Category Archives: Spirit Filled Network

A Catholic President at One Year

A Catholic President at One Year

Mary J. Novak
January 20, 2022

In January 2021, NETWORK celebrated the historic inauguration of the United States’ second Catholic President and first female Vice President “heartened by the administration’s focus on racial equity and economic justice.” Let us take a closer look at how their leadership has lived up to our values of Catholic Social Justice.

The first year of the Biden administration has largely been a series of responses to the crises that surfaced during the previous administration. These included the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, racist policies enacted at the U.S.-Mexico border, and growing distrust in our elections, which has led to the passage of restrictive voting legislation across the country.

In March 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan – a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package – into law. It provided relief to families in the form of healthcare, rental assistance, housing vouchers, access to food programs, and other benefits. It also expanded Child Tax Credit payments and made the credit fully refundable, meaning that families most struggling from poverty had access to monthly payments of cash through December of last year.

The expansion of the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan was an incredible achievement, providing millions of families funds that they used for necessities including housing, food, clothing, utilities, and education, and living up to NETWORK’s values of supporting families’ economic security. However, if the credit’s refundability is allowed to expire this March, 65 million kids will pay the price.

The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act last November – with its investments in broadband internet, climate-friendly public transit, and clean water –  was an important step toward building our country anew. Unfortunately, the Build Back Better Act – the administration’s landmark proposal to invest our nation’s families and communities – has stalled in the Senate. So have efforts to protect voting rights, which President Biden said should be passed even if it required a Senate rules change in the form of altering or eliminating the filibuster. Given the filibuster’s racist history, NETWORK fully supports this call.

A major disappointment for the NETWORK community has been President Biden’s failure to roll back the previous administration’s cruel and xenophobic border policies: the Migrant Protection Protocols and the misuse of Title 42. Under these measures and in violation of international law, asylum seekers are either expelled from the U.S. without being allowed to claim asylum or being turned away and told to wait in Mexico while they await their pending court dates. Both of these policies are resulting in assaults and significant harm against our siblings seeking asylum.

In solidarity with migrant-led organizations, President Biden’s continuation of these unjust border policies brought over 80 Catholic Sisters to Washington in early December to process prayerfully past the White House to protest these policies. In 2022, President Biden must significantly shift his administration’s border policies to align with our faith teaching to “love our neighbor.”

Every year of our 50-year existence, NETWORK has analyzed the voting records of Members of Congress, but we have never reflected on one year of a Catholic president’s administration. This is certainly a significant milestone for Catholic justice-seekers, even as the lived reality has included both progress and setbacks for our justice agenda.

President Biden has credited Jesuits and Catholic Sisters with keeping him Catholic, and he has taken office at a time when the vision of a Jesuit – Pope Francis – and the witness of Catholic Sisters offer him a roadmap to rebuilding solidarity, based in encounter. NETWORK advocates for policies that center people who have been pushed to the margins by our systems and structures. And Pope Francis calls us, individually and at the structural level, to seek out, encounter, and integrate those living on the periphery.

Joe Biden is the son of a working class Catholic family who prides himself on remembering his roots. The clear moral measure for his administration going forward is whether it has prioritized the struggles of individuals and families over powerful interests, whether at the border, the ballot box, or simply their day-to-day efforts to stay safe and healthy.

Transforming our politics from a system that upholds the status quo to one that honors the dignity of every person requires dismantling systemic racism, cultivating inclusive communities, and rooting our economy in solidarity. One year into the Biden administration, we can see with greater clarity than ever just how daunting these challenges are and how much work we have to do. We call on President Biden to join us in this necessary transformation.

Yes, Please Contact Your Member of Congress “Even If”

Yes, Please Contact Your Member of Congress “Even If”

Catherine Gillette
February 16, 2022

As a NETWORK organizer, I spend a lot of time talking with our field about how they can most strategically engage to advance our policy priorities.  We discuss tactics like making phone calls, sending emails, writing letters to the editor, attending town halls, hosting rallies, canvassing in their communities, and so much more.  In these conversations, folks often have questions about how to choose a tactic or implement it successfully. However, more than anything else, folks ask me…

“Should I still contact my Member of Congress even if they ALWAYS agree with me?”

or

“Should I still contact my Member of Congress even if they NEVER agree with me?”

My response is always the same, “YES! Absolutely! Please, please, please! Call them! Email them! Let them know what you are thinking!” And here is why…

