"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
and let the oppressed go free." (Luke. 4:18-19)
Vision
Throughout the centuries the Catholic Church has put its full institutional weight on the side of the poor and the powerless in the struggle against poverty, injustice, and oppression in society. This is at the core of Catholic social teaching and the universal mission of the Church for the poor and vulnerable, as rooted in the Gospel proclamation. The Spiritan mission is founded on this universal mission of the Church and incarnated in its own charism as expressed in its Rule of Life constitutive of which is the "integral liberation of people, action for justice and peace, and participation in development." This is in fidelity to the original spirit of the Spiritan founders and the living tradition of the Congregation, which mandates the Spiritans to make themselves "the advocates, supporters, and defenders of the weak and the little ones against all who oppress them." (Spiritan Rule of Life of 1840).
Duquesne University, deeply aligned with Catholic social teaching and standing on the Spiritan tradition on which it is founded, is one with the United States Catholic Bishops and all people of good will in denouncing the reign of terror in Darfur, Sudan – the mass killings, widespread rape and torture, the destruction of villages—which has left 300,000 people dead, two million displaced, and 230,000 refugees, with hundreds of thousands hungry every day, and the most vulnerable, women, children, and the elderly, left victims of the most brutal violence. We, who stand for the protection of human life and the dignity of all human persons, cannot stand aside and be silent. We demand the definitive end to this intolerable moral and humanitarian crisis and together with the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations; we seek a comprehensive and lasting solution of this conflict.
 Darfur Tent of Hope (66K PDF)
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