JUST NEWS  October 2000

Office of  Justice and Peace Sowers of Justice   Catholic Diocese of Richmond

Focus on Lessons    from Parishes In this issue: Working for the "long haul" Featured Web Site ART of Justice & Peace A Pastoral Perspective Resources for Parishes Political Responsibility Guidelines Sowers of Justice News Living Wage Campaign in SW Virginia Tidewater Plans Death Penalty Conference New Death Penalty Educational Resources News & Notes Refugee & Immigration Services Celebrates 25th Anniversary! Toll the Bells & Fill the Field Cardinal Law Calls for End to Embargo Against Cuba TARGET Program New Video: "Arms for the Poor" Bishop Sullivan Endorses Mt. Olive Pickle Boycott Calendar OJP Staff  Sowers of Justice Contact Information		Working for the “long haul” By By Jean Denton, Roanoke Sowers of Justice Communications Team One thing that will never precede social justice is the word "presto."  Bringing about social justice requires, among its ministries, compassion in direct help, diligence in community development and perseverance in legislative advocacy. Fulfillment comes in small bites and reform is painstaking. Often it takes a long time for the workers to see the fruits of their labors. So it's encouraging to fit together the pieces of individual parish ministries and projects of local and regional Sowers of Justice groups to see a larger picture of how the Church of the Diocese of Richmond is doing the work of social justice among the people we serve. Justice ministry, of course, includes directly serving social needs, and most parishes do that through a variety of programs. However, social justice committees around the Diocese are continually looking for ways raise parishioners' awareness of unjust systems, as well, and move them to action toward bringing systemic change. AIDS Ministry Some parishes use a direct assistance ministry as a springboard to raising consciousness. Last year at St. Pius X in Norfolk, "We wanted to help parishioners become more aware of AIDS and to participate in and elevate the issue as a Catholic church," Patrice Schwermer explained.  During December, the parish transformed its "Giving Tree." After parishioners took all the names to purchase holiday gifts, they cut out a paper candle, wrote on it the name of a friend or relative who was living with or had died of AIDS, and placed it on the tree. Schwermer said that the activity was personal and meaningful to those who hung candles.  Because the names were also printed in the bulletin, it reminded parishioners of the reality and nearness of the disease's devastating effects. Stephen Lenton, chair of the diocesan AIDS Task Force, says that working consciously to create an atmosphere welcoming to persons and families affected by AIDS is an important task of parishes.  Many people still don't openly speak of their personal experiences of the disease although its effects are widespread. Recently the task force sent to parishes a list of 20 ways parishes could show themselves to be welcoming, such as including in the prayers of the faithful at Mass regular intentions for those living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.
Youth Involvement Tidewater Sowers of Justice are making a special effort to involve youth by forming Voices That Challenge, a justice movement for young people. It brings youth and adults together once a year to plan "four or five really good, experiential projects for the youth," according to Schwermer.  Such projects include prayer and reflection, but weigh heavily toward an experience of action for justice. This year, she said, Voices That Challenge gleaned leftover corn from a local field and took it to a food bank, then examined the issue of hunger in an educational session. Holiday Shopping During the holiday season, St. Mary's in Richmond attempts to help parishioners "think differently about how they give," Rebecca Oxenreider explains. The parish's "Human Concerns Gift Shop" enables people to make a donation in another's name to a local ministry instead of a conventional Christmas gift. The loved one receives a card saying, for instance, that their present is one month's financial support for a resident of Gateway Homes (a residence for those with mentally illness). In this way parishioners can contribute financial assistance to important ministries while sharing an awareness of those social needs. Jubilee & Justice The Appalachian Office of Justice & Peace is attempting to use a number of consciousness raising activities to motivate action. Director Muzaffar Fazaluddin recently conducted a six-session leadership program called "Jubilee Spirituality and Justice" at St. Anne's Parish in Bristol. Participants have responded by organizing a "Jubilee Journey" to develop practical parish approaches to justice ministry. Fazaluddin will present the Jubilee Spirituality and Justice program in three other parishes this fall. Legislative Advocacy Monica Pawinsky says that the Legislative Advocacy Group at Church of the Incarnation works with other Charlottesville churches. In partnership  with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, these churches will host a forum and luncheon for area legislators to discuss issues of common interest. It's becoming an annual tradition, Pawinsky says, and the legislators "always tell us they find it useful." Lawmakers learn what issues concern the faith community.  It is very helpful that lawmakers know her, Pawinsky explains, when she goes to Richmond to advocate on an issue. St. Nicholas Church in Virginia Beach holds a Political Responsibility workshop prior to the regional Sowers of Justice legislative roundtable. This session, based on the pastoral statement Faithful Citizenship by the American bishops, includes prayer and reflection. Candice Neenan says that "We hope the participants will want to come back in two weeks for the legislative roundtable." Networking St. Gabriel's in Chesterfield County relies on networking and volunteers to carry out a sizable social ministry. Since the parish is only three years old and has no church building or meeting facilities, "we do a lot of adapting to and supporting other programs," explains staffer Liza Roach. The parish cannot host homeless families, but it provides food and serves meals for churches that act as host sites. Roach says St. Gabriel has a strong, active social concerns committee made up of individuals who head 17 different ministry teams.  Even after the parish has its own building, Roach says, she doubts the social concerns group will change its approach because, "there's so much teamwork and community." Mentoring For the past eight years, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond has participated in an interfaith program, Project Elizabeth, sponsored by the Virginia Council of Churches. According to Sr. Pat McCabe, this is a ministry of "presence and support" for teens who are pregnant and not married. Ten parishioners will serve as mentors in the program that will, for the first time, be brought to the local Bon Air Correctional Center. Prison Ministry Out in southwestern Virginia, our Catholic parishes are plowing new ground in prison ministry, most notably at the area's two "supermax" facilities -- Red Onion and Wallens Ridge. Led by Father Joseph Facura, pastor of St. Anthony Church in Norton, seven lay ministers visit inmates once a month. One-to-one, they talk through the glass and pray together.  Muzaffar Fazaluddin of the OJP staff , who participates in the ministry, notes that the group has arranged to discuss with the warden their concern that ministers are not permitted to bring Eucharist to the Catholic prisoners. "This is a human rights issue for us," he says. Fazaluddin pointed out that others in the area have ongoing prison ministries, including Sr. Beth Davis and Jill Carson who serve as family contact persons for Wallens Ridge inmates. But this is the first time that a lay ministry group has organized to regularly serve the supermax inmates. Ministry with the Hispanic Community Janice Sigala, a staff person at St. Gregory the Great in Virginia Beach, serves the Hispanic community in conjunction with the parish's social ministry. Trained parish volunteers offer English as a Second Language classes. A parish volunteer also teaches a citizenship course. A number of immigrants have become naturalized U.S. citizens after attending that class, Sigala notes. St. Gregory also provides job information for Spanish-speaking people. The parish gathers information from employers, publishes a flyer, and distributes it at Masses and other places that serve the Spanish-speaking population.  Global Solidarity A new initiative at St. Pius X Parish seeks an end to U.S. sanctions against Iraq. Over one million Iraqis, including 500,000 children, have died as a result of harsh economic sanctions imposed ten years ago. The Vatican has repeatedly condemned penalties such as this that indiscriminately punish innocent people. The parish offers an "Action-for-Iraq Pack" of twelve bright pink postcards. Participants mail one to their Congressional representative once a month. Each postcard reads: "Another month has passed, and 4500 more children have died in Iraq. How many more must die before we end the sanctions?" Participants are also asked to fast in some way one day each month in solidarity with the victims of the sanctions.

