/

Want to watch more? In addition to the many archived speeches from other world leaders, Here is Obama's speech the next day at the UN General Assembly Debates (28 Septembr 2015).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=11&v=yoktGQsJaso

3. Pope Francis' opening speech to the UN GA from Friday (25 October) which was superb as well (we included info/link to this in our MCA Resource Update that we sent out a few days ago--Migrant Care; Hospitality for Humanity). Ok so not everyone highly regards this Pope. But most do. And we do too so far, based on his works, not just his words. He is not pro-Marxist. He is not a scary socialist. But he is concerned about the poor, the vulnerable, and the impact of any ideology or practice that exploits and endangers people.

Here is an excerpt: “I must renew my repeated appeals regarding the painful situation of the entire Middle East, North Africa and other African countries, where Christians, together with other cultural or ethnic groups, and even members of the majority religion who have no desire to be caught up in hatred and folly, have been forced to witness the destruction of their places of worship, their cultural and religious heritage, their houses and property, and have faced the alternative either of fleeing or of paying for their adhesion to good and to peace by their own lives, or by enslavement."

4. And finally, here is the document that the above is based on and which has been worked on for so long and just ratified---sort of like a global Magna Carta for human development and the wellbeing for all people and the planet, Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its paragraphs are powerful, with the heart of the document being the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). Will the world community be able to implement it over the next 15 years? Will we hold our governments-and ourselves--accountable? We will see. But please just don't just sign on to it, and don't just write it off, without first carefully reading it! 

Excerpt:

"50. Today we are also taking a decision of great historic significance. We resolve to build a better future for all people, including the millions who have been denied the chance to lead decent, dignified and rewarding lives and to achieve their full human potential. We can be the first generation to succeed in ending poverty; just as we may be the last to have a chance of saving the planet. ..."

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld

Here also is the new, brief UN promo piece about the SDGs. 

http://webtv.un.org/watch/adoption-of-the-sustainable-development-goals/4513425361001

Final Thought
Personally, we are inspired and hopeful, challenged and aware of the tough road ahead for the SDGs' implementation.  As Barak Obama said yesterday to over 150 world leaders and to all of us: "This is not just the job of politicians; it is the job of all of us."  Yep. From the global trenches to the global towers and everything local in-between.

Global Integrators--15

Global Innovators

Making Important and Sustainable Differences 

“We are determined to take the bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. As we embark on this collective journey, 
we pledge that no one will be left behind.“
Transforming Our World: The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

(United Nations, Preamble, 1 August 2015)

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld

(note that the word “innovation” appears 20 times in this document)

First World Problems, Weird Al Yankovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwvlbJ0h35A

Lyrics:

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/w/weird_al_yankovic/first_world_problems.html#!

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

***** 

This entry highlights the need for important innovations to really make a sustainable difference in the plethora of the world’s great problems and the world’s vulnerable people. Specifically, we offer some ideas on personal qualities that can help people like you and me make a difference in our world as global innovators who are helping to build the future we want and wanting to be the people we need. Many of these characteristics overlap with the material in previous entries and can also be understood as commitments. I find them to be especially relevant for the UN’s transformative agenda for sustainable development, with its five overlapping areas of people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships—to which I unswervingly add a sixth crucial area: probity (i.e. virtue, integrity, adherence to the highest principles).  As with many of these entries, this current entry on global innovators is still a work in progress!

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Some Characteristics of Global Innovators

1. Not content with the status quo
--Not business as usual
--Leave no one behind
--Transformation at all levels, from the personal to the macro systemic
**Example: Peoples Health Movement (PHM)  http://www.phmovement.org/

“The PHM is a global network bringing together grassroots health activists, civil society organizations and academic institutions from around the world, particularly from low and middle income countries...We currently have a presence in around 70 countries. Guided by the People’s Charter for Health (PCH), PHM works on various programmes and activities and is committed to Comprehensive Primary Health Care and addressing the Social, Environmental and Economic Determinants of Health. The world is facing a global health crisis characterized by growing inequities within and among nations and millions of preventable deaths, especially among the poor. These are in large degree due to unfair economic structures which lock people into poverty and poor health. In 2000, concerned activists, academics and health workers got together for the first People’s Health Assembly. The People’s Charter for Health (PCH), our founding document was developed and PHM was born.” 

