Catholic Social Teaching:
Do you know it, use it, season it and live it?
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We reflected on, and are encouraged by, our
long history of resisting and overcoming injustice against terrible
odds. We are rightly proud of ourselves, our parents, grandparents, and
forebears, who used great courage and wits to end slavery, lynching, Jim
Crow, and legal segregation, and to maintain cultural histories and
traditions.
Donna Grimes, Education Specialist for the Catholic
Campaign for Human Development, leads our new commission. Each member made a
three year commitment to work together to promulgate the principle of Social
Justice in the Black Catholic community.
We dream of a future Church in which: 1) Catholic
clergy and laity know Catholic Social Teaching; 2) use the teaching to analyze
social conditions, particularly those with special impact in our community; 3)
act upon that teaching to work for justice for all; and 4) season Catholic
activism with African American culture and hospitality.
Through prayer, Sacred Scripture, the sacraments,
promoting forgiveness and reconciliation, and coming together in a spirit of
discipleship, the Social Justice Commission members are committed to designing
and implementing the means to make that dream a reality. We'll be preparing
materials for the next NBCC Congress gathering in Buffalo in 2007 and will make
ourselves available as resources for parishes and pastoral leaders.
A more hopeful future is possible for Blacks both in
the United States and abroad. Catholics have so much to contribute to that
positive future, but first we must "Know Catholic Social Teaching. Use it.
Season it. And Act on it!"
For further information about the Social Justice
Commission, contact Donna Grimes at
dgrimes@usccb.org.
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