Featured Web Site: Salt of the Earth  http://salt.claretianpubs.org On-Line Social Justice Resource A wonderful site that includes  news updates, legislative issues, statistics, & an extensive archive

A Pastoral Perspective:

In All Things Charity
A Pastoral Challenge for the New Millennium

[O]ur Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has called upon us to "open wide the doors to Christ" by making a commitment to justice and peace as an integral condition for the preparation and celebration of the Great Jubilee.  This commitment cannot be ignored or excused …

Frequently, people are tempted to blame the poor for the conditions that oppress them ...  Such a mentality plagues our present times, leading to a culture of death, which includes abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and capital punishment ...

Pope John Paul II asks us to replace our fear and prejudice toward the poor with new attitudes for a Christian response ... 

"to overcome every form of exploitation and oppression. It is a question not only of alleviating the most serious and urgent needs through individual actions here and there, but of uncovering the roots of evil and proposing initiatives to make social, political and economic structures more just and fraternal ..."

While many steps have been taken across the country to enrich and carry out the social mission of our parishes, much more remains to be done. Our social tradition remains unknown to many parishioners, and parish social ministry remains the task for too few. As social conditions worsen and poverty deepens in a way unseen by most of us, parishes are called to greater consciousness as well as more determined action at home and abroad …

As the parish gathers for the celebration of the Eucharist, the needs and rights of the poor and disenfranchised must be placed on the table … The Word proclaimed in the Eucharist must affirm and celebrate the parish's work for charity, justice, and peace. The Word must inspire social analysis and concerted action, leading the people of God to a renewed commitment to the poor.
 
