{"id":2451,"date":"2025-06-02T16:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T16:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2025-12-31T02:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T02:12:10","slug":"statement-from-the-maryknoll-superior-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/statement-from-the-maryknoll-superior-general\/","title":{"rendered":"Statement from the Maryknoll Superior General"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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This is a time of tremendous change and uncertainty. For many people the ground is shifting beneath their feet. So many in our world are suddenly more vulnerable, more worried, more anxious about the time to come. The Church itself is undergoing a transition with the loss of our beloved Pope Francis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in the United States, we cannot forget the tens of thousands of federal workers suddenly losing their jobs, or the untold number of Americans impacted by abrupt and severe cuts to social services without due regard for their needs. We especially remember immigrants who hope to rebuild their lives in this promised land, whether they are climate or economic migrants or refugees fleeing brutal regimes. Early in his papacy, Pope Francis<\/a> said, \u201cMigrants, rather than simply being a statistic, are first of all persons who have faces, names and individual stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are the millions of desperate people around the world dependent on the up-until-now legendary generosity of the American people. That source of life-saving aid included food for people experiencing famine in Sudan and emergency aid for victims of natural disasters, such as the recent earthquake in Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the starkest example of this new global reality is of those living with HIV\/AIDS. We\u2019ve told you in the past about the Eastern Deanery AIDS Relief Program<\/a> (EDARP) in Nairobi, Kenya. This project<\/a>, founded by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, enables more than 30,000 HIV-positive people to live relatively normal, healthy lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But EDARP<\/a> depends on the U.S. funding known as PEPFAR for its life-saving AIDS treatment. It\u2019s estimated that PEPFAR has saved at least 25 million lives over the years. Currently, about 40 million people worldwide live with HIV. Although PEPFAR for AIDS relief was given a waiver from the draconian cuts in U.S. foreign aid, the long-term future of the medication funding and program in Nairobi now appear precarious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, a brother Maryknoller commented, \u201cWe are now needed more than ever to be out there, wherever God has us in mission and in life, both at this moment and going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His words go straight to the point: How should we, a mission community, share in the Lord\u2019s passion for what is right and just in the land today? \u201cWhat then should we do?\u201d (Lk 3:10; Acts 2:37)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must be who we are: missioners rooted in the Church\u2019s convictions about our love of God and neighbor. We remain rooted in the key values of Catholic social teaching:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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