October 16, 2020

Inside this issue

• CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

  CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly  
  Coronavirus discussions crawled along this week with a pre-election deal remaining uncertain. The continued need for a coronavirus aid package is intensified by continued unemployment woes and spiking COVID-19 cases across the country.

A COVID-19 aid deal remains elusive as the House, Senate, and White House remain divided. The House and White House were able to inch closer to an agreement for a national testing plan. Yet the biggest hurdle is the Senate's unwillingness to accept and pass a larger and broader package. Senate leadership indicated that their chamber seems unwilling to accept a $1.8 trillion or greater aid package, currently the White House and House's proposals. A group of Senate fiscal conservatives have consistently pushed back against a larger package. 

The stakes of the impasse climb higher as the United States passed 8 million coronavirus cases this week. Epidemiologists fear that the U.S. is heading for a third spike as 17 states are seeing surges. Cases continue trending upward for 41 states while the other nine states are holding case numbers steady. Currently, not a single state is seeing a sustained decline.

While coronavirus cases spike, new unemployment claims continue to remain at record high levels. This week saw 898,000 people file for new unemployment assistance. Another 372,891 Americans filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance last week. All told, 1.3 million first-time claims were filed last week. These numbers underscore the dire situation millions of Americans continue to face.

Researchers from the University of Chicago and Notre Dame released estimates this week that the number of people suffering from poverty has grown by six million over the past three months, with impacts highest among African Americans and children. As increased unemployment payments run out and other CARES Act provisions sunset, the need for a deal becomes increasingly imperative. Catholic Charities USA has called on Congress and the White House to return to the negotiating table and pass a package for the millions of struggling people and families across the country. You can read the full statement here.
 
Faith and the Common Good
World Food Day

World Food Day 2020's theme is Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together.  During the pandemic, communities have had the opportunity to work together to make sure individuals and families have the food they need.  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reminds us to honor Food Heroes.  We know that in order to have food, there is always someone who produced, planted, harvested, fished or transported it. This World Food Day, it is fitting to thank, celebrate and pray for those who continue to provide food and help grow, nourish and sustain our world.

As early as last May, Caritas Internationalis raised the alarm about the serious consequences for food security that the pandemic and the containment measures to prevent the spread of the virus would have. Today the data are alarming. According to the World Food Programme, 230 million people are at risk of starvation. This is 130 million more than last year.

On World Food Day, Caritas Internationalis calls for targeted actions to fight food insecurity, by protecting the environment, stopping conflicts, promoting small-scale sustainable agriculture programs and identifying priority food security zones.  You can read more about Caritas Internationalis' efforts here. 

Prayer

Let us pray for the poor, hungry, and neglected all over the world, that their cries for daily bread may inspire works of compassion and mercy among those to whom much has been given.

Let us pray for the farmers with limited or marginal land throughout the world, for those who lack access to water and other resources, and for the light of research and support services to shine in the lives of all God's people.

Let us pray for the health of women, children, and families around the world, especially for an end to maternal and child mortality, that in building healthy families, all God's people may be empowered to strengthen their communities and repair the breaches which divide nations and peoples.

Let us pray for an end to the waste and desecration of God's creation, for access to the fruits of creation to be shared equally among all people, and for communities and nations to find sustenance in the fruits of the earth and the water God has given us.

Let us pray for all nations and people who already enjoy the abundance of creation and the blessings of prosperity, that their hearts may be lifted up to the needs of the poor and afflicted, and partnerships between rich and poor for the reconciliation of the world may flourish and grow.

Lord, hear our prayer.
- National Catholic Rural Life Conference, used with permission
 
Trivia Which organization ratified its charter and considers October 24th as its founding day?

Please send your answers to [email protected]

On October 9th, the trivia question was, "Who won the Nobel Peace Prize working to keep Latin America a nuclear weapons free zone and also known as "Mr. Disarmament"?"

Pat Marlowe was the first to correctly answer: Alfonso Garcia Robles.  Known as "Mr. Disarmament," Alfonso García Robles was a Nobel Peace Prize winner born in Zamora, Mexico. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, Robles focused his work as a lawyer and diplomat on making Latin America a nuclear-weapons-free-zone, believing that keeping nuclear weapons out of Latin America would prevent the area from becoming involved in conflicts between rival great powers. He was instrumental in the Tlatelolco Agreement, which prohibits the testing, use, manufacture, production, or acquisition by any means whatsoever of any nuclear weapons by Latin American countries party to the treaty.
Please share the weekly with your friends, family and networks so that we can build a movement of solidarity for those most in need!

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Stay connected with our work to end poverty, follow us on Twitter at @CCharitiesUSA.

If you would like to help further Catholic Charities' commitment to alleviating, reducing, and preventing poverty you can contribute here.  

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