Mary Ann McGivern, a Sister of Loretto, works with people who have felony convictions and advocates for criminal justice. She lived at a Catholic Worker house for 28 years. She has been a public radio commentator and written plays and a cookbook. She lives in St. Louis.
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Pray for a woman facing execution, and for her victim killed in 2004
Lisa Montgomery is set to be executed. She killed Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a 23-year-old pregnant woman, and took Stinnett's baby. Montgomery may deserve to die. But we don't have the right to execute her.
Holding companies responsible
Religious sisters won a battle with publicly traded gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. They used a shareholder resolution to force the company to start reporting on its gun safety measures. Shareholder resolutions are just one way sisters have been holding corporations to take social responsibility.
Replacing rage with holy laughter
NCR Preview: A few years back I gave myself permission to get angry at other drivers. Later, on a dark and rainy night, I shocked myself at how mad I was at some unknown and seemingly very confused person. I resolved then to withdraw that permission to myself to rage and fume.
Protest good for the soul
Direct action is just one part of any campaign. Legislative lobbying, op-ed columns and careful essays like Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" all work together to gain the prize.