M a r y k n o l l    O f f i c e   f o r    G l o b a l    C o n c e r n s

The history of Maryknoll in Latin America is rich and deep. Our commitment to the promotion of social justice and peace in the region cost several of our missioners their lives during the years of oppression, including Father Bill Woods, MM in Guatemala (1976), Sisters Ita Ford, MM, Maura Clarke, MM and Carla Piete, MM in El Salvador in 1980. Some, like Father Miguel D’Escoto in Nicaragua, have served in very public roles in support of the poor

Our concern for Africa is shaped by long term relationsips between Maryknoll missioners and the people of the Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia. We honor their strength and wisdom and believe that African cultures and traditions often suggest solutions to seemingly intractable local and global problems.

For many U.S. residents, the Middle East might conjure an image of a deeply religious yet extremely violent society, a region in which life and death – and martyrdom – take on new meaning. However, the reality is far more complex than the daily news headlines. U.S. foreign policy likewise takes a narrow view of the Middle East. People in the U.S. are presumed to have a stake in the region’s political future since its oil powers the U.S. economy.