Category Archives: Front Page

Pope Francis Voter Tour Takes Toledo!

The Pope Francis Voter Tour Takes Toledo!

Colin Martinez-Longmore
October 26, 2022

The Pope Francis Voter tour made a stop in Toledo Ohio, where we took a few days to get some much needed rest and recharge before another week of political ministry.

Our site visit for Toledo was at the Center of Hope Family Services, a family-led nonprofit organization that provides a vast array of programs and services for both youth and adults in the community. We arrived on a cloudy Monday morning and were greeted warmly by Dr. Tracee Perryman, the CEO and Co-Founder of the Center of Hope. Dr. Perryman gave us a tour of the Center’s facility that is in the process of expanding. The impressive facility includes offices, meeting spaces, a direct service and programming area, and even a recording studio! After our tour, we all sat down in their conference room to hear more about the ways the Center of Hope has been a positive change agent for the community.

The Center of Hope Family Services has been serving youths, adults and families in Toledo for 25 years. It started from Center of Hope Community Baptist Church, and thanks to its success and growth, it was able to expand into its own 501©-3 nonprofit. One of the wonderful services we learned about was their court advocacy services that helped countless young people navigate the often-complex and daunting juvenile justice system. We also learned about their ELEVATE program which serves local students from grades K-4 who are at risk for academic failure. The program was such a success that it was expanded into a published curriculum, outlining an eight month afterschool education program that helps children thrive.

After our visit, we held a Speak out in their lobby to a small group of NETWORK supporters and members, and our broader online audience. Dr. Michael Carter, a pastor, community leader and an Elevate parent who has had his children involved in the program, was a featured speaker. He shared his experience about how the ELEVATE program has benefitted his son through their homework assistance program and even some at-home cooking classes that taught him how to cook quiche and dump cakes!

Organizations like the Center of Hope Family Services are inspiring for their innovation and unwavering commitment to underserved communities. We see the Pope Francis Voter spirit alive in their efforts as they tackle the multiple issues affecting their communities. If you are interested in supporting their organization, we encourage you to visit their website: https://www.cohfs.org/

Pope Francis Voter Tour: Detroit Town Hall for Spirit-Filled Voters

Celebrating Community at the Detroit Town Hall for Spirit-Filled Voters

Catherine Gillette
October 26, 2022

On October 13, NETWORK’s Pope Francis Voter Tour continued on  with a Town Hall for Spirit-Filled Voters in Detroit, Michigan.  With more than 100 Spirit-filled advocates in attendance, this event was co-hosted by the IHM Sisters, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team, and the Elephants in the Living Room.  It was held at the Marygrove Conservancy.

Due to the pandemic, I haven’t done many in-person trainings over the past few years.  While Zoom is nice (and certainly has its benefits), there is such a richness to spending time together…in-person! Perhaps that is why “community” was my big takeaway from this town hall. It popped up in a number of ways.

First, it is important to understand the significance of today’s Town Hall venue.  The Marygrove Conservancy was formed after Marygrove College’s 2019 closure.  It is a non-profit organization that cares for the 53-acre campus and “envisions the campus as an anchor and hub of a thriving Northwest Detroit community, in which all children and families are engaged in transformative educational experiences from cradle to career…”  It is a continuation of the Marygrove College legacy and a powerful commitment to the surrounding community.

Three older white ladies with gray hair wearing masks look at the camera

Local sisters (left to right) Sr. Elizabeth Walters, IHM, Barbara Beasley, IHM, and Karen Donahue, RSM, all spoke about the reasons they are Pope Francis Voters at the Detroit Town Hall

Beyond that, I have to give another shout-out to our hosts.  We are always grateful when someone is willing to collaborate with us to host a NETWORK event. That said, it is particularly exciting when multiple entities join forces and collaborate on an event.  Being hosted by the IHM Sisters, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team, AND the Elephants in the Living Room was a treat. All of the folks I encountered throughout the day were open-minded, curious, supportive of our vision, and enthusiastic about engaging on the upcoming election. Being with the community our hosts brought together was an absolute joy.

