Maria Benevento

The latest news on active nonviolence: Catholic workers who claim damage to pipeline are in hiding; Catholic Workers celebrate 85th anniversary with anti-drone protest; Sierra Club joins ICAN efforts; Northwest coast Buddhist monks begin peace walk to mark atomic bomb anniversaries

When activists get arrested, many consider the experience part of their ministry. Protests become political actions when activists have the chance to ask a court "to support and uphold the laws of the land which makes it criminal to threaten to use these weapons of mass destruction on God's people."

As Somalia experiences what the U.N. has called the worst humanitarian crisis in the nation's history, approximately 500 Somalis have been granted at least 18 more months in the U.S. after Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen opted to renew the country's temporary protected status July 19.

The latest news on active nonviolence: Actions planned for Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversaries; Catholic groups turn out in London for anti-Trump protests; Catholic workers arrested in Maine for blocking garage entryway during visit from Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

New immigration policy memo asks officials to pre-judge claims, an action that is counter to the fundamental asylum law principle that each case is unique and should be judged on its merits, says Victoria Neilson, senior attorney at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

The latest news on active nonviolence: Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action draws attention to nuclear submarines; Catholic legal group calls to extend temporary protected status for Somalia, to Guatemala; observances planned for anniversaries of atomic bomb

The latest news on active nonviolence: Supported by archbishop, thousands protest gun violence in Chicago. Also: plans to commemorate Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings, and thank-you letters to bishops.

Homeland Security secretary grants an 18-month extension of temporary protected status for about 1,250 immigrants from the war-torn country, but more recent arrivals are excluded.

The latest news on active nonviolence: Kings Bay Plowshares group's attorney files for dismissal of charges on grounds of "illegal selection prosecution"; Justice and Peace Scotland protests underwater defense conference as a waste of resources; two reports on people seeking sanctuary in face of deportation; Enbridge pipeline in Minnesota approved

Most Catholics would be opposed to passing a law to keep refugees from coming to the U.S., while an even stronger majority opposes policies that separate immigrant families at the border, a national survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found.

The latest news on active nonviolence: Sisters and others of faith step up to support families after meatpacking plant raid; renewal of temporary protected status for Yemeni people is a moral must, faith leaders say; Catholic Workers call on mayor to defund police, cite killings

The latest news on active nonviolence: Groups condemn use of Scripture to justify separation of immigrant families; Hunger-strikers oppose third runway at Heathrow Airport in London.

The latest news on active nonviolence: Hundreds arrested at Poor People's Campaign actions; Jesuit Parish Justice Summit coming up; "Christian political artist" targets Army billboards.

The Field Hospital: Pastoral Migratoria, a program that trains lay immigrant leaders to serve their fellow migrants, integrates Catholic social teaching with local realities and strives to promote the "new evangelization" through care for immigrants.

The latest news on active nonviolence: Faith leaders protest Minn. pipeline; Arrests at anti-nuke protest at Mass. Air Force base; CLINIC, bishop advise migrants; Poor People's Campaign focuses on gun violence

With proposed policy changes, says one immigrant advocate, "We're asking parents to make a choice between food, health care, and maybe being able to stay here permanently in this country."

The latest news on active nonviolence: Activists protest nuclear weapons in Kansas City, Missouri, and D.C.; Chicago pastor spends birthday protesting NRA; Plowshares activists begin home confinement

A new U.S. policy that effectively leads to the separation of more families at the border is cruel and unjust, Catholic advocates and asylum experts say, condemning a plan that will cause immigrants added pain and trauma while offering no deterrence or prevention.

The latest news on active nonviolence: Two arrests during 'Stop the Killing' rally against drone warfare; religious beliefs as legal defense; coalition demands accountability for sexual harassment by JetBlue subcontractor

Saying the Trump administration's decisions are based more on anti-immigrant ideology than on facts, immigrant advocates continue to work for legislative protections and offer legal aid.