United States Catholic 

Today we celebrate St. Eugene de Mazenod, patron saint of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI).

He focused his ministry on the "spiritually needy" & engaged in an “intense community life of prayer, study and fellowship.

When he founded the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the congregation primarily served the “spiritually needy” on the French countryside, but eventually expanded their ministry to Switzerland, England and Ireland, at first, and then to Canada, USA and parts of Africa. This missionary order spread throughout the world – living out their motto, “He has sent me to evangelize the poor,” by establishing a deep spiritual foundation, close community life and a visible, unfettered love for the less fortunate.

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The Bishops issued a new pastoral letter on racism (November 2018).  

USCMA, Catholic Mobilizing Network and the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, sponsored a webinar on May 14, 2019 on the pastoral letter: what does it say, how can we implement it, and what are next steps. The webinar was recorded. To access the webinar, CLICK HERE.

Read more on the Racism and Mission page. 

Support the mission of USCMA by visiting smile.amazon.com and search for United States Catholic Mission Association. 

Joanne Blaney realized a long time ago that justice sometimes has nothing to do with the judicial system. But this has not turned out to be a handicap in her work. In fact, as a Maryknoll lay missioner who works with victims and perpetrators of violence in São Paolo, Brazil, quite the opposite is true.
 
“We work toward helping people feel, first of all, restored to yourself, that you are a person of dignity and respect,” said Joanne of the process of restorative justice. Then, she said, they try to restore broken relationships and work for “a just justice for everyone involved in the conflict or crime.”
 
Since joining Maryknoll in 1990, except for a few odd years back in the States, Joanne has worked at a human rights center in an impoverished, violent neighborhood of São Paolo, engaging with individuals and community leaders of marginalized and vulnerable populations to break cycles of urban and domestic violence. She uses restorative justice principles, including dialogue and compassion, as well as working to change structures, to accomplish that goal.
 
This brings her into relationship with people experiencing conflict within their families or communities, and into prisons where she teaches these same principles to offenders. “There is a process of healing that takes place,” Joanne said, “that leads to responsibility for the harm they have caused and a desire to repair the harm with the victim and/or their family.

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