Our program today began with a Buzz Question—asking folks how they are feeling about the upcoming election and where they find hope. To be honest, many people were feeling afraid, worried, or nervous. However, when we asked where they found hope, we heard “being here,” “young people,” and “community.” During challenging times, there is such comfort and power in coming together as a community.

Finally, I am perhaps most grateful for our Town Hall attendees’ willingness to take their learnings plus NETWORK’s Equally Sacred Checklist and share them with their own communities—parishes, congregations, schools, community groups, and more!  A significant part of being a Pope Francis Voter is a willingness and commitment to do the work. We must commit to having hard conversations with our families and friends. We must work together to grow the community of Pope Francis Voters, and I’m confident that our Detroit Town Hall attendees will go forth and do just that!

Our community is passionate, committed, and growing. That is what gives me hope during this election season.

The Pope Francis Voter Tour Visits the University of Detroit Mercy

The Pope Francis Voter Tour Visits the University of Detroit Mercy

Colin Martinez-Longmore
October 25, 2022

The Pope Francis Voter Tour made its first college stop in Detroit at the University of Detroit Mercy. UDM is a Catholic school sponsored by both the Jesuits and the Sisters of Mercy, serving over 5,000 students all throughout the metro Detroit area. The student body is diverse and vibrant, which provided a wonderful atmosphere of interfaith and ecumenical encounters during our time there.

We connected with the University Ministry for our visit, specifically with Sr. Erin McDonald, CSJ, who was our gracious host and collaborator for our events. Sr. Erin is a social worker and serves as the University Minister for Service and Justice, where she is in charge of building community relationships, as well as programming various service and social justice opportunities. Together, we planned to bring our Becoming Pope Francis Voters workshop to the students, to help mobilize and encourage young voters of faith to do the work of being multi-issue voters during the midterm elections!

Our day began with a bit of tabling at the University Library. We set up shop near the entrance, and began to have conversations with some of the students who were walking by. Using our website Turbovote link, we were able to help students check their voter registration status and register themselves if needed. We also shared some NETWORK resources, like our Equally Sacred Checklist, and invited them to join us for our workshop that evening. And since no tabling is complete without some fun goodies, we gave away lots of Halloween candy as well.

Later that evening, we moved over to the university’s beautifully designed Loranger Architecture Building, where we hosted our workshop. There were about 20 students who participated in the interactive workshop, where we talked about what it means to be a Pope Francis Voter. The room buzzed with conversation during the breakout small group sessions and we heard honest reflections from a few students about their hopes for the midterm elections and beyond.

It was a blessing to be able to spend time with the University of Detroit Mercy community. We’re grateful to Sr. Erin McDonald, CSJ, the University Ministry and all of the students who joined us in doing the work to build a multi-racial and inclusive democracy.

This Saturday: White Supremacy and American Christianity

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

Earlier this year, thousands of justice-seekers joined us to hear from experts working at the intersection of religion and race — Fr. Bryan Massingale, Robert P. Jones, and Dr. Marcia Chatelain.

Join us this Saturday as Fr. Bryan Massingale and Robert P. Jones return to speak with NETWORK for a follow-up conversation on white supremacy and American Christianity, this time in light of the upcoming midterm elections. Together, we’ll continue learning about the intersection of white supremacy and American Christianity, with a focus on our politics.

If you’ve already registered — help us spread the word!
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White Supremacy and American Christianity
Saturday, October 29, 2022 | 12:30-2:00 PM Eastern

This event will take place on Zoom.
Co-Sponsored by the National Black Sisters’ Conference

Register and invite your friends and family!

 

Meet Our Speakers

Fr. Bryan Massingale, Robert P. Jones, Joan F. Neal headshots

Robert P. Jones is the President and Founder of PRRI, and author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. Robert P. Jones speaks and writes regularly on politics, culture, and religion in national media outlets including CNN, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others.

Fr. Bryan Massingale is the James and Nancy Buckman Professor of Theological and Social Ethics, as well as the Senior Ethics Fellow in Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education and author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church. Fr. Massingale is a noted authority on social and racial justice issues, particularly in Catholic spaces.

Joan F. Neal is the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer at NETWORK where she shares overall leadership of the organization and leads strategic planning and racial equity and justice transformation work. Joan F. Neal is an experienced organizational leader and an authority on the intersection of faith, justice, and federal policymaking.

