Parish ministries form building blocks for social change - increasing awareness of Catholic Church's role in society

National Catholic Reporter, Sept 3, 1999 by Arthur Jones

Justice in school

And got what he wanted.

"The workshop most useful to me was the one about integrating social justice into Catholic elementary and secondary schools, given by Joe Sullivan of the St. Paul, Minn., diocese. Great! He had a ton of energy and lot of practical materials. Look, if you teach math, these are things you can do. If you teach social studies, try these. They have a Web site. Great! And I went to Fr. J. Bryan Hehir's talk -- good, as usual."

Moro said he wants the students to realize -- and he himself again realized in Los Angeles -- the extent to which Catholicism is a big church with niches for everyone. "Everyone can find a place. And work to do."

Said inner-city pastor, Fr. Paul Manship of Holy Family Church in Springfield, Mass., "We know social justice is not an option. It's essential." The question becomes, he said, "What are things that there's no compromise with and what are the things we need to continue to discern? Doesn't matter which, but we've got to be doing something. I think we lose our identity when we become apathetic."

In a culturally diverse parish (40 percent African-American, 40 percent Hispanic, 20 percent Anglo "with a smattering of Asian families") there is a strong commitment to community organizing through the Pioneer Valley Project.

"It's so important to see the faith in context," he said, "see that it's God and church not just you and me, or only me and my faith experience. We all do a lot of work on issues that are frustrating, with seemingly overpowering forces against you."

One benefit of the Jubilee Justice gathering, Manship said, was the realization that "I can relax a little bit. We don't have to tear down the terrible machines in order to get anything done." Looking for direction, he went to the "Pastoring in the Next Millennium" workshop.

Surveying the church of the past quarter-century, Manship concludes, "We've had growing pains. A lot of people perhaps left when they thought they were sold a bill of goods or were made promises we weren't going to fulfill. And now we're coming into a certain greater maturity, saying, no, no, no, now wait a minute, my faith is my responsibility.

"It's related to the church and it can be nourished by the church, but it's still my responsibility. Is it all right to stand on the sidelines? No, it's not. And in saying no, there's a growing sense of solidarity."