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Key Dates
January Dates
UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025)
Catholic Poverty Awareness Month
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
January 1st: Catholic World Day of Peace & Emancipation Proclamation Day
January 6th: Penny Lernoux Birthday
January 7th: Sadako Sasaki Birthday
January 11th: National Human Trafficking Awareness Day & Anniversary of the Bread & Roses Labor Strike
January 13th: Maura Clarke MM Birthday
January 14th: Albert Schweitzer Birthday & Martin Niemoller Birthday
January 15th: Martin Luther King Birthday
January 16th: National Religious Freedom Day
January 22nd: Anniversary of the Publication of Strangers No Longer
January 24th: Henri Nouwen Birthday & International Day of Education
January 27th: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 28th: Anniversary of the Opening of the Puebla Conference
January 31st: Thomas Merton Birthday & World Day of Leprosy
February Dates
African American History Month
Frederick Douglas Birthday (date unknown)
February 3rd: Izzeldin Abuelaish Birthday
February 4th: Rosa Parks Birthday & Dietrich Bonhoeffer Birthday & World Cancer Day
February 6th: International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Mutilation
February 7th: Dom Helder Camara Birthday
February 8th: Catholic Day of Prayer & Awareness Against Human Trafficking
February 11th: Catholic Day for the Sick & Anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s Release from Prison
February 12th: Red Hand Day (International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers) & Anniversary of the Murder of Sr. Dorothy Stang
February 19th: Anniversary of the Executive Order 9066, authorizing the creation of Japanese “internment camps”
February 20th: World Day of Social Justice
February 23th: W.E.B. Du Bois Birthday
February 27th: Marian Anderson Birthday
March Dates
Anniversary of the Death of Anne Frank (date unknown)
March 1st: Zero Discrimination Day & International Women of Color Day
March 2nd: Pope Leo XIII Birthday
March 3rd: Chief Joseph Birthday
March 5th: Karl Rahner Birthday
March 8th: International Women’s Day
March 13th: Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis, Founding of Pax Christi
March 14th: Albert Einstein Birthday
March 21st: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
March 22nd: World Water Day
March 24th: Anniversary of the Assassination of Archbishop Romero
March 25th: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Slave Trade
March 26th: Anniversary of the Publication On the Development of Peoples
March 31st: Cesar Chavez Birthday
April Dates
Arbor Day – the last Friday of April
April 2nd: Cardinal Bernardin Birthday
April 4th: International Day of Mine Awareness
April 7th: World Health Day & Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwandan Genocide
April 10th: Jean Donovan Birthday
April 11th: Anniversary of the Publication of Peace of Earth (Pacem in Terris)
April 21st: Helen Prejean Birthday & John Muir Birthday
April 22nd: Earth Day
April 23rd: Ita Ford Birthday
April 26th: Joan Chittister OSB Birthday
April 27th: Coretta Scott King Birthday
May Dates
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self Governing Territories
Annual Endangered Species Day (3rd Friday in May)
May 1st: Pierre Tielhard de Chardin SJ Birthday & International Workers Day & Anniversary of the publication of On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus Annus)
May 3rd: Anniversary of the Publication of The Challenge of Peace & World Press Freedom Day & National Day of Prayer
May 4th: International Stand Up to Bullying Day
May 8th: World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
May 9th: Peter Maurin Birthday & Daniel Berrigan Birthday & Sophie Scholl Birthday
May 15th: Anniversary of the publication of Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor,(Rerum Novarum) & Anniversary of the Publication In the 40th Year of Revolutionary Change: Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor (Quadragesimo Anno) & International Day of Families & International Conscientious Objectors Day
May 19th: Greg Boyle SJ Birthday
May 20th: Franz Jagerstatter Feast
May 21st: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
May 22nd: International Day of Biodiversity
May 24th: Anniversary of the Publication of Praise Be to You Lord, On Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si)
May 25th: Africa Day
May 28th: Anniversary of the Indian Removal Act
May 29th: International Day of Peacekeepers
May 31st: World No-Tobacco Day & Pope Pius XI Birthday & Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riot
June Dates
June 1st: Global Parents Day & Louis Vitale OFM Birthday & World Communication Day (Inter mirifica)
June 4th: International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression & Jim Wallis Birthday & Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre
June 5th: World Environment Day
June 8th: World Oceans Day & Gustavo Gutierrez OP Birthday
June 10th: Walter Sullivan Birthday
June 12th: Anne Frank Birthday & World Day Against Child Labor
June 15th: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
June 17th: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
June 19th: Juneteenth Day & Anniversary of Publication Sharing Catholic Social Teaching & International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
June 20th: World Refugee Day
June 23rd: United Nations Public Service Day
June 26th: International Day in Support of Victims of Torture & International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
June 28th: Muhammad Yunus Birthday
June 29th: Anniversary of the Publication of Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritas) & Anniversary of the Publication of The Light of Faith (Lumen Fidei)
June 30th: Dorothy Kazel OSU Birthday
July Dates
International Day of Cooperatives The first Saturday of July
July 2nd: Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act & Medgar Evers Birthday & Thurgood Marshall Birthday
July 5th: Rutillo Grande Birthday
July 6th: The 14th Dalai Lama Birthday
July 7th: Dorothy Stang SND Birthday
July 11th: Anniversary of the Beginning of the Srebrenica Genocide
July 12th: Malala Yousafzai Birthday
July 14th: Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha
July 18th: Nelson Mandela Birthday
July 25th: Emmitt Till Birthday
July 30th: International Day of Friendship & World Day Against Trafficking in Persons & National Whistleblower Appreciation Day
July 31th: Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola
August Dates
August 6th: Anniversary of Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
August 9th: Anniversary of Martyrdom of Franz Jaegerstetter & International Day of the World’s Indigenous People & Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
August 12th: International Youth Day
August 14th: Feast of Maximilian Kolbe
August 15th: John Dear Birthday
August 19th: World Humanitarian Day
August 21st: Raymond Hunthausen Birthday & National Senior Citizens Day
August 23rd: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
August 24th: Anniversary of the Medellin Conference
August 26th: Women’s Equality Day
August 28th: Anniversary of March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom & Anniversary Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech
August 29th: International Day Against Nuclear Tests
August 30th: International Day of the Disappeared
September Dates
Id al-Adha, Islamic Festival of Sacrifice
Catholic National Migration Week
Labor Day (First Monday in September)
National Grandparents Day: (First Sunday after Labor Day)
World Day for Migrants & Refugees (Last Sunday of September)
National Voter Registration Day (Fourth Tuesday of every September.)