 

Resources for Parish
Justice & Peace Ministry

Church Documents

U.S. Bishops, Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish, 1993.
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/saltandlight.htm

U.S. Bishops, Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, 1997.
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/contents.htm

U.S. Bishops, Everyday Christianity: A Pastoral Reflection on Lay Discipleship for Justice in a New Millennium, 1998.
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/everyday.htm

Copies of these & other documents are available from USCC Publishing Services at (800) 235-8722.
 

Fred Kammer, Doing FaithJustice: An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought, Paulist Press, 1991.

Marvin L. Krier Mich, Catholic Social Teaching and Movements, Twenty-Third Publications, 1998.
 

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
P.O. Box 12516, Richmond, VA 23241
Phone:   (804) 643-2474
Email:    vicpp@ix.netcom.com
Web Site:  http://www.vicpp.com

Parenting for Peace & Justice Network
4144 Lindell Blvd. #408, St. Louis, MO 63108
Phone:   (314) 533-4445 
E-mail:   Ppjn@aol.com
Web Site:  http://www.ipj-ppj.org
 

USCC Office of Social Development & World Peace
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/

NCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/index.htm

Theological Library on Catholic Social Teaching
http://www.mcgill.pvt.k12.al.us/jerryd/cm/cst.htm

Salt of the Earth: The On-line Resource for Social Justice 
http://salt.claretianpubs.org/

Sowers of Justice News:
Activities of the Catholic Community and 
Friends Working for the Common Good

Living Wage Campaign in Southwest Virginia
By Clare McBrien

A living wage campaign is a commitment for the long haul.  The Sowers of Justice-sponsored Roundtable on Poverty began working on a living wage project last year with the Virginia Organizing Project and Concerned Citizens Network.

Those working on the living wage campaign in Wythe and Bland counties are promoting a wage which will enable full-time workers to exceed the poverty level. They estimate that $8 an hour with health care benefits would enable hardworking families to afford the necessities of life.

The campaign has studied wages in the area, the earnings of corporations that own local businesses, and the compensation for the chief executive officers of those corporations.  Right now attention is focused on wages of town and county employees.

The campaign discovered that it would not take much money to get all town employees on a living wage scale.  It seems very doable, costing the town an additional $8,000 which is only 0.18% of the entire budget.  The question is will the town councilors agree to raise the standards.

Members of the town council and the chair of the county board of supervisors attend Roundtable on Poverty meetings. So there has been a good dialogue on the effect of raising wages on taxes and the resulting impact on low income senior citizens.

For the past month participants in the living wage campaign have peppered the local newspaper with letters about a living wage.  This generated an editorial on Labor Day in support of a living wage, and drew some positive and negative responses from other citizens.

Another approach is to give award certificates to employers in the area who are paying wages at or above $8 per hour with benefits.

Right now the seed is being planted, and people are aware of the possibility of making Wythe and Bland counties living wage communities. 
 

Tidewater Plans Death Penalty Conference
By Candice Neenan

Tidewater Sowers of Justice and St. Nicholas Parish in Virginia Beach will sponsor Challenge of Faith: The Death Penalty -- a conference to examine the death penalty.

This weekend event will take place at St. Nicholas on Friday evening, January 12 and Saturday, January 13, 2001.  Sister Helen Prejean -- author of the book, Dead Man Walking -- will give the keynote address on Friday evening.

The second day of the conference will feature presentations and dialogue with local and national figures active in the death penalty debate.  Lunch is included in the $15 registration fee. The luncheon speaker, Rev. Billy Moore, spent several years on death row in Georgia and was the object of a clemency request from Mother Teresa.

A number of important questions will be addressed by the conference:

• Does society have the right to take the life of even a guilty person? 
• Is it an illusion to believe that the death penalty protects life by taking life? 
• Does the death penalty contribute to a culture of life or a culture of death? 
• Does implementation of the death penalty reflect prejudice against the poor or people of color? 
• Even if society has the right, should it exercise that right when modern penal systems provide a secure alternative of life imprisonment without parole?

For information about the conference, contact Candice Neenan via E-mail or phone at (757) 340-7231. 
 

Refugee & Immigration Services
Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary!

In October 2000 Refugee and Immigration Services (RIS), a diocesan agency, celebrates 25 years of resettling people displaced from their homes by war and repression from every corner of the globe.