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It's time to address, repent and repair for the original sin of slavery and the racist laws and policies that followed

Now Is the Time to Address, Repent, and Repair

Now Is the Time to Address, Repent, and Repair

Joan Neal, Deputy Executive Director & Chief Equity Officer
June 17, 2022

On Juneteenth, we honor and observe those in Galveston, Texas who were the last to receive the news that all enslaved people were now free. As important as it is for Juneteenth to be a national holiday, this national commemoration must be paired with support for policies that name and address the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow that continue to this day. To ignore our country’s sin of legalized chattel slavery, to pretend that it did not exist, or that it is no longer relevant to modern life, is to be in complete denial. 

Joan Neal, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer, contributed open remarks for NETWORK’s recent H.R.40 Webinar. Watch below.

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/xEnSe5cPo68?t=530″ width=”360″ height=”300″ title=”Now Is Time to Address, Repent, and Repair”]

Slavery happened. Black human beings were put in chains, in bondage, and in indentured servitude, for more than 200 years. It is a part of America’s history and we must start by telling the truth about it. Especially, people of faith, for whom honesty and truth-telling are values.  Scripture and our religious tradition tell us you cannot be truly free of sin unless you admit that you have sinned, make a firm determination to sin no more, and, make restitution for what was lost.  The sin is not forgiven until all parties are whole again.  As a country, as a people, we cannot move beyond this evil until and unless the country tells the truth about our history and takes responsibility for the wrong it has done to a group of its own citizens.   

The question of reparations for slavery has been on the table in this country for two centuries.  Even though the 13th Amendment ended legal slavery in the United States in 1865, the residual bondage of African-Americans has continued even to this day.  The ideology of white supremacy not only persisted, it found ways to morph chattel slavery into second-class citizenship through laws, structures, systems and cultural traditions at every level of our society.  Enough is enough! 

More than four hundred years of racist policies, laws and practices have deprived African-Americans of equal access to participation in the cultural, political, social and economic life of this country. And the Catholic Church not only condoned this evil, but participated in it. The global Catholic Church supported the Atlantic Slave Trade starting with the Doctrine of Discovery, which appears in the 1455 Papal Bull of Pope Nicholas V, authorizing the enslavement of African people in the pursuit of new territory for Portugal and Spain. In the United States, many religious orders including the Jesuits, as well as individual Bishops, dioceses and churches, embraced enslavement, Jim Crow laws, and other forms of discrimination and racism.   

The Catholic Church gave slave ownership moral absolution and enthusiastic acceptance.  Moreover, centuries of racist violence, like what we saw in Charleston, South Carolina and Buffalo, New York, and oppression, like the many states where voter suppression laws are being passed to depress the Black vote, continue to be incompatible with and contradictory to the Christian call to love one another as we love ourselves and to live in right relationship.   

It is time to confess, to repent, and to repair. The harmful legacy of white supremacy and the enduring racial wealth gap must no longer deny Black people good health, educational and economic outcomes.   

How do faith teachings call us to respond?  What is our moral responsibility in the face of this history as well as the ongoing impact of the legacy of slavery?   

As Catholics and as followers of Christ, our faith calls us to be in solidarity with all who have been or are marginalized and to act for what is right and just. That means in this case, if you are white, to fearlessly tell the truth about white supremacy, racial injustice and lack of equity in our society in order to diminish the impact of historical and contemporary racism in today’s political, social and economic systems, frameworks and institutions. It means that you courageously face up to the original sin of this country, renounce it once and for all, and do all in your power to repair the damage that has been done to your neighbor. It means that you take responsibility for the sins of the past, repair the wrongs done in this day and time, and ensure that the sins of your ancestors are not visited upon your children, your neighbor’s children or their children’s children or anyone in the future.   

The prophet Micah told us what God expects of us– ‘to do justice, to love mercy and walk humbly with God.’  Now is the time for the United States to ‘do justice’ for African-Americans.  Individual reparations programs, like that of the Jesuits, are commendable but they are not enough.  We need a national reparation program that achieves a meaningful closing of the wealth gap between Black and white Americans, now estimated to be $11 trillion.   

