Action Alert - Call on Congress to Ensure Sufficient Aid Reaches Gaza

Gaza is once again on the brink of catastrophic hunger. A ceasefire agreement reached in late 2025 raised hopes that relief would finally reach the people of Gaza. Israeli hostages were released. Aid was supposed to flow. But those commitments have been disregarded. Israel has repeatedly closed Gaza’s border crossings, sharply restricting the entry of food, medicine, and fuel. This crisis is unfolding in the aftermath of devastating and widespread destruction across Gaza. Entire neighborhoods have been leveled. Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, water systems, and homes, has been shattered. Even before the war, Gaza had been under a long-standing blockade that severely limited access to basic goods and freedom of movement. Now, after months of large-scale violence that many human rights experts have warned may amount to genocide, the population is being left without the food, medical care, and fuel needed to survive. The scale of need is overwhelming. Before Israel’s war on Gaza, hundreds of trucks carrying food, medical supplies, and other essentials entered Gaza each day. At the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, Israel sealed Gaza again.  Now, only a fraction of that aid is getting through.   Staple foods, infant formula, and nutritional supplements are in critically short supply. Hospitals lack basic medicines, surgical supplies, and fuel to keep generators running. Clean water systems are failing without the fuel and parts needed to operate them. Families are going hungry. Hospitals are struggling to function. Children are facing severe malnutrition. Without immediate and sustained access, more lives will be lost as lifesaving aid remains unable to reach families in need.

Call on Congress to Ensure Sufficient Aid Reaches Gaza

The United States is deeply implicated in this crisis and has a responsibility to act. Two bills before Congress would take concrete steps to address this crisis: The Ceasefire Compliance Act (H. Res. 7645) would press for adherence to the ceasefire and restrict U.S. weapons transfers in cases of non-compliance. The Food for Palestinian Children and Families Act (H. Res. 7565) would help ensure that children in Gaza receive consistent access to daily meals through coordinated humanitarian efforts. Now is the time for action. As people of faith, we are called to respond when human life is at risk. The Palestinian people in Gaza cannot wait. Border crossings must be reopened, and humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow freely, fully, and without delay.  Call on your Congressional representative now to support these two bills.

Contact Congress Today!

Presbyterian Advocacy Hour - Faithful Advocacy and Confronting Christian Nationalism 3/25 at noon

Join us for the March Presbyterian Advocacy Hour! Jesus and Justice:  Faithful Advocacy and Confronting Christian Nationalism March 25th 12:00 pm EDT Christians across generations are asking what it means to follow Jesus in a world, and a Church, marked by injustice and division. This Presbyterian Advocacy Hour explores how our faith calls us not to withdraw, but to act. Together, we’ll unpack what Christian Nationalism is, how it distorts the message of Jesus, and how it shows up in the life of the Church today. We’ll ask questions like: How does Christian Nationalism shape the faith of Christians today? Do symbols like flags in sanctuaries or patriotic songs during worship influence our theology? And why do conversations about justice and advocacy sometimes create tension in the Church? We’ll also explore how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Public Witness engages policymakers in Washington, D.C., and how advocacy can be a faithful expression of Christ’s call to love our neighbors and pursue the common good. People of all ages bring wisdom, experience, and passion to the work of justice. This conversation invites you to imagine what it means to follow Jesus in the work of justice, boldly, faithfully, and together.

Register Today!

WCC NEWS: WCC gravely concerned over report regarding crimes against Ukrainian children

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed grave concern over the findings of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine regarding the deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. 23 May 2022, Taganrog, Russia: Children walk through the Romashka sports and recreation complex in Zolotaya Kosa, southwest Russia near the border to Ukraine. Romashka hosts several hundred refugees from the Donbas region in Ukraine, most of them children from orphanages in the Donbas region of Ukraine, relocated as Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 20 March 2026 "Such actions deprive children of their families, language, culture, and homeland, inflicting deep psychological and spiritual harm,” said Pillay. “These actions are a shocking violation of the God‑given dignity of every child and of the sanctity of family bonds.” Pillay further emphasized that the deliberate removal and relocation of children for political or ideological purposes is fundamentally incompatible with international law, morality, and Christian values. “As the WCC has consistently affirmed, armed aggression and the suffering it inflicts—especially upon children—are fundamentally incompatible with God’s will for humanity,” he said. “The WCC expresses its profound solidarity with all affected children and their families. We call on the authorities of the Russian Federation to provide the transparency and accountability that a report of this seriousness demands, putting the best interests of each child first.” According to the report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine to the UN Human Rights Council, thousands of children have been taken from Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation, many removed from institutions and families without the consent required by international humanitarian law and still not returned years later.  Instead of facilitating reunification, Russian authorities are reported to have prioritized the long‑term placement of these children within the Russian Federation, including through changes of citizenship and adoption or foster care. “Such actions deprive children of their families, language, culture, and homeland, inflicting deep psychological and spiritual harm”, said WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay. WCC statement on the findings of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine regarding the deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine to the UN Human Rights Council See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

