Just
Times: November 2006
The
St. Charles Borromeo Social Justice Newsletter
“Far
too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic
social teaching. More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately
understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part
of Catholic faith.
This poses a serious challenge for all Catholics, since it weakens
our capacity to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel.
We need to do more to share the social mission and message of our Church.”
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions,
Reflections of the U.S. Catholic Bishops
The Seven Themes of Catholic Social
Teaching
By: Kristin Young
Catholic Social Teaching is often called the best-kept secret of our
faith. Some view social justice work as “nice to do,” with
the church offering guidelines or suggestions on how to help our brothers
and sisters in need.
As the Bishops stated above, social teaching is an integral part of
our faith tradition – a mandate to care for the poor and vulnerable
in our society.
The church’s concern for the poor has a strong foundation in the
books of the Old Testament, as well as the teachings of Jesus Christ
recorded in the New Testament. While we cannot begin to cover every
aspect of the church’s teaching, we hope that the Just Times
newsletter will serve as a step to an increased understanding of the
Gospel’s call to build a just society.
There are seven key themes of Catholic Social Teaching. Over the next
several months, we will explore each of them in greater depth.
The seven themes are:
- Life and dignity of the human person
- Call to family, community, and participation
- Rights and responsibilities
- Option for the poor and vulnerable
- The dignity of work and the rights of workers
- Solidarity
- Care for God’s creation
Community Corner: Catholic Campaign for Human Development
By: Monica Hamrick
In the DC-metro area, an estimated 12,000 people are either living
on the streets, in shelter or in transitional housing. The Catholic
Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) seeks to increase awareness of
what it means to be poor in America.
This weekend, the second collection at St. Charles will go toward the
CCHD. At least 25 percent of the funds collected will stay within the
Arlington Diocese. The specific allocation will be guided by the Arlington
CCHD committee, which also takes part in evaluating national grant applications
that come from within the Diocese.
CCHD is a national organization of the U.S. Conference of Bishops.
It supports community organizations in Arlington and around the country
working to create pro-poor institutional change. In particular, CCHD
supports organizations that empower low-income individuals to be active
in working toward that change.
“CCHD is important because it helps low-income people with organizing
and advocating for themselves,” says Steve Luterin, executive director
of Diocesan Charities for the Diocese of Arlington. “CCHD is primarily
focused on changing structures and policies that prevent the poor from
moving up in life.”
The focus on changing structures and policies leads the CCHD to advocate,
through local community organizations, for increased access to healthcare,
affordable housing, increased community programs for offenders and advocating
child-support payments. One community program supported by CCHD is the
Progreso Hispano, Inc., which provides immigration support, leadership
development and parenting education to Northern Virginia’s Hispanic
community.
Faith Without Works, Works Without
Faith
By: Erin Brett
On Sunday, November 5, more than 30 St. Charles parishioners and friends
from neighboring parishes came together for a motivational retreat.
Faith Without Works, Works Without Faith was the theme for the day.
The goal of the retreat was to inspire and rejuvenate ministry volunteers
while inviting new community members to become more involved in the
over 100 St. Charles ministries.
Father Ray Kemp, faculty member at Georgetown University and senior
fellow at the Woodstock Center, gave the keynote address and facilitated
small group discussions on incorporating your faith into everyday life
and service.
“We had a great turnout this year with many new faces,” said
Jason Albritton, chair of the St. Charles Social Justice Committee.
“Father Ray did a fantastic job, and I hope that everyone left
with a sense of enthusiasm to bring new life into to their ministries
as well as their work outside of St. Charles.”
Those in attendance included representatives from the Latin American
Community, the St. Charles Social Justice
Committee, the Respect Life Committee, Just Faith Participants as
well as St. Charles Pastor Gerry Creedon. In addition, members from
other parishes, including St. Anthony and St. Mary also contributed
to the afternoon’s discussion.