That is why we, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, support establishing a federal commission to study reparations, either by passing H.R.40 through Congress, or through an executive order from the Biden-Harris administration. This will take the first step forward to do justice with mercy.  

Now is the time. Now is the time to take the step forward, to say no more evading responsibility, no more denying the truth of the past, no more refusing to repair the wrong.  Catholic teaching is clear: Our entire national community must move forward together toward reparatory justice so we can become that beloved community we envision.   

Now is the time to address, repent, and repair. This Juneteenth, 157 years after that momentous day in Galveston, may our reflections on the symbolic importance of this anniversary move us to action.  

NETWORK and Faith-based Organizations Urge the Swift Passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (The PRO Act)

NETWORK and Faith-based Organizations Urge the Swift Passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (The PRO Act)

Laura Peralta-Schulte
October 18, 2022

Dear Senator,

We, the undersigned national, regional, and local faith-based organizations, urge the swift passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Last year, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 842 and it is time for the Senate to send this critical legislation to President Biden’s desk.

As an interfaith community, we believe all workers should be free to act in solidarity with one another and make their voices heard. Our belief in the intrinsic worth of both work and workers leads us to strongly support the PRO Act, which will strengthen and expand the right of workers to bargain collectively, form unions, and engage in collective action without fear of retaliation from their employers. Such assurances are also better for the employers as they contribute to better productivity, mutual collaboration, and sustainability.

Our current labor laws are no longer effective in protecting the lives and dignity of workers and fall woefully short of allowing workers to effectively advocate for their needs from a position of mutuality with employers. As union membership has fallen due to counter-productive laws and amendments, inequality has skyrocketed leaving the working class with little constructive power over their own economic security; and thus, also harming sustainable business models.

The PRO Act addresses these current inadequacies by empowering workers to effectively exercise their freedom to organize and bargain. Critically, it also ends employers’ practice of punishing striking workers, strengthens the National Labor Relations Board and allows it to hold corporations accountable for retaliating against workers, and would help us collectively do better for all our needs by repealing “right to work” laws which are a harmful legacy of the Jim Crow Era.

“Right to work” laws originated in the 1940s as a way to reinforce Jim Crow by maintaining labor segregation and further exploiting workers of color. These laws allowed states to ban unions from requiring workers who benefit from collective bargaining to help pay for bargaining costs. Today, 8 of the 10 states with the highest percentage of Black residents have “right to work” laws, which prohibit fair share fees. These restrictions strip funding and bargaining power from unions which have a devastating effect on the economic stability of people of color.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on “right to work” laws, preaching that “In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans such as ‘right to work.’ It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions for everyone…Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer, and there are no civil rights.”

The PRO Act is more than labor reform, it is civil rights legislation. A union contract is generally one of the best tools we have to close the racial and gender wage divide. A union contract also often ensures dignity and due process for workers, regardless of where they were born, who they are, or what industry they work in. Removing barriers to organizing and bargaining is critically important to workers who have been marginalized or those working in segregated fields such as the service industry. Such barriers are forms of structural violence. Finally, expanding collective bargaining will increase protections for women, people of color, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community in areas where our laws still fall short. Such attention to those most marginalized benefits all of us as a community.

With all of this in mind, it is not surprising why the PRO Act, and unions in general, are popular. Research shows that more than 60 million people would vote to join a union today if given the opportunity—that is nearly half of all nonunion workers. Union density increased in 2020 amid the federal government’s failure to protect workers from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Finally, polls have found that union approval stands at 65 percent which is one of the highest marks in the last 50 years.

When left without regulation and enforcement, corporations, employers, and the government have forced the working class to accept poverty wages and stymied the enactment of necessary benefits such as paid family and medical leave. They have allowed income inequality to exponentially rise, leaving essential workers and their families with little to show for their labor.

A commitment to human dignity, worker justice, and the common good of all demands support for the PRO Act. This legislation would better the lives of tens of millions of workers and their families by creating an economy that is rooted in solidarity and supports working people as well as sustainable business models. We urge you to act and vote in the best interest of workers, employers, and the economy: Pass the PRO Act today.