FREE 2026 Earth Day Tabling Kits - One Home One Future

In honor of Earth Day, we celebrate the wonders of creation and renew our call as caretakers of this planet. All One Home One Future participants are entitled to receive a free 2026 Earth Day Tabling Kit. Join One Home One Future today to reserve your Earth Day Kit! onehomeonefuture.org/join

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Share Tweet Forward The Christian Recorder is the official newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the oldest continuously produced publication by persons of African descent.   Bishop Francine A. Brookins, Chair of the General Board Commission on Publications Rev. Dr. Roderick D. Belin, President/Publisher of the AME Sunday School Union Dr. John Thomas III, Editor of The Christian Recorder Copyright © 2026 The Christian Recorder, All rights reserved.

GreenFaith - The Iran war is a moral and environmental outrage

The war against Iran is a moral outrage. The loss of innocent lives, of homes and health and livelihoods are all tragic. Rising energy costs worldwide will most acutely affect society’s vulnerable and marginalized communities.

At GreenFaith, we also think of the toxic air pollution from the massive bombing and burning oil. Imagine having no choice but to inhale hazardous substances raining from the sky. The choking smoke deforms your lungs, poisons the fields where you grow your food, fouls your drinking water. Science has shown repeatedly that thousands of cancers follow mass toxic exposures such as this. We pray for the health of those impacted now and in the coming years.

None of this is necessary. All of it is wrong.

This is not the first time that the intersection between fossil fuels and violent conflict has thrown the world into disarray. Once again, we call for global agreement for a fossil fuel phaseout and a rapid and fair transition to renewable energy. Sign our multi-faith letter calling for this and learn about the international coalition we’re organizing to this end.

No doubt the fossil fuel industry will use this war to assert the need for even more than the $7 trillion in annual subsidies it currently receives - over $13 million every minute of the year. This industry’s answer to every crisis is remarkably consistent: more oil, more gas, more subsidies and more profit.

People of faith cannot remain silent while war, pollution, and fossil fuel dependence continue to tear our common home apart. Together, across traditions and across borders, we will keep raising our voices until our energy systems reflect the values of justice, compassion, and care for people and planet alike.

With defiant hope,

Rev. Fletcher Harper
GreenFaith Executive Director

Rev. Amy Brooks Paradise
GreenFaith US Organizing Coordinator

Building a Worldwide, Multi-faith Climate and Environmental Movement.

  

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EarthBeat Weekly: Catholic Church takes strong stands against fossil fuels, mining