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2.  Making a difference

--Low and middle income countries and colleagues
--Vulnerable people
--Focus on the big stuff
**Example: MHIN/Grand Challenges Canada
http://www.grandchallenges.ca/

“What is a Grand Challenge? A grand challenge is a specific critical barrier that, if removed, would help solve an important health problem in the developing world, with a high likelihood of global impact through widespread implementation….Historically, some of the greatest impacts in global health were from innovators who tried out bold ideas. The discovery of vaccines over 200 years ago and of antibiotics in the last century are classic examples of unorthodox thinking that resulted from bold ideas that have had big impact and saved millions of lives…” 

3. Awareness of the global context

--Staying current with global events, issues, reports, etc.
--Understanding the multi-faceted nature of most major issues
--Pursuing inter-sectoral involvement
**Example: Understanding the Current Global Context, Global Integration Update, Member Care Associates, April 2015
http://us10.campaign-archive2.com/?u=e83a5528fb81b78be71f78079&id=18cf5092dc

“How are we doing as a world community? How can we better understand current efforts to promote wellbeing for all? Here are five current materials to help us explore these important questions. The first four materials are reports that overview the state of world's development (items 1-3) and peacebuilding (item 4). We encourage you to take the time to at least read the overviews/summaries and to make some notes/applications as you do so. We have gone over these items many times (and with several colleagues) in order to grasp the content, new terms, and implications for our world, our work, and our lives…”

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4. Ethical Imperatives for the common good

--Personal responsibility with moral courage
--Sense of urgency
--Contempt for evil
**Example: Laudato Si’: On the Care of our Common Home, Pope Francis (May 2015) https://laudatosi.com/watch

“158. In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters. This option entails recognizing the implications of the universal destination of the world’s goods, but…it demands before all else an appreciation of the immense dignity of the poor in the light of our deepest convictions as believers. We need only look around us to see that, today, this option is in fact an ethical imperative essential for effectively attaining the common good."

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5. Mentality and Lifestyles

--A way of thinking
--A way of being
--A way of relating
**Example:  See the opening music video, First World Problems…and avoiding consumerism, corruption, complacency, etc.

6. Working together

--Finding common ground
--Building a professional community
--Connecting and contributing
**Example: Mental Health Innovation Network
http://mhinnovation.net/

“We’re a community of mental health innovators - researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, service user advocates, and donors from around the world - sharing innovative resources and ideas to promote mental health and improve the lives of people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders.”

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7. Etc.: funding, organizational and governmental backing, perseverance, creativity....
**Examples: Forces for Good (nonprofit organizations), How to Change the World (social entrepreneurs), A Path Appears...

Finally, and pulling some of these ideas together, watch the trailer for the film A Path Appears:
http://apathappears.org/film/

Pax Dei--Living in Peace 10

Globalization of Indifference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5HZhVm8jsM

Q: Where is God?

A: Where is man?

(Two prisoners in Auschwitz concentration camp)

Pax Dei

“These our brothers and sisters seek to leave difficult situations in order to find a little serenity and peace, they seek a better place for themselves and for their families – but they found death. How many times to those who seek this do not find understanding, do not find welcome, do not find solidarity! And their voices rise up even to God!....Who is responsible for the blood of these brothers and sisters? No one! We all respond this way: not me, it has nothing to do with me, there are others, certainly not me. But God asks each one of us: “Where is the blood of your brother that cries out to me?” Today no one in the world feels responsible for this; we have lost the sense of fraternal responsibility; we have fallen into the hypocritical attitude of the priest and of the servant of the altar that Jesus speaks about in the parable of the Good Samaritan: We look upon the brother half dead by the roadside, perhaps we think “poor guy,” and we continue on our way, it’s none of our business; and we feel fine with this. We feel at peace with this, we feel fine! The culture of well-being, that makes us think of ourselves, that makes us insensitive to the cries of others, that makes us live in soap bubbles, that are beautiful but are nothing, are illusions of futility, of the transient, that brings indifference to others, that brings even the globalization of indifference. In this world of globalization we have fallen into a globalization of indifference. We are accustomed to the suffering of others, it doesn’t concern us, it’s none of our business.”

Text from Pope Francis’ homily in August 2013 celebrated with the residents of Lampedus, Italy and the immigrants who have sought refuge there. (Vatican Radio website)

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/07/08/pope_on_lampedusa:_%E2%80%9Cthe_globalization_of_indifference%E2%80%9D/en1-708541

JC et al.--Living in Truth 10

Loving People

Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis), washing feet.

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I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians.

Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
(attributed to Mahatma Gandhi)

..

 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.  “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. Jesus Christ, John 13: 14-15, NIV