Voces de Casa Maria

Why do people migrate?// ¿Porqué emigramos?

5 min read By Poncho Moro Poncho is a regular here at Casa Maria. Most immigrants flee their country in search of a better future for their families. They search for a social justice that can rarely be found. A social justice that has been neglected in their country of birth. In some cases, these people cross three or four countries to reach their destination in the U.S. and to obtain the so called “American Dream.”  For some, the American Dream is often broken and is nothing but a false illusion. Some lose their lives in their search, some are beaten, raped, imprisoned

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An Open Letter to Tucson’s City Council

2 min read September 1, 2016 An Open Letter to Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Council Members Regina Romero, Paul Cunningham, Karen Uhlich, Shirley Scott, Richard Fimbres and Steve Kozachik,   Dear friends, I write this with a heavy heart. Your support of bus issues and defense of poor people over the years has been most appreciated. If you now choose to raise bus fares it will be an attack on poor folk and the planet too. In recent months, the Bus Riders Union has successfully been making the connection between climate change and the dire need for a highly functional transit system that increases

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THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY // AÑO DEL JUBILEO DE LA MISERICORDIA

4 min read by Brian Flagg In case you didn’t know, Pope Francis declared a Year of Jubilee that begins today, December 8th, 2015. The theme of the Jubilee Year is Mercy! In the ancient tradition of a year of Jubilee, slaves and prisoners were to be freed, debts would be forgiven, land and possessions would be returned to their owners and the mercies of God would be seen everyone. Today’s date was chosen for the beginning of the Jubilee Year because it marks the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. Last March, Pope Francis released a document about

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GREAT TEACHERS LOVE TO TEACH // LOS MEJORES MAESTROS AMAN LA ENSEÑANSA

6 min read After reading an article in the Star I decided to reach out to some real teachers to get their perspective on the current situation with teachers’ wages in Tucson. Julie Elvick is a 4th/5th grade teacher at Ochoa Community Magnet School and has over 20 years experience as an educator. My daughter Alissa had the privilege of having her as her 5th grade teacher last year. It was a great experience for my daughter and me. She is one of the best, most supportive and caring teachers we’ve had the opportunity to work with. She also participates in the community,

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PROUD TO BE CATHOLIC ON THE 4TH OF JULY! // ¡ORGULLOSO DE SER CATÓLICO EN EL 4 DE JULIO!

2 min read by Brian Flagg I’m gonna celebrate by attending the 5:30 mass at Santa Cruz. I’m gonna give thanks and praise that I’m part of a church who’s head guy, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, actually talks and acts like Jesus or one of the prophets! See the article in today’s Star at: http://tucson.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/heeding-francis-iowa-catholic-leaders-to-pressure-field/article_3c51f00f-e786-51f0-b21b-08a98bb8adeb.html Yesterday in Iowa, Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines implored presidential candidates to “take up Pope Francis’ call for ‘profound political courage’ by focusing their campaigns as much on improving the environment and income inequality as they have on opposing gay marriage and abortion in past elections.” Francis’

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TUCSON BUS RIDERS UNION NEWS-THE POSITIVE SPIN

2 min read by Brian Flagg, Approximately 30 of us from the Bus Riders Union, loud and proud, attended the emergency Transit Task Force meeting yesterday. Our presence there helped the Task Force vote to stop $458,000 of the proposed $1.1 million in cuts to 9 bus routes. Particularly disappointing was a 4-3 vote to reduce frequency on the Broadway bus (the #8). I am trying to be positive about this. Our efforts did force a process that will restore a small portion of the cuts. So why do I feel so frustrated? I guess this makes me evaluate our recent bus rider

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TPP – PURE UNADULTERATED EVIL

4 min read By Brian Flagg, Our U.S. Congressman, Raul Grijalva, is standing tall in his opposition to the biggest trade deal of the 21st century. It is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. If this aint pure unadulterated evil, I don’t know what is. Barbie Urias and I attended a packed Grijalva-organized town hall last Saturday on this subject. There was a very informative panel discussion that included Rebekah Friend, President of the State AFL-CIO, Sandy Bahr from the Sierra Club and former State legislator Phil Lopes. This pact seems to legalize multinational corporations’ ability to super-exploit, be it workers, the environment,

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SORRY POPE FRANCIS, FOR WOMEN THERE IS STILL NO JUSTICE IN THE CHURCH

4 min read Barbara is a leader of The Just Faith group at Our Mother of Sorrows and has done food pick-ups for Casa Maria for many years. By Barbara Padilla-Bassett, Yes I too have read the Joy of the Gospel and find it refreshing to hear Pope Francis implore us to live the Catholic Social teachings in our parishes and everyday lives. My parish in particular has even re written their mission statement to align more with Francis’ wishes for a more mission minded church. But as a Catholic woman I cannot look past the fact that even though these are monumental

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EDUCATION FUNDING HELD HOSTAGE BY GOVERNOR

3 min read By Cesar Aguirre, Last week Governor Ducey spoke to some of the state’s highest ranking business groups: Greater Phoenix Leadership, the Flagstaff Forty and the Southern Arizona Leadership Council. This probably doesn’t surprise you, but Ducey’s threat to the group might. He made it very clear that if any of the business groups tried practicing their constitutional right of pursuing a ballot initiative to increase education funding that he, and the dark money backing him, would fight them vigorously. The business leaders in attendance felt very threatened by this. Read about it here: http://azc.cc/1HhZno7 In 2012 there was a ballot

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Fighting for Justice, Liberty, & Peace in Barrio Libre