January 2025
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
1New Year's Day
World Day of Peace
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, 1863
4Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, (1774-1821): First native born American saint and patroness of Catholic school education in the U.S.
5Feast of St. John Neumann, (1811-1860): Patron of Catholic education, sick children and immigrants
6Feast of the Epiphany (Día de los Reyes): The major feast of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and the day on which the Sisters renew their religious vows.
7Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
Birthday of Sadako Sasaki (1943-1955): Japanese girl who was two when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945; she folded 1000 origami cranes for peace and is a symbol of the victims of war.
Birthday of Vann Nath (1946-2011): Activist and noted Cambodian artist who survived the Khmer Rouge’s torture and execution center by painting portraits of its brutal leaders.
Birthday of Brian Haw (1949-2011): British peace campaigner; lived in a peace camp in London’s Parliament Square.
8Birthday of Emily Green Balch (1867-1961): American economist, sociologist and pacifist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for her lifelong work for disarmament and peace.
Birthday of A.J. Muste (1885-1967): Dutch-born American pacifist best remembered for his work in the labor, civil rights, and anti-war movements.
9Birthday of Rigoberta Menchú Tum (1959): Guatemalan indigenous human rights activist
Birthday of Joan Chandos Báez (1941): American folk singer, songwriter and activist.
11Anniversary of detainment of the first War on Terror prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (2020).
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Anniversary of the start of the 1912 “Bread and Roses” labor strike in Lawrence, MA
12Anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti that killed 200,000+ and left 2.3 million homeless (2010).
14Birthday of Martin Niemöller (1892-1984): German anti-Nazi Lutheran pastor, best known for his statement “First they came…”
15Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (1929-1968): An American Baptist minister, activist, and political philosopher who was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.
Birthday of Cornelia Connelly (1809-1879): Foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus; born in Philadelphia, PA.
Birthday of Etty Hillesum (1941-1943): Jewish woman whose letters describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation.
16National Religious Freedom Day
18-25Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
20Birthday of Ernesto Cardenal (1925-2020)
21March for Life
Feast Day of St. Agnes
24Feast Day of St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
26Birthday of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (1930)
Australia Day
World Leprosy Day
27International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Birthday of Mairead Maguire (1944): Nobel Peace laureate, activist from Northern Ireland.
28Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P.: An Italian Dominican friar and priest, an influential philosopher and theologian; patron of universities and students.
26-Feb. 1National Catholic Schools Week 2025 (U.S.)
30Birthday of Saul Alinsky (1909-1972): Considered to be the founder of modern community organizing
31Birthday of Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O (1915 -1968): Trappist monk and peace activist.
Birthday of Sr. Megan Rice, S.H.C.J. (1930-2021): Anti-nuclear activist., member of the Transform Now Plowshares group, known for breaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex in TN