In Solidarity,

ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Alliance of Baptists
American Baptist Home Mission Societies
American Friends Service Committee
Arise Chicago
Arizona Faith Network
Association of United States Catholic Priests
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
CAIR Arizona
Carolina Jews for Justice
Catholic Labor Network
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Christians for Equality
Church World Service
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
Coalition For Economic Justice
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Disciples Center for Public Witness
Disciples Justice Action Network
Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries
Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Washington D.C.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
Episcopal Church of New Hampshire
Farm Worker Ministry Northwest
Franciscan Action Network
Friends Committee On National Legislation
Glenmary Home Missioners
Granite State Organizing Project (GSOP)
Greater Birmingham Ministries
ICNA Council for Social Justice
Ignatian Solidarity Network
Interfaith Worker Justice – New Mexico
Interfaith Worker Justice of East Tennessee
Interfaith Worker Justice of San Diego County
Interreligious Network for Worker Solidarity
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Jewish Labor Committee
Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice
Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor & the Working Poor, Georgetown University
Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Maine Council of Churches
Meriden Congregational Church, UCC
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Jewish Women, South Cook Section
National Council of the Churches of Christ (USA)
National Farm Worker Ministry
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
NCJW Chicago North Shore
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Hampshire Conference/United Church of Christ, Economic Justice Mission Group
New Hampshire Council of Churches
New Hampshire Faith & Labor Coalition
North Carolina Council of Churches
Pax Christi USA
Peace & Justice Committee, Congregation of Mission, Western Province, U.S.A.
Poor People’s Campaign
Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness
Presbytery of Grand Canyon, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Religions for Peace USA
Repairers of the Breach
Sema Foundation
Society for Humanistic Judaism
Sojourners
Southwest Conference United Church of Christ
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Tempe Interfaith Fellowship
The Episcopal Church
The Labor Guild
The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
Unitarian Universalist Action New Hampshire
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association Pacific Western Region
Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries
Uri L’Tzedek: Orthodox Social Justice
WHEAT (World Hunger Ecumenical Az Task Force Inc)
Wisconsin Council of Churches
Worker Justice Wisconsin

“Time for a Renewed Commitment to the Common Good”

“Time for a Renewed Commitment to the Common Good”

Joan F. Neal Speaks on Catholic Panel on Protecting Democracy
October 18, 2022

Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer, spoke on a panel last week organized by Faith in Public Life, Protecting Democracy & Voting Rights: A Conversation with Catholic Activists.

Joan spoke with fellow Catholic activists Jeanné Lewis, CEO of Faith In Public Life; José-Arnulfo Cabrera, Co-Executive Director of Programs and Policy at the Young Latino Network; Milton Javier Bravo, Vice President for Mission, Values and Inclusion at Edgewood College; and Sr. Bridget Bearss, Associate Director for Transformative Justice, Leadership Conference Of Women Religious. The panel was moderated by John Gehring, Catholic Program Director at Faith in Public Life.

As we approach midterm elections, the dangerous and unjust effects of racist voting restrictions and suppression tactics are as clear and urgent as ever. Joan and her fellow panelists discussed how their faith compels them to act—and how Catholics can take action to uphold voting rights and promote democracy. As Pope Francis says, “Democracy requires participation and involvement on the part of all.”

National Catholic Reporter covered the event, quoting Joan:

“As Catholics, we are called to be multi-issue voters,” Neal said. “Whatever else you do, make sure that you vote.”

Missed the event? No problem! You can watch the conversation here:

Be a Multi-Issue Voter, a Pope Francis Voter and Improve Our Economy, Reduce Racism, and Safeguard Freedoms

Be a Multi-Issue Voter and Be a Pope Francis Voter. Sign Up to Learn How!

Election Workshops Teach You How to Be a Pope Francis Voter and Transform Politics!

Are you a multi-issue voter who is ready to be a Pope Francis Voter and build toward a multi-racial, inclusive democracy? Not sure what that means, but interested in how you can connect your faith, Catholic Social Justice, and voting? Then “Transform Our Politics! Becoming a Pope Francis Voter,” a virtual three-part election workshop series, is for you!

