Annual Meeting (Program)

PROGRAM

Thursday, April 26

2:00 PM - Registration

3:00 PM - Opening Session / Welcome / Prayer / Introductions

4:00 PM - Keynote:
The Global Marshall Plan and the Strategy of Generosity in Global Politics.
- Rabbi Michael Lerner
Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun magazine, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in San Francisco, and national chair (along with Cornel West and Sister Joan Chittister) of The Network of Spiritual Progressives, an interfaith international organization dedicated to global peace, a Global Marshall Plan to end world poverty, nonviolence, social justice, love and generosity. He holds PhDs in both philosophy and psychology. He is the author of 11 books, most recently Healing Israel/Palestine (North Atlantic Books, 2003) and the national best-seller The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right (Harper San Francisco, 2006).

5:45 PM - Dinner

7:00 PM - Fourth Annual Justice Award
- Cristina Estrada and Gloria Lozano
                                               
Cristina and Gloria are both residents of Anapra, Mexico, a small community outside of Juarez,  who dedicated themselves to transforming the community in which they live. Cristina developed a place for quiet and study in her backyard seven years ago, assisting children with their homework.  Today, 180-200 young people arrive everyday to continue the learning process in a unique after-school project.  Gloria has developed a program for children with mental and physical handicaps and has networked the parents of those children with disabilities.  This initiative has helped countless children and their families in need of special services.

8:30 PM - Refreshments

Friday, April 27

8:30 AM - Morning Prayer

9:00 AM - Keynote:
Migration:  The Basic Needs and Harsh Realities of Crossing the Border
- Mr. Ruben Garcia
Mr. Ruben Garcia is Director of Annunciation House, El Paso, TX which serves as a house of hospitality for the undocumented and refugees.  The population averages between 40 and 50 people each night. Annunciation House has grown over the past 20 years and now staffs five houses. Casa de la Peregrina and Casa Emmaus in Ciudad Juárez, México, and Annunciation House, Casa Vides, and Casa Teresa in El Paso, Texas. The work in these houses is carried out by a community of full time volunteers who make a commitment of at least one year to live and make themselves available to the poor who continually come to the doors of the houses.

10:30 AM - Keynote: 
Migration:  The Human and Economic Cost of Crossing Borders
- Sister Amata Miller, IHM, PhD

Amata Miller, IHM, PhD, specializes in Development Economics, in Economic History and in the problems of the economically disadvantaged in the USA. She has been both a practical and an academic economist. She was for six years the Education Coordinator and Economic Analyst for NETWORK: National Catholic Social Justice Lobby in Washington, DC. She has lectured nationally and internationally and has also written on domestic economic justice issues, socially responsible investment, Catholic Social Teaching, and global economic justice.  Sr. Miller is currently teaching at the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN.

Noon - Lunch

2:30 PM - Partnership for Global Justice Report to Membership

3:00 PM - Keynote: 
Migration:  The Shift of the Universe as Humanity Crosses Borders
- Nellie McLaughlin, RSM

Nellie McLaughlin is a member of the Sisters of Mercy, Northern Province, Ireland. Her recent publication, Out of Wonder: The Evolving Story of the Universe  (Veritas, 2004) is a poetic journey to the heart of the universe and the unfolding of energy, of life and consciousness from the perspective of Ireland’s geological and biological history  She has woven in the deep cultural contribution of the Irish people whose history is so rooted in their landscape.  Nellie’s interest in migration is deeply connected with the sustainability of the universe.

5:45 PM - Dinner

7:00 PM - Weaving/Open Space

8:30 PM - Refreshments and Celebrate

Saturday, April 28

8:30 AM - Gather - Prayer of Sending

9:00 AM - Participants on the Move
Visit one of the local migration sites of Orange County

Noon - Lunch

1:30 PM - Panel: 
Migration: Our Present and Future with People on the Move    
- Ruben Garcia, Amata Miller and Nellie McLaughlin with Weavers and Participants

2:30 PM - Closing

3:00 PM - Leave-taking

- More Information

- Registration Form

For more information:
contact the ROP Office at 212-682-6481 or Lsiers6720@aol.com