Catholic Church stakes out strong stands against fossil fuels, mining   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change March 20, 2026   Activists participate in a demonstration to end the use of fossil fuels at the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 20, 2025, in Belém, Brazil. (AP photo/Andre Penner) Two significant announcements from Catholic instituitions took clear stands against the prolonged use of fossil fuels and destructive mining practices that devastate ecosystems and communities. On Monday, the continental bishops' conferences for Africa, Asia and Latin America — together representing more than 820 million Catholics — issued a joint manifesto stating their support for a proposed treaty to phase out the use of fossil fuels, the primary driver of climate change.  Specifically, the bishops of the Global South lent support to the Fossil Fuel Treaty initiative, which will be the focus for nations meeting in April in Santa Marta, Colombia. The first-ever conference on a fossil fuel phaseout is being convened by Colombia and the Netherlands and grew out of calls for a roadmap to end the use of coal, oil and gas last year at COP30, the United Nations climate summit in Belém, Brazil.  "Guided by the preferential option for the poor and the care of creation described in the Catholic Social Teaching, we declare our unwavering support for a just transition and strongly call on the governments of the world to adopt a treaty to stop proliferation and abandon fossil fuels as a moral and political imperative," the bishops stated in their manifesto.  The joint document, the second in two years from the three continental episcopal conferences, was signed by the three cardinals who head them: Cardinal Jaime Spengler of Brazil; Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão of India. The proposed Fossil Fuel Treaty outlines three goals-- an immediate end to all new exploration and production of coal, oil and gas; an equitable phaseout of current production; and a just transition to renewable energy that would support workers, communities and countries historically reliant on fossil fuels. Supporters, including the Global South bishops, see such a treaty as a necessary complement to the Paris Agreement, under which nations committed to reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions but does not address any actions related to reducing or ending the use of the main source of such emissions, burning coal, oil and gas. So far, 18 countries — mostly island nations — have directly endorsed the Fossil Fuel Treaty. Two dozen countries committed at COP30 to accelerating a phaseout of fossil fuels. It is unclear how many nations will send representatives to Colombia next month. Numerous Catholic organizations, including the Laudato Si' Movement, have signaled they intend to be present in Santa Marta.  "We need a clear plan," the Global South bishops write. "We believe that the Fossil Fuel Treaty (FFT) can be the specific tool that complements the Paris Agreement." Read more: Global South bishops endorse treaty to phase out fossil fuels as 'moral imperative' In their manifesto, the Catholic bishops of the Global South also committed to promote a just transition to clean energy in their own practices. That included a pledge to consider cutting financial ties, or divesting, from the fossil fuel industry.  On Friday at the Vatican, the Churches and Mining Network launched a new mining divestment platform organized by CIDSE, an international association of Catholic development agencies, which aims to push church institutions to scrutinize and ultimately withdraw their investments in the mining sector. As NCR Vatican correspondent Justin McClellan reports, the initiative seeks to bring Catholic investment practices into closer alignment with church teaching, drawing on Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" and Mensuram Bonam, a Vatican framework offering guidance for Catholic investors. The platform aims to shed light on the often hidden ties between the financial sector and mining operations in the Global South, and to prompt church institutions to examine their investments to ensure they are not supporting such projects. Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, spoke firsthand at a press conference about the extractive processes used to procure gold and silver in his former diocese of San Marcos by the Canadian mining company Goldcorp. "Their strategy from the beginning was to go along unnoticed" by the local community, which was largely Indigenous, he said, while operating with government support. After the company left, "that town stayed just as poor as before." "That is the challenge: to make governments and business owners understand that what is legal does not always correspond to the value of justice, and in terms of integral ecology this gains an ever greater importance," the cardinal said.   Read more: Platform launches to keep church money out of mining projects   What else is new on EarthBeat:   Apache women seek court intervention as federal land is turned over for copper mining by Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press The transfer of federal forest land in Arizona to a pair of international companies that plan to mine one of the largest copper deposits in North America is complete, but a group of Apache women is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene as a last-ditch effort to stop the project. Read more here »   Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Kenya minister in herbal medicine by Lourine Oluoch "Even if we step outside this room, there will be medicine right outside the door," says Sr. Lioba Kibor, director of Medicine at Your Door Step, a project of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Kenya. Read more here »   Nebraska bishop calls for prayer amid worst wildfires in state history by Gina Christian, OSV News A Nebraska bishop is calling for prayer as that state battles what are believed to be the worst wildfires in its recorded history, which have killed at least one person. Read more here »   Advocates work to reconcile César Chavez's labor rights legacy with sexual abuse allegations by Jacques Billeaud, Fernanda Figueroa, Hallie Golden, Associated Press Latino leaders and community groups quickly condemned the alleged abuse by Chavez but emphasized that the farmworker movement was never just about a single man.  Read more here »   In a heroic act, two priests drown while saving an altar boy in a coastal city in Ecuador by Marietha Góngora V., OSV News A tragic incident involving the rescue of an altar boy occurred March 13 during a Lenten retreat in the coastal town of General Villamil Playas, in Ecuador's Guayas province. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news: Arizona community hits 110 degrees F, the highest March temperature recorded in the US —Gregory Bull and Christopher Weber for the Associated Press Iran war shows that doubling down on fossil fuels Is 'delusional,' UN climate chief says —Keerti Gopal for Inside Climate News 24 states sue the E.P.A. for renouncing its power to fight climate change —Lisa Friedman for The New York Times NRC considers eliminating half-century-old radiation standard —Francisco "A.J." Camacho for E&E News Endangered species 'God Squad' convening accused of breaking law —Taylor Mills for Bloomberg Law Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations —Phoebe Weston, Ana Lucía González Paz, Prina Shah and Garry Blight for the Guardian A new wine label promotes workers' rights —Liza Gross for Inside Climate News Final Beat: Up here in the Northern Hemisphere, Friday is the Vernal Equinox, marking the first day of spring.  But in some parts of the United States, it will feel more like summer.  As the Associated Press article above notes, the country's hottest March temperature on record — 110 degrees Fahrenheit — was reached Thursday (the last day of winter) in a desert community in southwestern Arizona.  Cities like Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and dozens others all set record highs for March temperatures, the AP reported. The winter heat wave across the Southwest is more than a blip, scientists said in a separate AP story, it's symptomatic of an increasingly warming world. "This is what climate change looks like in real time: extremes pushing beyond the bounds we once thought possible," University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver told the AP. "What used to be unprecedented events are now recurring features of a warming world." Here in Kansas City, temperatures on Saturday could breach 90 F, which would be our hottest March temperature since 1907.  As always, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Explore spirituality and social justice at Xavier University. Graduate theology degrees and certificates. Online options. Tuition discounts available.   Advertisement