Each week, you will explore one of NETWORK’s Cornerstones to Build Our Country Anew: Dismantling Systemic Racism, Cultivating Inclusive Community, and Rooting Our Economy in Solidarity. The vision and skills you’ll acquire will help you during this election season and beyond. Download the Build Anew Agenda.

Your vote is your voice! Prepare with NETWORK staff to be a multi-issue Pope Francis Voter and transform our politics! We hope to see you at each 90-minute workshop. Session will be recorded.

Workshop I: Dismantle Systemic Racism

Learn how single-issue voting can be a cover for racism, nationalism, and extremism. Key policies that have begun to dismantle systemic racism in the U.S will be highlighted, and we’ll explore more that needs to happen.

Message training will help you take what you’ve learned into conversation with friends and family. Election season can complicate relationships, and so can talk of dismantling racism. NETWORK staff will model how you can use effective messaging to engage in transformative conversations.

Mon., Sept. 12, NOON Eastern/9:00 AM Pacific

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Wed., Sept. 14, 7:00 PM Eastern/4:00 PM Pacific

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Workshop II: Cultivate Inclusive Community

Explore your understanding of ‘inclusive community’ and break open the Catholic case for democracy. Some assert that inclusive communities create division and foster animosity toward people outside of the group.

NETWORK staff will show how inclusive communities are not exclusionary and are the polar opposite of White Christian Nationalism. We will envision how we can be part of creating a multi-racial, inclusive democracy this election season.

Mon., Sept. 19, NOON Eastern/9:00 AM Pacific

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Wed., Sept. 21, 7:00 PM Eastern/4:00 PM Pacific

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Workshop III: Root Our Economy in Solidarity

Learn about policies that address the racial wealth and income gap so that everyone has the economic stability needed to thrive. NETWORK staff will help you practice promoting these policies with the people in your life.

Engage in a discussion on the power and benefits of cross-cultural relationships and understanding to build racial solidarity. This must happen to bring NETWORK’s Build Anew Agenda into existence so we can build an economy of inclusion that values people and planet over profit. Participants will also learn how storytelling plays a role in transformative conversations.

Mon., Sept. 26, NOON Eastern/9:00 AM Pacific

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Wed., Sept. 28, 7:00 PM Eastern/4:00 PM Pacific

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A good Catholic meddles in politics -- Pope Francishe best of hiself, so that those who

Catholics Speak Out for Democracy and Our Freedoms

Add your name to this important statement from Faith in Public Life, the Sisters of Mercy, the National Black Sisters’ Conference, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Franciscan Action Network, and Catholic scholars and leaders across the country.

Catholics Speak Out for Democracy and Our Freedoms

As Catholic social justice leaders, sisters, clergy, theologians and Catholic university presidents, we are compelled to speak out at a time when democracy and the future of our nation’s freedoms are threatened by powerful interests.

White Christian nationalism —  an ideology heretical to authentic faith — represents a clear and present danger to building a multi-faith, multiracial democracy. Testimony and evidence from Congressional hearings on the violent insurrection against our country last January 6th have only strengthened our urgency to confront attacks against the principle that voters choose our leaders in free and peaceful elections.

We are increasingly alarmed by the signs of the times. Threats of political violence and dehumanizing rhetoric toward elected officials have increased in recent years.The Supreme Court, which in 2013 dismantled key provisions of the landmark Voting Rights Act, will in its upcoming term hear a case that experts warn could empower gerrymandered partisan legislatures to override the will of the voters in the 2024 elections. Lawmakers in states across the country have passed dozens of laws, many based on completely false political premises, specifically designed to make voting more difficult. These laws disproportionately impact Black and Brown citizens — a shameful echo of our country’s ugly history of racial discrimination.

Catholics must not be silent in the face of growing threats to voters, fair elections and democratic principles.

Our faith tradition teaches that every person deserves equal access to participate fully in our democracy. Pope Francis has said that “democracy requires participation and involvement on the part of all.” The Second Vatican Council declared in Gaudium et Spes: “It is in full accord with human nature that juridical political structures should, with ever better success and without any discrimination, afford all their citizens the chance to participate freely and actively in establishing the constitutional bases of a political community, governing the state, determining the scope and purpose of various institutions, and choosing leaders.”

Powerful institutions and political leaders are working to rig the system and erect racially discriminatory obstacles to voting and full participation in American life. Voter suppression is a sin and silence is complicity. The struggle to ensure our government represents and serves all regardless of color, class or creed is a defining moral challenge of our time. We urge our elected officials in Congress and in state legislatures, especially our fellow Catholics, to support legislation that protects and strengthens the freedom to vote without barriers or interference.

Democracies are fragile. In recent years, this timeless truth has been shown in stark ways as demagogues and nationalists in the United States and around the world have attacked the very existence of pluralistic societies. It’s now time for a renewed commitment to the common good that makes full, equal participation in political life a moral priority.

This action alert is now closed. Thank you for your participation!

Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM, speaks at a reparations vigil in Cleveland in June 2022.

We Do Not Live Single-Issue Lives

We Do Not Live Single-Issue Lives

The Struggle For Justice Calls on All People To Recognize Our Interconnection
Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM
October 8, 2022

As an undergraduate student, my history classes introduced me to the activism of the 1960s: civil rights, voting rights, women’s liberation. I distinctly remember listening in awe to a guest speaker who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and thinking, “Wow, to have been a part of something that changed the course of this country…”

I naively thought that the era of fighting for our rights had passed, that we were on the right side of the moral arc of the universe. Of course, this is far from the case. The last six years have shown us that la lucha sigue, the struggle continues. Except now it’s more existential than it’s been at any time in my life, or even in my parents’ lifetimes.

Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM, speaks at a reparations vigil in Cleveland in June 2022.

Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM, a NETWORK Education and Organizing Specialist, speaks at a reparations vigil at a parish in Cleveland in June 2022.

It’s 2022, and I can’t believe that we’re fighting for the future of democracy. I had thought that was put to rest with the defeat of fascism in World War II, the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But no, we somehow face an onslaught of people in the U.S. who think that we should abandon the practice of upholding free and fair elections, and their vision of this country beyond elections are equally chilling.

The result is a long list of things I’m continually surprised to find myself advocating for today. We’re still fighting for voting rights, for an end to systemic racism, for immigration reform, for the acknowledgement of — let alone meaningful action on — climate change, for indigenous rights, for access to adequate health care, housing, and nutrition. In 2022, it’s easy to ask incredulously, how did we get here!?

In his Sept. 1 address in Philadelphia, President Biden said that “blind loyalty to a single leader” is a lethal threat to democracy. And renewed attempts to suppress the vote and overturn elections, and stripping away rights for all people, but especially women and non-white people, bears this out. But another blind loyalty to a single candidate or policy has also abetted this corrosive process. It’s the decades-long phenomenon of people, especially many Catholics, who engage in single-issue voting as their primary political engagement rather than working toward the common good.

Father Bryan Massingale offered the best rebuttal of this: “The crises that face us — militarism, racism, ecology and poverty — are interlocking, overlapping and compounded. … Single- issue groups and struggles will be neither effective nor compel people’s attention. To paraphrase the great Audre Lorde [a 20th-century Black writer and civil rights activist], many people do not have the luxury of engaging single-issue struggles because they — we — do not live single-issue lives.”

I would go a step further: Single-issue voting is conveniently racist. It’s like wearing blinders; it blocks out one’s view of the peripheries. To ignore systemic racism is to ignore active attempts at voter suppression and the lack of equal representation in our politics. Granting power to single-issue voters means that we silence the building up of inclusive communities. The rights of people of color, women, immigrants, indigenous peoples, LGBTQ+ community, and any other minority community are whittled away in the name of single-issue voting.

As Pope Francis reminded us in his 2018 letter in Gaudate et Exsultate, “Rejoice and Be Glad” that the lives of all people who are marginalized in our communities are “equally sacred.” That includes all kinds of people who are already born: people in poverty, people who are ill, the elderly, and victims of human trafficking. This is the call for all people: If we continue to only focus on a single issue, we will be responsible for the fall of our democracy, for the death of our planet.

The bitter fruits of the insurrection, blatant racism in our institutions and policies, election deniers, and attempts to suppress the vote should scream out to us. They beg of our attention. We must call on all people of faith and goodwill to be multi-issue voters and work to uphold and advance Gospel values.