The Congregation of St. Joseph welcomes the decisions made by the new President and administration enacted on January 20th relative to immigration, the promotion of diversity, the care and protection of our environment, and care for all people. We are hopeful these actions are received in a spirit of openness and signal the beginning of a time of unity and compassion, one where our country can come together to build bridges back to one another.
We stand with our Dreamer brothers and sisters, and all those who are immigrants, who come to this country looking for a safer and more stable life. We support the actions taken to protect those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, as well as the decisions that support all immigrants and aim to provide them with a more stable, loving, and hopeful existence.
We applaud the call to root out systemic racism, wherever it may be. We are committed to the critical work of creating communion, examining the root causes of injustice and our own complicity, and purging ourselves, our communities, and our country of the sin of racism and its destructive effects. We feel that only by coming together, by condemning acts of racism and white supremacy, and by educating ourselves and each other more fully about the importance of diversity and inclusion, can we all truly be equal.
We support the decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, cancel the Keystone Pipeline project, reverse the rollbacks to vehicle emissions standards, as well as other actions taken to strengthen environmental policies across our country. As part of an interconnected planet, we share in the responsibility to care for our common home and its inhabitants, especially the poor and vulnerable who often experience the effects of climate change first and most severely.
We welcome the decision to rejoin the World Health Organization and other decisions that work towards citizens health and welfare. We believe in the dignity of all people and are committed to health equity and increasing opportunities for everyone to live the healthiest life possible. We care for all who share our common home and support the wellbeing of citizens of the world.
The Congregation of St. Joseph’s mission is to bring all into union with God, with one another, and with all creation, and as such we stand with and for policies that help further our commitment to protect human life, promote the common good, and care for God’s creation. We look to the future with hope for our country, and our world, as we work to mend divisions and bring unity to all.
