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July 19, 2008

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Voice in the Wilderness - March/April Edition

May 13, 2008

The social justice ministry at St. Jerome’s parish has shared the latest edition of their newletter, Voices in the Wilderness.  The eight-page volume contains a range of stories and essays on the environment, fair trade, water availability and more.

Read more: Voice in the Wilderness - March/April Edition

Topics: Social Justics | No Comments »

Catholic Legislative Network

May 6, 2008

The California Catholic Conference, which is the legislative arm of the California bishops, is looking for Catholics to sign-up via their website for the Catholic Legislative Network. What this means is that, usually, once a week everyone receives an email update on legislative issues of interest to the Catholic Church in California. If an action is requested the network member is able to click on the link provided and be connected to the email of the the appropriate legislator(s).

Please considering signing up yourself and passing this on to others to sign-up at www.cacatholic.org or leginfo@cacatholic.org - it’s a little confusing to find the email signup so the direct link is at: http://capwiz.com/cacatholic/mlm/signup/.

It takes only a couple of minutes to enroll.

Requirements:

Please pass this along to those that may be interested in signing up.

Topics: Announcements | No Comments »

Our Children are our Most Valuable Treasure

February 26, 2008

Listed here are 18 essential questions and answers about the Clergy Abuse scandal.  

1. When did people become more aware of the terrible sin and evil of the sexual abuse of children?

Isolated incidents were reported for as long as we have been keeping records, but two historic events, one in Louisiana and the other here in Manhattan Beach, focused attention on this being a more widespread problem beginning in the 1980s: 

The first was the indictment of Father Gilbert Gauthe, a priest of the Diocese of Lafayette, who turned out to be a serial pedophile; the publicity surrounding this case beginning in 1984 raised everyone’s awareness that even clergy could be a danger to children and youth.

The second was the case beginning in 1983 here in southern California involving many staff at the Virginia McMartin Preschool. After three years of testimony, no one was found guilty of sexual abuse in those cases.  But the notoriety in the media over those years heightened everyone’s awareness to this problem in society, and led to California enacting new laws for the mandated reporting of suspected child abuse. 

2. But didn’t the sexual abuse of children by clergy start before the 1980s?

Sadly, yes.  Most likely there were cases of clergy sexual abuse down through the centuries.  We know now that a small percentage of adults, particularly males, are prone to this type of immoral behavior.  Unfortunately, this category has included a small percentage of clergy.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Report from the Social Justice Committee

December 1, 2007

Social Justice Standing Committee Meeting Minutes Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Regional Council Regional OfficesOctober 14, 2007 

Present:  Deacon Hosea Alexander, Hortense Bradley, Terry Dicks, Deacon Guy           Wauthy, Helene Wauthy 

                  Dcn. Alexander  and  Hortense Bradley are members of the OLA Regional Council.           Guests Terry Dicks, Deacon Guy Wauthy and Helene Wauthy are members of  the                  St. Jerome Parish Pastoral Council. 

Absent:  Berenice Escobedo, Loraine DeJesus 

The meeting began with an introduction of guests and committee members present.   

Hortense Bradley led the Question of the Week Reflection on the past Sunday’s Gospel. 

Copies of the Synod Initiative VI were distributed and read to revisit the purpose of the committee’s existence and its call to service to the faithful throughout the region.  There was discussion on what it means to become “a People of Communion and Justice for the life of the world” and how our Regional Council can best assist the faithful in responding to God’s call to do so. Issues of peace and justice include feeding the hungry, housing the poor, providing shelter for the homeless, promoting the common human dignity of a living wage and fair trade among nations, visiting and assisting the imprisoned … (Notice the use of action verbs.) 

Noted was the need for communication between our Regional Council and parishes.  Discussion identified the need to facilitate widespread dissemination of information on Catholic social teaching and sharing what individual parishes are doing in their social justice ministries.  An effort should be made especially to inform Just Faith groups in individual parishes of activities planned both at the archdiocesan level and within local parishes.  Visits to the archdiocesan Office of Justice and Peace web site’s “News Blast” must be encouraged and promoted. 