The following resolution, adopted by the Virginia General Assembly, gives a striking overview of the great work done by this church-sponsored organization:

House Joint Resolution No. 61
Commending Refugee and Immigration Services of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond for 25 years of refugee resettlement.   Patron—Robert F. McDonnell

WHEREAS, the year 2000 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of a permanent Refugee Resettlement program at the Catholic Diocese of Richmond; and

WHEREAS, the United States has gained strength from welcoming to its shores refugees and immigrants; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia is the birthplace of religious tolerance, which became a foundation of American law; and

WHEREAS, since 1975 Virginians have assisted more than 20,000 refugees in rebuilding their lives and have contributed numerous resources and countless hours of volunteer time to aid and welcome the Commonwealth's newest residents; and

WHEREAS, refugee resettlement builds on the capacity of individuals and families who, having lost their material possessions, professions, language, and culture, are able to rebuild vibrant lives; and

WHEREAS, refugees and immigrants have contributed to the economic and social strength and ethnic richness of communities throughout our Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly extend congratulations to the staff and volunteers of Refugee and Immigration Services of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond for 25 years of successful refugee resettlement; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Bishop Walter F. Sullivan in honor of the 25th anniversary of Refugee and Immigration Services. 

 

October 15	St. Mary's Parish	Richmond
October 29	Virginia Western Community College	Roanoke
November 5	Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish	Newport News

Call your local RIS office for details — Norfolk (757) 623-9131; Richmond (804) 355-4559; and Roanoke (540) 342-7561.
 
 
 

Cardinal Law Calls for End of Embargo Against Cuba

Cardinal Bernard Law, Archbishop of Boston and president of the U.S. Bishops' International Policy Committee, requested that the United States lift the embargo that has weighed on Cuba over the past 40 years.

"The embargo imposed by the United States has, in my view, long exhausted the moral legitimacy it may once have had and should be abandoned," Boston's Cardinal said.

Cardinal Law applauded recent efforts in Congress to ease restrictions on the sale of food and medicines to Cuba. "Whatever the motives some members may have for seeking an end to restrictions on the sale of food and medicines to Cuba, any measures that relieve the present unjust shortages of basic foods and medicines for the average Cuban, especially the poor, are to be commended," he said.
 

Diocesan TARGET Program

For parishes just getting started in justice & peace education work, the diocesan TARGET program may be just what you need!

There are two goals for the TARGET program:

• To educate parishioners about Catholic social teaching, and 

• To raise additional funds for three of the church's social ministries -- the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the diocesan Respect Life Fund, and Catholic Relief Services.

Check out the TARGET web page for details!

Or contact Michael Stone via E-mail or phone at (804) 359-5661, ext. 128.
 
 

New Video: ‘Arms for the Poor’

This 25 minute video explores the weapons export business.  The film examines a bi-partisan effort to enact a Code of Conduct to curtail weapons sales to non-democratic nations.

Arms for the Poor presents an array of international dignitaries and activists who urge that the world's poor need food, schools and doctors instead of weapons.

OJP has many other videos on a wide range of justice & peace topics.

There is a $5 fee if OJP mails a videotape; it is free if picked up from the office. Contact Martha Mainous via E-mail or by phone at (804) 359-5661, ext. 127.
 
 

Mt. Olive Pickle Company is a premier packer and a powerful force in the pickle processing business. Its familiar jars of pickles, relishes and peppers look good and taste good.  But the label only tells you what’s inside. It does not tell you how the pickles got there.

Farmworkers often labor 12-hour days, six or seven days a week during the growing season, with no minimum wage standards enforced and squalid, substandard housing. Some are exposed to toxic pesticides.  Others don’t have access to portable toilets or hand-washing facilities. 

In the area around Mt. Olive, North Carolina -- site of the company’s 68-acre headquarters -- more than 2,300 farmworkers have signed authorization cards asking the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) to represent them. [FLOC now represents thousands of workers in Ohio and Michigan cucumber and tomato fields.] 

Major food processors like the Mt. Olive Company control agribusiness today. They dictate the terms of contracts with farmers long before the crop is planted. They tell farmers how much they’ll be paid on delivery.  Based on that price, workers are hired by farmers to harvest the crop.

The Mt. Olive Company controls working conditions and the marketplace. On its own web site, company officials admit they "set specifications which the grower must meet … (and) monitor the growing to ensure our standards are met." Despite this control, the company denies its responsibility and dismisses all criticism with the comment , "We don´t employ farmworkers; the growers do."

Mt. Olive Company officials have so far refused to bargain a contract to improve wages and conditions.

As a result, FLOC has called on people of faith and good will to boycott Mt. Olive pickles in order to pressure the company to bargain with farmworkers. Boycott endorsers include Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, the North Carolina Council of Churches, the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, the AFL-CIO and many others.

For more information, visit the FLOC web site.