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Social Justice Committee

 To view the seven Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching, click here.

Our parish Social Justice Committee is one of our newer parish organizations, first formed in 2003.  Its purpose is described in another one of the steps in our parish 2004 Action Plan, formulated by the committee itself:

             “Establish a Social Justice Committee with the purpose of a) providing education to its members on social justice topics, b) educating the wider parish, and c) taking action on issues related to our charitable outreach.”

 The Social Justice Committee meets monthly, between the two Sunday Masses, and approximately 15 parishioners are currently involved with the committee.  Its current co-chairs are Chris Clarke and Happy Mason.

 As a new group, it initially spent some time considering what its role should be, consulting with the Archdiocese regarding possible models for the group.  The tri-fold purpose above has set the framework for further development.  The committee has developed connections with various “wider Church” bodies, including the Washington State Catholic Conference, Bread for the World, Network, Pax Christi, and Catholic Relief Services, all of which develop their own educational resources and engage in issue-oriented advocacy efforts.

 One project unveiled during January of 2004 is called Foundations.  The project will eventually highlight seven foundational principles of Catholic social justice teaching.  This number is not a definitive number, as in the “Ten Commandments” or the “Eight Beatitudes”; the principles could be summarized in a slightly different way.  Nor would the exhaust or capture the entire social justice tradition of the Church, however they might be summarized.  Nonetheless, they do summarize the major justice themes present both in sacred Scripture and in the living tradition of the Church.  This tradition includes the classical writings of Augustine and Aquinas; the last century of papal encyclicals, beginning with Rerum Novarum; the documents of Vatican II, especially the Constitution of the Church in the Modern World; and the Pastoral Letters and other documents written by our National Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

These Foundations represent one of the Church’s “best kept secrets,” as some have said in reference to our social justice heritage.  While they are general in nature and leave much room for reflection and discussion when it comes to their concrete application, they are not “mushy” or “wishy-washy”; indeed, they are quite prophetic when taken seriously.  The Social Justice committee is unveiling these Foundations gradually, providing further resource materials to those who want them, and arranging for discussion opportunities as it may seem appropriate.

 Finally, the committee recognized early in its formation that the area of social justice can make many Catholics very uncomfortable, for as we begin to get into concrete applications of Church teaching, differences of opinion often arise.  Obvious case in point:  distribution of articles regarding Catholic teachings on war and peace, and the stands taken by our pope and bishops questioning the morality of the preemptive war in Iraq.  So the committee has adopted these general guidelines for its work:

 1.  The Social Justice committee will align closely with our scripture and tradition, in a prayerful way; formal Church backing for a position is most desirable.

 2.  The committee intends to deal especially with those issues most related to our charitable outreach as a parish.  For example, because of parish involvement in Malawi, we might be drawn to issues of global hunger or AIDS.  Our Sacred Heart Shelter and St. Vincent de Paul connections might lead us into issues that affect the homeless.

 3.  Partisan politics will be avoided.  Archdiocesan policy mandates that all Church bodies refrain from endorsing any individual or party.  By extension, we believe that should also include “political philosophy.”  Of course, as advocates we may certainly attempt to influence public discourse and legislation, and also question candidates for public office.

 4.  Dialogue is the aim, especially within our parish; not merely for the sake of intelligent conversation, but for mutual enlightenment & discerning the movement of the Spirit. 

 5.  We all strongly value our life together as a parish community.  However, trying to “stay neutral” in an effort to avoid controversy on an issue can be foolish and even counterproductive – the gospel is not neutral.  Approached with mutual respect, these efforts should deepen and strengthen our common life, even as they may sometimes challenge us.

 6.  Those who get involved with this will all learn as it proceeds.  As with all of life, we may make mistakes or disagree at times.  Deep down, we assume the good will of others, and hope we all can do that with our fellow parishioners.