Dcn. Guy recommended that because pastors are so busy, each parish should designate a social justice point person and forward the name to the regional office so that information may be easily targeted to the right people.  He further noted the need to make the faithful aware of  the

United States’ bishops’ stands taken on justice and peace issues. Additionally, he suggested the Regional Council strongly encourage each parish pastoral council to dedicate one meeting to introduce the social justice document “Communities of Salt and Light.” 

Hortense noted that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops makes available on its web site a wealth of information on important church teaching regarding social justice. Also, the regional council’s blog should be promoted at each parish and used for interactive discussion of issues. 

Terry  cautioned that the promotion of social justice awareness should not be so narrowly focused on the hot button issue of immigration.  She said that social justice incorporates so many other important concerns of equality, mutuality, and interdependence, such as racism and prejudice.  Dcn. Guy added to the list : living wage issues, detention outreach, poverty, fair trade issues. 

It was suggested that parishes also need to go beyond reading and studying and theorizing about the call to justice.  Parishes must broaden their vision beyond local boundaries to include active concern for

Darfur and other such challenges to peace and justice globally.  At the same time, however, our approach must consider that “we cannot solve injustice over there unless and until we deal with it here.” 

Dcn. Guy strongly recommended the promotion of and organizing the Just Faith program in each parish in the region.  It is an excellent instrument of combining personal spirituality with a studied understanding of our call to justice.  He recognized that the program’s current length of 30 weeks can be intimidating to some.  

A measure of balance needs to be maintained, however,  between the need for knowledge and study of social justice and the call to activism.  One should not overtake the other.  It is not enough to just study about just faith. One must put the knowledge gained and the accompanying heightened spirituality  that Just Faith nurtures into some kind of action. Consequently, a call to activism is equally important.  Too much activism, however, can lead to burnout, and too much information can lead to being overwhelmed and inaction.  Terry Dicks added that people want bare bones information that does not require a lot of reading. The regional council’s communication should reach people “where they are,” being sensitive to what may be a limited knowledge base and the many demands upon their time. Hortense Bradley suggested that with the Just Faith program, perhaps the objective should be two-pronged: emphasize knowledge and spirituality and devote greater attention to the natural need to act on that inspiration.   

Dcn. Alexander suggested that a review of Census data on the population within our region would reveal needs of neighborhood communities for which parishes can provide outreach.   He noted that his parish, The Holy Name of Jesus, determined from a study of census data that people in their surrounding community would benefit from health fairs.  His parish conducted such fairs and received positive community feedback.  

The following recommendations to be presented to the council were made:                                                *A letter from Bishop Solis with a personal salutation to the pastor and one to the parish council contact requesting that each parish council have a liaison for the purpose of receiving and sharing information on social justice issues and activities.  This letter should also articulate Synod Initiative VI. 

                        *Respectfully ask each parish for feedback on the status of their social justice ministry.  Do they offer Just Faith? Offer any assistance they may need from the regional council. 

                        *Gather information from parishes with active social justice ministries: What are they doing? What has the response been? 

                        *The regional council sponsors a speaker on Human Dignity inviting all parishes to attend. 

                        *The regional council should touch base with the Archdiocese’s Office of Justice and Peace for guidance and resources. 

                        *Discuss the possibility of establishing a Health Cabinet for the region to promote fair and equal accessibility to healthcare. 

Hortense Bradley stressed the critical need for more of the faithful throughout the region to join not only the Regional Council’s Social Justice Committee, but the other five committees as well: “Evangelization and New Evangelization,” “Structures for Participation and Accountability,” “Ongoing Education and Formation ,” “Ministry and Leadership,”  “Eucharistic and Sacramental Living.” The documents of the historic Synod of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles 2003 are published in “Gathered and Sent.”  

The meeting adjourned with the Prayer for the Synod of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Hortense Bradley 

Hortense Bradley 

 

 

 

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