Welcome to the April 21, 2021 edition of Just 3 Things, the weekly social action newsletter of the Office of Human Life & Dignity. If this email was forwarded to you, and you'd like to receive it each week, please click here. With the Derek Chauvin verdict delivered Tuesday, we pray for our country, for the soul of George Floyd, for Chauvin and all hurt by violence: victims and perpetrators. And, we bring you a short op-ed written by the Archbishop about the importance of love conquering hate and violence as the third item of this newsletter.

Valerie Schmalz

Director

Office of Human Life & Dignity

Archdiocese of San Francisco

The outcry after the Biden Administration walked back its pledge to increase refugee admissions from the Trump Administration low of 15,000 to 62,500 caused the Administration to say they would come up with a new number by mid-May. The US Bishops’ Committee on Migration, Catholic Relief Services, and Jesuit Refugee Service/USA were among the faith-based advocates objecting. To the surprise of no one, refugee resettlement in the United States is a continuing hot button issue. It is not just people at the southern border--it's families waiting in refugee camps in Asia and the Middle East and filling out paperwork at consulates in Africa. It's a big story without simple answers. (Photo: Migrant children from Central America take refuge from the rain in the back of a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle in Penitas, Texas, March 14, 2021, as they await to be transported after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States. CNS photo/Adrees Latif, Reuters) 

Physician assisted suicide is legal in California but now its proponents want to remove the few safeguards. Legislation to do that is before the California Legislature. SB 380 effectively removes the 15-day waiting period for patients and loosens the requirements on determining whether a patient is of sound mind during this period. To keep current and easily contact your legislator, sign up for  the California Catholic Conference's action alerts here:https://cacatholic.org/action-alerts

(Photo illustration Shutterstock)

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone wrote an op-ed about the importance of love conquering hatred that was published in the Marin Independent Journal this week. "As Americans and as Catholics, we have a responsibility on the global stage to show respect for all people, affirming their human dignity. A respect for each other amid our diverse beliefs and backgrounds has been the Bay Area’s core identity," the Archbishop wrote. (Photo by Dennis Callahan/Archdiocese of San Francisco shows Archbishop at April 10 prayer service for peace and against racism at St. Mary's Cathedral)