September 1st: World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
September 5th: Feast of Mother Teresa (St. Teresa of Kolkata)
September 8th: International Literacy Day
September 9th: Anniversary of the Enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1957
September 10th: World Suicide Prevention Day
September 11th: Anniversary of Terrorist Attacks on the United States
September 14th: Anniversary of the Publication of Laborem Exercens & Pierre Marie Theas Birthday
September 15th: National Hispanic Heritage Month Begins & International Day of Democracy & Anniversary of the Bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama
September 16th: International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
September 18th: World Water Monitoring Day
September 21st: United Nations International Day of Peace
September 22nd: Hans Scholl Birthday
September 25th: United Nations Adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
September 26th: Pope Paul VI Birthday
September 27th: Feast of St. Vincent de Paul
September 28th: National Good Neighbor Day
September 30th: Elie Wiesel Birthday
October Dates
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Respect Life (First Sunday in October)
World Habitat Day (First Monday of October)
Indigenous Peoples Day (Second Monday of October)
Catholic World Mission Sunday (Third Sunday in October)
October 1st: International Day of Older Persons
October 2nd: International Day of Nonviolence & Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday
October 4th: Feast of St. Francis Assisi
October 5th: World Teachers’ Day & Philip Berrigan Birthday
October 7th: Archbishop Desmond Tutu Birthday
October 9th: John Egan Birthday
October 10th: World Day Against the Death Penalty & World Mental Health Day
October 11th: Anniversary of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council & Feast of Pope Saint John XXIII & Birthday of Thich Nhat Hanh & International Day of the Girl Child
October 13th: International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
October 15th: World Rural Women’s Day
October 16th: World Food Day
October 17th: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
October 24th: Beginning of Disarmament Week & United Nations Day
November Dates
Native American Heritage Month
National Homeless Youth Awareness Month
Thanksgiving: (4th Thursday of the month)
November 1st: Anniversary of the Publication Economic Justice for All & A Decade After “Economic Justice for All”: Continuing Principles, Changing Context, New Challenges & Anniversary of the publication Communities of Salt and Light
November 6th: International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of Environment in War and Armed Conflict
November 8th: Dorothy Day Birthday
November 9th: Ignacio Ellacuria Birthday & Sargent Shriver Birthday
November 10th: World Science Day for Peace & Development & Anniversary of the Wilmington North Carolina Coup
November 11th: Feast of St. Martin de Tours
November 12th: Anniversary of the Publication For I Was Hungry and you Gave Me Food
November 13th: Anniversary of the Publication A Place at the Table & Feast of St. Francis Cabrini, Patron Saint of Immigrants
November 14: Anniversary of the Publication of Brothers & Sisters & Pedro Arrupe Birthday
November 15th: America Recycles Day & Anniversary of the publication Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice
November 16: Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the University of Central America (UCA) Scholars in Salvador & International Day of Tolerance
November 19th: World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse
November 20th: Universal Children’s Day
November 24th: Anniversary of the publication of The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium)
November 25th: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
November 29th: International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People
December Dates
December 1st: Anniversary of the Arrest of Rosa Parks & World AIDS Day
December 2nd: Anniversary of the Murder of 4 Church Women in El Salvador & International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
December 3rd: International Day of Disabled Persons
December 5th: International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
December 7th: Anniversary of the Publication of Joy & Hope (Gaudium et Spes)
December 8th: Anniversary of the Closing of the Second Vatican Council
December 9th: International Anti-Corruption Day
December 10th: Anniversary of the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Kathy Kelly Birthday & Anniversary of Thomas Merton’s Death
December 17th: Pope Francis Birthday
December 18th: International Migrants Day & Steve Biko Birthday
December 20th: International Human Solidarity Day
December 27th: Jon Sobrino Birthday & Juan Jose Gerardi Conedera Birthday
December 29th: Anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre
December 30th: Anniversary of the Publication The Social Concern (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis)