Category Archives: Spirit Filled Network

White Supremacy and American Christianity: Fascism or Faith

Take Action After Watching White Supremacy in American Christianity

White Supremacy and American Christianity Series

Fascism or Faith

Budget Reconciliation Toolkit

Bring the discussion to your community with messaging and resources from our NETWORK team.

Download the Guide
Watch Only: Joan, Dr. Jones, and Fr. Massingale
Watch Only: Joan's Conversation with Amanda Tyler

What is White Christian Nationalism?

NETWORK partner, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), released a joint project with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) detailing Christian nationalism’s prominence in the January 6 insurrection. In it, Amanda Taylor of BJC shares, “Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that seeks to merge American and Christian identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism relies on the mythological founding of the United States as a ‘Christian nation,’ singled out for God’s providence in order to fulfill God’s purposes on earth. Christian nationalism demands a privileged place for Christianity in public life, buttressed by the active support of government at all levels.

Christian nationalism is not Christianity, though it is not accurate to say that Christian nationalism has nothing to do with Christianity. Christian nationalism relies on Christian imagery and language.”

Watch Previous White Supremacy and American Christianity Conversations

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 5
We Choose Freedom
White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 4

With previous discussion laying out the roots, influences, and threats to democracy posed by white supremacy in our churches and politics, Fr. Bryan N. Massingale, Dr. Robert P. Jones, and NETWORK’s Joan F. Neal looked to the future and explored how we the U.S. can move beyond Christian nationalism. And young adult justice-seekers shared how they connect their work for democracy to their faith. White Supremacy and American Christianity: Moving Towards Beloved Community was a special conversation, focused on the future and the possibility of a vibrant, multi-faith, multi-racial democracy where every person can thrive, without exception.

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 3

In October 2023, ethics professor Fr. Bryan N. Massingale, author Robert P. Jones, and NETWORK’s Joan F. Neal gathered for White Supremacy and American Christianity: A Consistent Ethic of Hate Threatens Our Democracy. The country was on the precipice of a budget crisis. House extremists didn’t want to negotiate, they wanted a government shutdown–they were a threat to our democracy. Their actions, rooted in white supremacy and Christian nationalism, were positioned to harm those they view as other: Black and Brown citizens and non-English speaking Black and Brown immigrants. Instead of building a pluralistic democracy, they aimed to diminish the progress and presence of non-white people in our country and throw our government into chaos.

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 2

In October 2022, ethics professor Fr. Bryan N. Massingale and author Robert P. Jones participated in an enlightening conversation ahead of this year’s midterm for an exploration on the influence of  White Supremacy in American Christianity on our politics. The conversation was moderated by NETWORK’s Joan F. Neal.

White Supremacy and American Christianity, Part 1

In April 2022, NETWORK engaged experts working at the intersection of racism, nationalism, and Christianity for a conversation on the poisonous effect that White Supremacy has on American Christianity. Fr. Bryan N. Massingale, Dr. Robert P. Jones, and NETWORK’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer Joan F. Neal were joined by Georgetown University’s Dr. Marcia Chatelain.

White Supremacy and American Christianity Guest Speakers

Darcy Hirsh is the Senior Director of Policy & Advocacy at Interfaith Alliance, (Part 3) where she leads the organization’s policy work at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as its critical advocacy in the courts.

Dr. 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. Dr. Robert Jones’s latest book is a New York Times best-seller. You can buy it here: The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future and follow Dr. Jones through his newsletter at https://www.whitetoolong.net/.

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. Read Fr. Massingale’s Op-Ed in National Catholic Reporter, “As the election cycle cranks up, Christians need to call out white Christian nationalism” and his keynote address at the 2022 Outreach Conference: “Intersectionality and LGBTQ Ministry”

Professor Marcia Chatelain, Ph.D., is the winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History (Part 1) her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. She is a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University and the leading organizer behind the #FergusonSyllabus, an online educational resource that has shaped educational conversations about racism and police brutality since 2014. 

Keep Up with NETWORK

Just Politics Catholic Podcast Season 2
Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters from Wisconsin join in the Sisters Speak Out: Prayer and Public Witness for Immigrants and a Just Economy event on Capitol Hill on June 24.

Nonviolent Resistance and Catholic Faith

Nonviolent Resistance and Catholic Faith

Two Traditions Promote Beloved Community

Virginia Schilder
September 23, 2025
Sr. Patty Chappell andSr. Ann Howard, SNDdeN hold a sign at the June 24 Sisters Speak Out event on Capitol Hill.

Sr. Ann Howard, SNDdeN hold a sign at the June 24 Sisters Speak Out : Prayer and Public Witness for Immigrants and a Just Economy event on Capitol Hill.

Before this year, Aiden Bondurant had only ever protested one time: against the execution of Khaliifah Williams in Missouri. But in just the first half of 2025, she went to five protests — joining her community members in voicing their opposition to the deportations of immigrants, predatory ICE arrests at courthouses, and the proposed budget that would hand tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy by slashing programs like Medicaid and SNAP.

“It was clear that for the hundred people protesting on the street, there were thousands more in our community who felt the same,” Bondurant says. She recalls many passing cars affirming the protests with their “honks of support.”

Bondurant is one of the millions of people across the U.S. who have taken part in peaceful protests since the second Trump administration took office. These protestors are regular people who share a fundamental belief in a future where all can thrive. They are people who refuse the lies that try to pit them against their neighbors and who insist that they can together make life better in their communities.

History affirms their insistence. Countries that have started to slide into fascism have been able to redirect towards democracy through nonviolent civil resistance from ordinary people. Research from Erica Chenoweth, a researcher at Harvard University, shows that it only takes about 3.5 percent of the population actively engaging in protests to effect real, lasting change. In the U.S., that’s around 11 million people — about the population of North Carolina.

Advocates in action

Today, millions of peaceful demonstrators across the country are joined by hundreds of NETWORK justice-seekers, including members of NETWORK Advocates teams like Mary Nelson, OFS, and Krista Zivkovich.

Nelson, a Secular Franciscan and retired physical therapist, is the leader of the Western Pennsylvania NETWORK Advocates Team. Along with the several communities of women religious in her local Erie area, Nelson participates in regular protests. Lately, the focus of those demonstrations has shifted to making sure Erie upholds its designation as a “Welcoming City” to its many refugee and immigrant community members.

Nelson comes to nonviolent protest guided by the rules that direct her life as a Secular Franciscan, which call members to “be in the forefront in promoting justice by the testimony of their human lives and courageous initiatives.”

She prays, “I am hopeful that more people will feel comfortable speaking out against the tyranny and injustice we are currently facing.”

Krista and Ed Zivkovich participate at an Ohio Hands Off rally in April.

Krista and Ed Zivkovich participate at an Ohio Hands Off rally in April.

Nearby in Ohio, Krista Zivkovich was inspired the join the Cleveland NETWORK Advocates Team by the first Nuns on the Bus tour. She describes herself as “a Matthew 25 Catholic,” guided by the question, “Why aren’t you doing what you say you believe?”

Zivkovich and her husband have joined in many nonviolent protests over the years, from local protests with Moms Demand Action for gun safety reform to calling for climate action in Washington, D.C. When some of her fellow parishioners at her church in Painesville were deported during the first Trump administration, she joined prayer pilgrimages hosted by her parish.

Since President Trump returned to office, Zivkovich has been to five protests, including ones targeted to her Congressman David Joyce (OH-14), who has held no local in-person town halls. Because her husband runs the food pantry at their parish, the couple knows how communities rely on SNAP and other food programs — knowledge she shares with her Congressman’s staff.

“Rev. Theodore Hesburgh said, ‘Voting is a civil sacrament,’” Zivkovich explains. “I believe that peaceful protests calling for adequate funding for food, health care, truth in government, etc., are also civic sacraments. Visible signs of our belief that the government should uphold the life and dignity of all.”

NETWORK advocates like Zivkovich, Nelson, and Bondurant join a long tradition of faith-based civil resistance, in which Catholics play a central role. The history of Catholic nonviolence includes landmark figures like Dorothy Day who protested war and poverty, and Sr. Antona Ebo, FSM, who marched at Selma for civil rights.

Day and Ebo are just two of scores of Catholics who drew from a rich array of the Catholic tradition’s resources to ground, nurture, and guide participation in nonviolent protest and public witness for justice. And of course, the example of Jesus himself is a key source.

“Jesus is the ultimate model of active nonviolence,” Sr. Louise Lears, SC affirms.

From injustice to love and hope
Sr. Louise Leers, SC speaks at a Cleveland townhall on the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends Vote Our Future tour. Photo Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Sr. Louise Leers, SC
Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

The Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati charism statement concludes with the words, “We dare to risk a caring response.” For two Sisters of Charity we spoke with, “risking a caring response” has meant a decades-long commitment to nonviolent protest.

Sr. Louise’s first experience with nonviolent resistance was in the 1980s at a nuclear weapons test site in Nevada. That experience kicked off her long commitment to peaceful resistance. This has included actions like the March For Our Lives, the Hands Off rallies, and the Poor People’s Campaign. She has joined rallies and marches, fasted for a moral budget, and held protest signs with other Sisters on busy streets.

Sr. Mary Ann Humbert, SC, spent 10 years traveling to protest the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia, notorious for its training of Latin American military personnel. “We all knew the risk of ‘crossing the line’ onto government property — for which we could be arrested,” she says. “Jesus spent his attention to both the victimized and the authorities who were carrying out unjust laws and expectations. I feel called to do the same to the best of my ability.”

While some, like Srs. Louise and Mary Ann, have been protesting for decades, others are newer to demonstrating. Sr. Betty McVeigh, a Sister of St. Joseph of Philadelphia (Chestnut Hill), began her involvement in nonviolent protests only after health challenges moved her to retire from 51 years in ministry in education and pastoral work.

She has found that, “It is in the reaching out, making connections, and building bridges that I discover the courage to participate in nonviolent protests and to advocate for justice.”

Those bridges are also built in smaller-scale acts of care. Sr. Caroljean Willie, a Sister of Charity of Cincinatti, Ohio recounts one experience: “Midway through the protest, a pickup truck filled with immigrants drove by and passed out water to all the participants. It was an incredible feeling of ‘We are in this together.’” She adds, “The main fruit of this work is that it brings an awareness to others that people care about justice, that people care about others, that people care about the world in which we live.”

These acts of care are central to the power of nonviolent action. They make the protests themselves bring to life the beloved community of mutual care, joyfulness, and healed relationships. As these participants know, nonviolent resistance has never been only about acting against injustice, but acting for loving communities.

“The injustices we see around us often stem from fear, division, and isolation,” Aiden Bondurant notes. “For me, nonviolent protest is a lamenting act of love.” She adds, “We are meant
to be together, and Christ always invites us to that.”

Spirit-filled hope permeates nonviolent action, and it grows in the new relationships formed there.

“Participating in these peaceful protests most of all gives me hope. I meet and share with other people who share my concerns and have compassion,” Krista Zivkovich says.

Sister Louise Lears believes that finding hope is a fitting response.

“I have learned that nonviolence is a circle, and everyone has a place in the circle,” she says. “Any action on behalf of justice has ripple effects.”

This story was published in the Quarter 3 2025 issue of Connection.

Why We Need An Economy for All

Why We Need An Economy for All

Despite Major Setbacks Under the Trump Administration,
the Vision of a Better Tomorrow is Clear as Ever

Jane Sutter
Second Quarter 2025

Just five days before the inauguration of President Trump, NETWORK unveiled its An Economy for All policy agenda in a webinar that attracted more than 2,100 registrants. The agenda demands that elected leaders deliver what our communities need to thrive:

  • Jobs with paid leave and wages that cover our bills, retirement, and more
  • Affordable housing, food, and health care
  • Safe and welcoming neighborhoods
  • Clean air and water
  • A just tax code that ensures the wealthy pay their fair share
  • A just and humane immigration system
  • A politics responsive to the people, not the money
Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Interim Executive Director, speaks at an Ash Wednesday prayer service calling for a compassionate federal budget, March 5 on Capitol Hill. Photo: Catherine Gillette

Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Interim Executive Director, speaks at an Ash Wednesday prayer service calling for a compassionate federal budget, March 5 on Capitol Hill.
Photo: Catherine Gillette

In introducing the agenda, NETWORK Interim Executive Director Joan F. Neal noted, “We all recognize that these are challenging times for our country. Our democracy, our vision of a free, diverse, inclusive, pluralistic country is on the line, starting now.”

The challenging times became even more apparent as Trump enacted his “shock and awe” campaign and the House of Representatives narrowly passed its budget plan on Feb. 25 that extends previous tax cuts to billionaires and threatens to undo important safety net programs.

As the drama unfolded in Washington, NETWORK friends and collaborators witnessed the implications for their work on the ground.

Politics responsive to the people

When Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER Interfaith, talks about activism,

Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER Interfaith, participates in an Oct. 1 roundtable discussion in Allentown, Pa. During the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour.

Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER
Interfaith, participates in an Oct. 1 roundtable discussion in Allentown, Pa. During the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

he quotes Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s exhortation of “the fierce urgency of now.”

A multi-regional, multi-faith, multi-class, multi-generational movement, building politically progressive organizations and working with more than 400 congregations in the Philadelphia area, the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania, POWER’s focus is on local and state issues (wages, equitable school funding, renewable energy, and more). However, Edwards calls proposals at the federal level “disastrous, [and] at the same time it’s also a distraction because people are panicking.”

What citizens need from the federal government, said Edwards, is a higher minimum wage and access to quality and affordable health care, housing, and schools.
“What we know to be true is that things only change when people, ordinary people, actually begin to organize and lift up their voices and not only vote but are able to, by the thousands, move their legislators…to a position that is in their own best interests, regardless of who’s in the White House.”

A just tax code

Tax policy expert Sarah Christopherson traveled with Nuns on the Bus & Friends “Vote Our Future” tour this past fall. She delivered a strong message: “Never let anyone tell you that we can’t afford to take care of our people, that we can’t afford to feed the hungry, that we can’t afford to have a good education for our children, that we can’t afford to get homes and have living wages, because there is so much money untaxed right now, and some of it will never go taxed, among the billionaire class.”

Sarah Christopherson is a tax justice advocate, seen here on the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour.

Sarah Christopherson is a tax justice advocate, seen here on the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Christopherson points out that there are 815 people in the U.S. who are billionaires (according to an analysis of Forbes magazine data). “They are collectively worth six trillion dollars. You could tax them and still leave each one of them with a billion dollars and simultaneously have universal pre-K, have free school lunch, have full Medicaid coverage…It’s phenomenal what you could do, and they would still be billionaires.”

Christopherson describes how Republicans in Congress seek to renew tax for the ultra-rich and pay for them with cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, education, and health care subsidies and the threat of not curtailing the excess hoarding of wealth.

Protect people seeking asylum

At the Kino Border Initiative’s (KBI) Migrant Outreach Center in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, staff and asylum seekers quickly saw the effects of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration measures. About 270,000 people who had registered for appointments at a Port of Entry to the United States were stranded in Mexico, according to statistics compiled by the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy organization.

Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, of Kino Border Institute signs the Bus during the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends site visit to the U.S-Mexico Border. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, of Kino Border Institute signs the Bus during the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends site visit to the U.S-Mexico Border. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

KBI offers meals, shelter, clothing, legal and psychological assistance, and more. KBI Feedback Coordinator Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, said through an interpreter, “All those Americans who have a good heart should understand the migrants in the U.S. are not criminals.” They are working in jobs such as agriculture, jobs that American citizens don’t want to do. “They are people of faith, they are working people.”

The reasons for migration have changed in recent years, Sr. Engracia said. Formerly, most migrants were seeking employment in the U.S. In recent years, migrants are families fleeing from violence or persecution. Despite recent events, the center’s clients remain hopeful, Sr. Engracia said. “They are hopefully waiting, God improves their lives,” and waiting patiently. “They are very sad but very strong at the same time.”

Jobs with fair wages

With the new Administration and Congress, Ani Halasz is greatly concerned that workers will struggle even more to make ends meet. Halasz is executive director at Long Island Jobs with Justice (LIJWJ), which works with labor unions, faithbased and other organizations, and activists to create living wage jobs, support worker organizing, and demand corporate accountability. The group’s mission aligns with NETWORK’s 2025 agenda – building an economy that works for all.

“We’ve known for a really long time that wealth inequality was destabilizing for democracies, but it didn’t feel urgent. … Now we’re to the point that you can’t deny it anymore.”

A top concern for Halasz is the status of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In January, Trump fired the only female board member, leaving the board without a quorum. In February, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced the shuttering of regional NLRB offices. The move will “make it almost impossible for us to protect the rights of workers in the future,” Halasz said. “It will be increasingly hard for workers to organize labor unions, because there won’t be an agency overseeing that, there won’t be a federal act protecting workers’ rights to organize.”

Other threats include a chilling effect on workers coming forward about wage theft and other exploitation, as well as Medicaid requirements that impose work requirements and exclude many immigrants.

“What we’re seeing happening right now in this country is the rolling back of almost every protection in this country that we fought for.”

Clean air and water

When Curtis Da’Von meets with citizens, his goal is to help them understand how things are connected between our environment and our everyday experiences. As part of his work as Southwest Pennsylvania Organizing Director for Clean Water Action, a national organization, he educates the community—including who have lost a loved one to violence—about the dangers of environmental lead on children and its connection to behavioral and developmental problems.

Curtis Da’Von of Clean Water Action gets a selfie with the Bus at the Oct. 5, 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends rally in Pittsburgh. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Curtis Da’Von of Clean Water Action gets a selfie with the Bus at the Oct. 5, 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends rally in Pittsburgh. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

“So often in communities of color, there’s issues of high violence and crime. So you can start to connect the dots,” he says. “You can literally look at a map and areas that are high in lead are high in crime.”

The Pittsburgh area, where Da’Von works, already lacks enough government funding to cover the needs to remove lead from homes. Funding cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency further jeopardize their work.

Staying hopeful

Pope Francis’s exhortation that people be “Pilgrims of Hope” in this jubilee year has become a rallying cry for NETWORK and its volunteers. As Neal expressed to webinar attendees, “Let us be inspired to move to action, and as we do, let us call upon the God we know we can depend upon to carry us through today, tomorrow, and however long it takes.”

For More Information:
Clean Water Action
Kino Border Initiative
Long Island Jobs with Justice 
POWER Interfaith
Sarah Christopherson 

Jane Sutter is a freelance journalist based in Rochester, N.Y., and is part of NETWORK’s New York Advocates team.

This story was published in the Quarter 2 2025 issue of Connection.
Sisters Speak Out-Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa

Catholic Sisters Called for Justice at Sisters Speak Out, NETWORK was there

Catholic Sisters Called for Justice at Sisters Speak Out

Catholic Sisters from more than 50 congregations around the country gathered in 100 degree heat for prayer and public witness on Capitol Hill on June 24, 2025 for Sisters Speak Out. Joined by social justice organizations and Spirit-filled advocates, they urged the Senate to reject steep budget cuts that will gut Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and more programs vital to the well-being of people in every state in our country.

The group of over 300 people also heard Sisters Speak Out in opposition to the massive increase in spending for the inhumane roundup of our immigrant neighbors, their deportation without due process, and the cruelty of family separation.

Through excessively high temperatures, spirits and hopes remained high through passionate Sister stories and reflections, soul-stirring spirituals, and powerful prayers (including a lovely rosary to end the gathering). The Sisters did not end the day on a grassy patch on the Hill. Dozens were accompanied by NETWORK staff for lobby visits to Senate offices. Their day ended with time spent with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (CA-11) and Senator Raphael Warnock (GA) for conversation and prayer.

Selected images from the beautiful day are on this page. You can find more photos and images on the NETWORK Flickr account.

——-
For more than a century, Catholic Sisters (also known as nuns) have been at the forefront of serving with vulnerable communities in the United States through ministries of health care, education, and social services. They sponsor many of the country’s largest Catholic hospital systems, universities, and social services agencies.

For inquiries about Sisters Speak Out, please contact Sister, Eilis McCulloh, HM, NETWORK’s Grassroots Education and Organizing Coordinator at [email protected]

Sisters Speak Out

Catholic Sisters Called for Justice at Sisters Speak Out, NETWORK offers this image gallery of the nuns Prayer and Public Witness Justice event in Washington, DC on June 24, 2026

Stay Rooted for Action

Stay Rooted for Action

In Community With One Another, We Can Endure These Scary Times

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP

Over the past few months, I’ve spent some time with people across the country who really care. They are outraged and frustrated by the things they see every day from the Trump administration as they attack the funding our communities rely on, send ICE to raid our towns, give our data to private interests, and more.

NETWORK Advocates and others across the country want to make a difference. Many also express feeling overwhelmed and struggling to find hope. Many of us want to call for more from those who are supposed to represent us — from our elected officials to leaders in the church. Amidst what feels like a daily onslaught of bad news, what is ours to do? Here are some practices and reminders for staying rooted and active:

Ground yourself

This Administration wants us to feel overwhelmed and discouraged so that we won’t be motivated to push back against their power-grabs. That’s precisely why they are pushing their agenda forward with such speed.

Take a moment each day to ground yourself. Take a deep breath. Remind yourself that in this moment you are safe. Staying grounded and in a parasympathetic emotional state will enable you to be more effective in the work you are doing. Recognize that you are part of a bigger whole. At the same time, you are one person. One person doesn’t change the world alone. By trying to do it all, you will burn yourself out, and we can’t afford that!

Act from where you are

Maybe you’re surrounded by people who feel very differently than you. Perhaps your job is to build authentic connections with them, learn from them, and sow small seeds of relationship that might open up something new. Or maybe you’re mostly in relationship with people who share your perspective. Invite them to join you in taking action. Thinking together doesn’t change things; acting together does.

Set realistic expectations

We don’t have to look for big actions that will have big results. Focus on small actions that will have small results – and then do them regularly. As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) said, “There is no action too small because when we all act together, even in small ways, it adds up to something huge.”

Do your part and nobody else’s

You are not alone. You are part of a wide community of people working to make this country a place where everyone can thrive. Our faith assures us that our work today is part of a bigger picture of God’s justice.

We have to share the workload. Each person doing their own part well allows us together to do great things well. It could be going to a lobby visit, writing a letter to the editor, donating your time or money, or distributing Know Your Rights pamphlets at your parish. Start by looking for one concrete thing you feel called to do and focus on that. Trust that other people also really care and are doing their parts as best they can.

Focus on action, not fear

What is happening in our country is scary. But autocrats rely on fear. Their power is built on illusion and intimidation. They have no power if we refuse to be intimidated. At the end of the day, we have to choose compassion and solidarity over fear. As the first letter of John says, “Perfect love casts out fear!”

Find joy, celebrate successes

Though there will be setbacks along the way, there will also be successes. For example, our collective pressure recently forced the Trump administration to roll back their devastating federal funding freeze. Even if temporary, these wins matter! No matter how small, celebrate those successes. Find joy in the community you’re building. These are the things that will sustain us.

Find compassion

The Administration’s actions are hateful, and we must answer with compassion. Find compassion, including for yourself and those around you. Reach out and check in on neighbors. We don’t need people showing up perfectly. We just need to show up.

Collaborate

Connect with other groups in your local area. Attend their events and build relationships there. And then invite folks you meet there (and folks you already know) to join you for NETWORK events. That’s how we keep growing and stay connected and effective! Friends, when we act together, we have enormous power. Our pressure is working, so we must keep it up. Together.

This story was published in the Quarter 2 2025 issue of Connection.

Juneteenth 2025: Black Liberation Demands Truth, Repair and Justice

Juneteenth 2025: Black Liberation Demands Truth

Min. Christian S. Watkins, Government Relations Advocate
June 18, 2025
“We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” — Pope Francis 

I grew up before Juneteenth was a federal holiday; it was a cherished time for family reunion. Kinfolk from all over Texas, northern Louisiana, and other cities of the U.S. Black diaspora would come together. I remember the BBQ and the trail rides, the laughter and love celebrated amongst each other — even as we slaughtered each other at the dominoes or spades tables — all culminating in communal worship at the closest family church. I never knew that people outside of Texas didn’t know what Juneteenth was, let alone had the blessing to celebrate family, safety, and survival as we did.

Some of my fondest memories were cultivated at Juneteenth reunions, and they planted in me strong values of freedom, solidarity, and community. Even though many don’t gather and celebrate as families from diverse areas now because we’re mainly struggling to make ends meet and survive daily challenges, the values are still deeply rooted within.

No matter our color, zip code, or what’s in our wallets, we all want to live in a nation where every person is treated with dignity, where families can thrive, and where truth shapes justice. That vision is sacred—and it’s one Black Americans have long fought to bring into being.

This Juneteenth, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice joins the celebration of Black liberation and resilience in the United States. We honor the ancestors whose lives were sacrificed and those who survived the chains of slavery, the freedom fighters who defied Jim Crow, and the generations of movement builders who continue to press forward in bending the long moral arc more toward justice. And today, we are grateful for the fierce advocacy and legislative efforts of Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Summer Lee, Hank Johnson; Sen. Cory Booker; and others. Together with our communities, they are continuing to push for Reparatory Justice and carrying forward the legacies of the late Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and John Conyers. The congressional briefing on May 13th on “Why We Can’t Wait: Advancing Reparative Justice in Our Lifetime” was a testament to the collaborative efforts to make justice happen. Their individual and collective work over decades has won rights and protections that uplift all of us. (See below to learn more about current reparatory justice legislation.)

But full freedom has never been fully delivered. Our celebration is not complete without a call to action. Juneteenth is not only a commemoration of delayed freedom, but also a demand for complete freedom. And complete freedom requires truth-telling and repair of past harms, and a commitment to present and future equity.

A Juneteenth Commitment to Truth and Repair

For over 150 years, many lawmakers have chosen policies that have denied Black Americans the full promises of emancipation. Economic justice, political equality, and social dignity were promised—but never delivered. This Juneteenth, we recommit to changing that.

The Urgency in 2025: Threats to Our Freedoms and Black Dignity Today

Some politicians, including the current Administration, are working to divide us by race and distract us from their true agenda: hoarding power and wealth while cutting off our communities from what we need to thrive. By targeting Black communities, these lawmakers weaken our whole country.

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has engaged in:

  • Civil Rights Erosion and Equity Rollback: President Trump’s Executive Order 14151 has abolished federal diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates, while key civil rights enforcement arms in agencies like Education and HUD face debilitating cuts, revoking decades of equity progress.
  • Defunding of Essential Services: The Administration’s budget proposals slash funding for HUD by 43%, dismantle Head Start programs, and eliminate public housing support—threatening Black families, single mothers, elders, and children across the country.
  • Economic Assault: In addition to HUD disruption, education and health programs face devastating cuts, displacing families and widening the racial wealth gap.
  • Police Accountability Reversals: Consent decrees and oversight agreements in cities like Minneapolis and Louisville have been canceled, signaling a retreat from justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others.
  • Public Servants Purged: President Trump has arbitrarily removed over 130,000 public servants—many of them Black, Brown, and women— for not passing ideological loyalty tests. This undermines decades of equity in hiring and workforce stability, and ruins the livelihoods of thousands of workers.
  • Environmental Racism Neglect: The Trump administration has gutted the EPA’s environmental justice initiatives, despite overwhelming data showing that polluting corporations deliberately build toxic facilities in Black communities, polluting their air, water, and land.
  • Cultural Suppression: Artists are being surveilled and prosecuted for their speech, while courts strip away protections from state violence.

These attacks harm everyone, but especially the dignity, freedom, and futures of Black communities. They are not just policy differences—they are a systemic assault on justice, truth, and human life. In this context, reparations are not only just—they are urgent.

A Continued Faithful Response is Necessary

As Catholics, we are called to repair what has been broken. We believe in resurrection power—that new life is possible even after the most morally-reprehensible, state-sanctioned death. In this nation, crucifixion has fallen most heavily on Black bodies. Juneteenth is a resurrection moment—proof that even after the deepest injustice, new life is possible.

Our tradition teaches that truth must precede reconciliation, and that repair is a spiritual discipline. As Pope Francis reminds us, “Every human being is precious.” That sacredness demands a public reckoning with the truth and a commitment to systemic transformation, so that all of us can thrive.

The Catholic tradition compels us to address injustices directly. In particular, the Catholic Social Justice principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, the common good, and the preferential option for the poor are not theological abstractions—they are mandates for action.

Our Call to Action

This Juneteenth, NETWORK calls on Congress and the President to:

  • Declare that racial repair is not optional—but essential to the soul of our nation.
  • Pass H.R. 40 and the Reparations NOW Resolution.
  • Enact the TRHT, Tulsa-Greenwood, RAP, and G.I. Restoration Acts. (See below to learn more).

We also call on Catholics and people of faith to:

  • Celebrate Black dignity with more than words—with policy, action, and repair.
  • Pray for the courage to speak uncomfortable truths and pursue bold justice.
  • Preach the truth of Juneteenth—not just as history, but as present-day struggle.
  • Lobby and organize for reparatory justice in parishes, schools, and communities.

Juneteenth is not just a day of remembrance—it is a holy invitation.
Let us finish the work.
Let justice roll. Let truth rise. Let freedom be full.

Amen.

Reparatory justice is a comprehensive vision of thriving communities. We renew our urgent support for a suite of reparatory justice legislation, including:
  • H.R. 40/S.40 – Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act of 2025 – Reintroduced in the House on January 3rd by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, with over original 70 co-sponsors. Reintroduced in the Senate on January 9th by Sen. Cory Booker.
  • H.Res.414 – The Reparations NOW Resolution of 2025 – sponsored by Rep. Summer Lee, introduced on May 15th – A declaration that the time for study is over and the time for federal action on reparations is now. Press release, photos, and videos.
  • S.Con.Res.19/H.Con.Res.44 – The Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Commission Resolution of 2025 – co-sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker & Rep. Jasmine Crockett – A national commission for truth-telling, racial healing, and transformation that names 1619 as the founding wound.
  • S.1051 – Historic Greenwood District – Black Wall Street National Monument Establishment Act of 2025 – Introduced on March 13th co-sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. James Lankford.
  • H.R. 1725/S. 3257 – G.I. Bill (Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren of the Institutionalized Generation) Restoration Act of 2025/2023, introduced on February 27th and sponsored Rep. Seth Moulton in the House, and by Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2023 in the Senate, the bill will deliver G.I. Bill benefits to descendants of Black WWII veterans unjustly denied support, unlocking opportunities long withheld.
  • H.R. 2952 – Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act of 2023, sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson – Protecting Black artists from the criminalization of cultural expression in a federal criminal or civil case.
  • H.R. 3466 – The Tulsa-Greenwood Claims Accountability Act of 2021, sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson – A remedy for descendants of the 1921 massacre, restoring access to courts and justice.

These are not radical proposals—they reflect the heart of Catholic Social Teaching: the call to human dignity, solidarity, and the preferential option for the poor. As a Catholic organization committed to justice, we proclaim that reparations are not a radical idea—they are a moral obligation, and our only path to a future of freedom for all of us.

Take Our Juneteenth Field Pledge

In the light of truth, I confess the destructive reality of racism—not with shame, but with responsibility and hope.

I remember the wounds of slavery, segregation, and stolen opportunity.
I affirm: Black lives are sacred. Black history is American history.
As taught by Catholic Social Teaching, every person bears the Imago DEI—God’s sacred and uniquely diverse image—and justice demands both acknowledgment and repair.

I renounce comfort that comes at the cost of another’s suffering.
I choose solidarity over silence, truth over denial, and reparations as a necessary act of restorative justice.

Rooted in the dignity of all people and the call to the common good, I recommit to the long work of racial healing, to honoring Juneteenth not with sentiment, but with action.

By God’s grace, I will journey in truth.
By Christ’s help, I will labor in love.
By the Holy Spirit’s power, I will stay in the struggle—until justice rolls down for all.

Amen.

Laudato Si’ at 10 Years: A Decade of Prophetic Witness for Our Common Home

Laudato Si’ at 10 Years:

A Decade of Prophetic Witness for Our Common Home

Drake Starling
June 5, 2025

Ten years ago, Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato si’, shook the world and stirred the consciences ofPope Francis Appears before crowd people across faiths, beliefs, and the world. Pope Francis invited us into a radical reflection on how we relate to the Earth, to one another, and to the generations yet to come.

Laudato si’ was a clarion call to conversion—ecological, spiritual, economic, and political. And 10 years later, its message has only grown more urgent.

A Prophetic Vision

Pope Francis did not merely write about climate change — he extended a call for climate justice. It was a call about dignity. It was a call about systems. He named the ecological crisis not as a technical problem with a technical solution, but as a moral crisis born of the “throwaway culture” that treats both the Earth and its most vulnerable people as disposable.

Francis called for an “integral ecology,” one that recognizes the deep interconnectedness between environmental destruction and social injustice. As he framed it: “The cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” are one and the same. Pope Francis put forth a vision of our future in which all creation, including humanity, thrives. This vision spans from breathable air, clean water, and healthy soil to clean energy systems, dignified jobs with good conditions and wages, and quality education, health care, and housing for all.

That vision changed the game. It catalyzed action among Catholic institutions and beyond: schools divested from fossil fuels, parishes installed solar panels, and Catholic climate activists joined movements demanding systemic change—from local resilience efforts to global climate negotiations.

Where Are We Now?

Ten years on, the planet is hotter, and the climate crisis is accelerating. Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities—those who have contributed the least to global emissions—suffer the harshest consequences of climate-related disasters, like wildfires, floods, and droughts. All the while, fossil fuel corporate executives, their lobbyists, and the politicians they bankroll continue to block meaningful solutions so they can keep on polluting and profiting. In fact, instead of protecting people and the planet, they hoard profits and power—leaving frontline communities to pay the price.

This is what we are witnessing today, as the Trump administration and some lawmakers in Congress try to slash funds for clean energy programs and roll back regulations for clean air and clean water for their own greedy reasons.

Yet, there is hope.

The spirit of Laudato si’ is alive. It’s alive in Indigenous land defenders resisting deforestation. It’s in young people demanding climate action. It’s in Catholic Sisters’ growing community gardens and doing advocacy work in Congress. It’s in the international Laudato Si’ Action Platform, where Catholic institutions commit to a just ecological transition. It’s in public and low-income housing where the Inflation Reduction Act funds programs to replace unsafe gas appliances with clean energy units. It’s in Catholic parishes across the country with Laudato Tree and Care for Creation teams.

And, it’s alive at NETWORK. In 2022, we successfully advocated for the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA moved us into action for climate justice. It delivered well-paying green jobs, growth in solar and wind energy marketplaces, and more. Today, we’re working to protect and expand the progress of the IRA.

A Challenge for the Next Decade

As we mark this milestone, we must resist the temptation to sentimentalize Laudato si’. It was—and remains—a disruptive document. A holy provocation. A moral compass in a time of ecological unraveling.

In Laudate Deum, his 2023 follow-up encyclical, Pope Francis reminds us that the time for reflection has passed. Now is the time for bold action. His urgent call demanded that we confront the systems of power blocking change and act with those on the frontlines of ecological and human suffering.

NETWORK’s An Economy for All policy agenda responds to Pope Francis’ call. Guided by our agenda, we are together advocating for policies that make it possible for all of us to live with dignity—with clean air and water, dignified jobs and wages, and political systems responsive to the people, not to those with the most money.

Will we move beyond words to put this vision into action? Will we choose fossil fuel phaseouts over false solutions? Will we center the voices of those in poverty, the young, and the marginalized in our climate decisions? Will we let the Earth rest?

We owe it to our children. To the Earth. To our Creator.

A call to action on the 10th anniversary of Laudato si’
  1. Call your members of Congress and tell them to protect the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits. These vital investments help fight climate change, reduce harmful pollution, and build a future where all can thrive — especially those most impacted by environmental injustice.
  2. Share Laudato si’ with 10 people.
  3. Join your congregation’s care for creation efforts (or work with others to start one).
  4. Read about efforts to bring environmental justice to communities besieged by climate harm, like this one about Black women in Louisiana taking on polluters.
  5. Learn more about environmental injustice in your community with the environmental justice data project action portal.

As Pope Francis wrote, “All it takes is one good person to restore hope.” May we be many.

Lent Week 2: Tax Billionaires and Feed Our People

Lent 2025: Giving Up Billionaires


Welcome to week 2 of our Lenten series, “Giving Up Billionaires,” as we call on Congress to give up billionaires so our communities can have what we need to thrive. Click here for the rest of our Lenten reflections and actions.

Congress: Tax Billionaires and Feed Our People

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
March 12, 2025

 

As a child, I remember receiving the Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl at church just before Lent. I was urged to donate my spare change or the money I saved from not buying a bag of chips after school so that hungry children in other countries could eat.

In 2021, David Beasley of the United Nations’ World Food Programme presented Elon Musk with a plan to address critical world hunger for $6.6 billion, about two percent of Musk’s wealth at the time. Musk had issued a challenge offering to pay that amount of money if someone presented a plan, but then refused to follow through. Two percent of my wealth is probably close to what I gave CRS as a child. It didn’t make much of a dent in world hunger, but Elon Musk could have fully ended critical world hunger at that moment.

It is a policy failure that the whims of one person can determine whether the world’s 8 billion people have access to food, or not.

In 2021, no billionaire stepped up to fund the UN World Food Programme’s proposal. Today, Congress is trying to cut our communities’ access to food to pay for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. Families who are already struggling to put food on the table will be even hungrier.

Take action

Call your House Member and tell them to reject cuts to SNAP and tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. 

Join us as we continue promoting our Lenten campaign, “Giving Up Billionaires for Lent.” Save the image that I’ve placed below to your computer or phone and share it on social media and in emails to friends and family. And check out our Lent toolkit for more ways to share our campaign on social media and write letters to the editor (LTEs).

We must reject these cuts and act to ensure that the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share, so our communities can have what we need.

With just a two percent tax on all wealth over $1 billion, we could end hunger and homelessness, provide universal paid family and medical leave, and offer tuition-free community college in our country. We could also end hunger around the world—and still have money left over!

Take action with us today by calling your Member of Congress and asking them to reject cuts to SNAP and protect our access to food.

NETWORK has more shareable content, sample social media posts, and LTE guidance for you in our Lent Toolkit.

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator. To read more, check out her column in Global Sisters Report, “The existence of billionaires is immoral.”

Lent Week 3: Congress: Prioritize Our Health, not Private Profits

Lent 2025: Giving Up Billionaires


Welcome to week 3 of our Lenten series, “Giving Up Billionaires,” as we call on Congress to give up billionaires so our communities can have what we need to thrive. Click here for the rest of our Lenten reflections and actions.

Congress: Protect Our Health, Not Private Profits

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
March 19, 2025

 

A friend of mine is a primary care doctor who regularly shares stories about insurance executives blocking her ability to care for her patients. For example, they delay her patients’ access to life-saving medications, which puts their health, and perhaps even their lives, at risk. Meanwhile, these insurance executives rake in record-breaking profits for themselves and their wealthy investors.

Catholic Social Teaching affirms that ensuring access to quality health care is essential to respecting the dignity of each person. No matter our race, country of origin, or size of our bank account, we value our health and want affordable health care–for ourselves and our families.

But insurance executives are lining their pockets at the expense of our health and using their profits to fund politicians who will protect their money grabs. It’s no wonder that some members of Congress are working on a bill to slash Medicaid funds–because by gutting government-supported health care, they can force more of us onto private plans and turn a bigger profit. Meanwhile, too many of us are left with huge medical bills and denials of needed medical treatment.

Take action
  • Call your House Member at 1-888-897-9753 to ensure that Congress does not cut our Medicaid to give tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy and to pay for deporting our neighbors in the budget reconciliation bill.
  • Spread the word. Save the image that I’ve placed below to your computer or phone and share it on social media and in emails to friends and family.
  • Write a letter to the editor (LTE) calling Congress to reject the budget proposal–make sure to include your Members of Congress (Representative and two Senators) by name!

Find more LTE and social media guidance in our Lent toolkit.

There is a lasting solution: end the private profit motive and ensure that everyone has quality, affordable health care–for less than we’re paying now. This solution is sometimes known as Medicare for All. With Medicare for All, billionaires wouldn’t be able to continue profiting at our expense through the private insurance industry (which is why they pay to put people in office who will block it).

Until we achieve a common-sense program like Medicare for All, our society fills the gaps with Medicaid, which covers more than 71 million people. Right now, a few millionaires in Congress, backed by billionaire donors and the insurance industry, are working to kick people off Medicaid to fund massive tax cuts for themselves and their ultra-wealthy backers.

We are coming together to insist that a handful of billionaires stop profiting off our health care while families struggle to afford the care they need.

Call your Representative today at 1-888-897-9753 to ensure that Congress does not cut our Medicaid to give tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy and to pay for deporting our neighbors.

NETWORK has more shareable content, sample social media posts, and LTE guidance for you in our Lent Toolkit.

Emily TeKolste, SP, NETWORK bio

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator. To read more, check out her column in Global Sisters Report, “The existence of billionaires is immoral.”

Lent Week 4: Congress: Keep Our Homes in Our Hands

Lent 2025: Giving Up Billionaires


Welcome to week 4 of our Lenten series, “Giving Up Billionaires,” as we call on Congress to give up billionaires so our communities can have what we need to thrive. Click here for the rest of our Lenten reflections and actions.

Congress: Keep Our Homes in Our Hands

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
March 26, 2025

 

We could end homelessness in the U.S. for ten years for a cost of $200 billion. Over those same ten years, we could generate $1.4 trillion with a 2% tax on wealth over $1 billion.

Here’s the math: With that simple 2% tax on all wealth over $1 billion, we could provide housing for every single person in the United States – and we would still have $1.2 trillion left to invest in our communities!

Yet, homelessness is at a record high, and one in three households are “housing cost burdened” — forced to spend disproportionate parts of our income on rent or mortgage payments. This is because some members of Congress choose tax cuts for their ultra-wealthy backers instead of funding programs that would make housing more affordable for all of us.

Take action
  • Call your House Member at 1-888-897-9753 to ensure that Congress does not cut our Medicaid and SNAP to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and to pay for deporting our neighbors in the budget reconciliation bill.
  • Spread the word. Save the image that I’ve placed below to your computer or phone and share it on social media and in emails to friends and family.
  • Write a letter to the editor (LTE) calling Congress to reject the budget proposal. LTEs are one of the most effective tactics for advocacy we have. Join us on Thursday, April 10 at 7:00 PM Eastern / 4:00 PM Pacific at our LTE training to learn some LTE best practices.

Find more LTE and social media guidance in our Lent toolkit.

The ultra-wealthy and the politicians they fund aren’t just blocking housing solutions, they are also actively making housing more unaffordable by allowing investors to buy up houses in our neighborhoods for their own profit, not to inhabit. In the first three months of 2024, investors bought up to 20% of homes in some markets. These investors drive first-time homebuyers out of the market, forcing them to rent from the investor-owners who hike up the cost of rent.

While those wealthy investors buy up our homes and line their pockets with our money, many of our neighbors are left out in the cold. Currently, there are 28 vacant homes for every one person facing homelessness.

Catholic teaching affirms that stable housing is a basic human right for everyone. Together, we will elect leaders who will prevent the ultra-wealthy from controlling our neighborhoods and hoarding our resources, and instead make housing security a reality for all of us.

TAKE ACTION: Call your House member today at 1-888-897-9753 and tell them to protect SNAP and Medicaid and reject tax cuts for billionaires in the budget proposal! Then, use our Lent toolkit to write a letter to the editor (LTE) calling Congress to reject the budget proposal.

NETWORK has more shareable content, sample social media posts, and LTE guidance for you in our Lent Toolkit.

Emily TeKolste, SP, NETWORK bio

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator. To read more, check out her column in Global Sisters Report, “The existence of billionaires is immoral.”