If your Member of Congress “always” agrees with you, contact them! Here’s why…

  • Every point of contact is an opportunity to be in relationship with your Member of Congress and their staff, and we know that relationships are POWERFUL. You want them to know exactly who you are and what you believe in. You want them to pick up the phone when you call and help you to get the lobby visit that you need.  You want to be viewed as a both resource and trusted messenger.  Relationships are power.
  • There’s always the opportunity to address an angle or perspective that they might have not considered before. Several years ago, one of my NETWORK Advocates Teams met with a Democratic Senator’s staff about the importance of fully funding the U.S. Census.  The staff indicated it was the first time anyone had addressed the issue with them but promised to investigate it further. That same Senator ended up being a HUGE advocate for making sure the U.S. Census had the funding it needed to be successful. Members of Congress and their staff work hard and are very knowledgeable about many things.  However, it is a mistake to assume they know everything: you could be the one to bring an issue or piece of legislation to their attention!
  • Members of Congress have to make hard choices about what gets included in legislation. Even if they generally agree with you, it is important for them to hear what YOUR policy priorities are. If they are picking from a list of 25 generally good priorities, you want them to pick the 5 that matter most to you. Similarly, it can be an opportunity to tell them where you’d like to see them provide leadership.
  • Stories are powerful, and Members of Congress want to hear them! I am convinced that one of the major strengths of NETWORK’s field is how connected our members and supporters are to their communities. You all know and love your neighbors so well.  You know, in a very real way, how different policies might help or harm your community.  Members of Congress need to hear that. They need to hear about the lived experiences of their constituents.  Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for them to then take those same stories to the Floor to share them with their colleagues.  Again, stories are powerful!
  • Share your faith perspective! It is important to let Members of Congress know that people of faith care about an issue and are holding them accountable on it. This can be particularly important if another group from your faith perspective is advocating on the other side of an issue.  Help them to understand that your faith does not take a singular position.  You can be the one to provide them with cover! Beyond all that, it is particularly powerful if you can get a group of folks from diverse religious traditions advocating together on an issue.
  • You better believe they’re getting calls and emails from folks with perspectives different than your own. Members and their staff need to hear your perspective too!
  • Working for a Member of Congress is a tough job. Supportive calls mean a lot to staff morale!

If your Member of Congress “never” agrees with you, contact them! Here’s why…

  • Even if you don’t always agree with one another, relationships are POWERFUL. Many of our advocates have found that a relationship with the local state or district level staff is both possible and meaningful (as long as they are respectful in sharing their views).  In the past, these relationships have helped our advocates both to more easily schedule lobby visits with staff and to better understand a Member of Congress’ policy position (which often helps the NETWORK staff). Plus, you never know, you may agree on something! That leads me to my next point…
  • It is possible to find common ground! In 2021, NETWORK hosted a Virtual Lobby Day focused on the EQUAL Act (legislation addressing racial sentencing disparities in the criminal legal system).  As part of this event, over 120 NETWORK advocates went on 50 lobby visits with both Democratic and Republican Members of Congress.  In the days following the event, the EQUAL Act gained 10 new co-sponsors (3 Republicans and 7 Democrats). Don’t give up—your Member of Congress might surprise you!
  • You can help gather intel for NETWORK. If your Member of Congress opposes a piece of legislation, find out why! Do they have a specific concern? Is it something we can fix? As constituents, you sometimes have more information available to you than the NETWORK staff.  Your report-backs can help us tremendously!
  • Stories are powerful! Share your stories, and share your community’s stories! Remind them of the impact of their actions. You never know what seeds you will plant or what the impact will be.
  • Share your faith perspective! It is important to let Members of Congress know that people of faith care about an issue and are holding them accountable on it. This can be particularly important if another group from your faith perspective is advocating on the other side of an issue.
  • Changing policy positions is possible! My favorite example is related to health care. As it turns out, Americans like having their pre-existing conditions protected and aren’t shy about saying so.  They called their Members of Congress en masse, wrote letters to the editor, rallied, and marched in the streets! A 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation poll even found that 75% of respondents supported the Affordable Care Act’s protections for pre-existing conditions.  In response, a number of GOP candidates suddenly came out in loud support of same the protections they had once fought to end. It was all due to public opinion and pressure!
  • As people of faith, we are people of hope. The work of advocacy is often long and difficult, but we can take comfort in knowing that we don’t journey alone. We are accompanied in our efforts by NETWORK advocates from across the nation and are guided by the many saints who have come before us.  Most importantly, the Holy Spirit is present with us each time we pick up the phone, write an email, or attend a rally. With that in mind, I believe it is possible to change hearts, minds, and votes!

Finally, in our increasingly polarized society, it seems like everyone puts their Members of Congress into one of these two categories.  If we write our elected officials off that easily, they will never hear from us! So, YES, please contact your Members of Congress even if they “always” agree with you or “never” agree with you. Your advocacy matters!

Mom Taught Me: To Love Your Neighbor Is To Suffer For Them

Mom Taught Me: To Love Your Neighbor Is To Suffer For Them

Deacon Art Miller
February 14, 2022

“I wanted to talk to you over dinner tonight. There’s something very important that your dad and I are going to require of you.”

This was not the normal dinner banter my family and I had at the dinner table back in 1957. My brothers and I – aged 9, 11, and 13 – normally fought over who would get the best piece of whatever we were having that night, playfully teasing one another as our 18-year-old sister Carol dismissed us with sisterly disdain.

Deacon Art Miller is a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut.

After a glowering look from our father, Mom continued: “There’s a country in Africa, called South Africa that has a system of governing the people that is horrible and evil. It’s called apartheid. It means to separate. They require that their Negro citizens carry passes with them at all times. These passes are so they can make sure the Negro people don’t go anywhere they are not supposed to go. The Black people have no rights. They can’t vote. They are put in jail and are treated very poorly.”

My older brother Pete, whose friend and classmate at McCosh Elementary School was Emmett Till, was suddenly quiet.

He found his voice and whispered; “That sounds a lot like Mississippi.”

Mom responded; “Yes, it does. That’s one of the reasons we in this family, are going to protest, like they are doing in the South. There’s a company here in America that’s helping the South African government create these passes. The name of the company is Polaroid. They make a camera that makes a picture instantly. So the government of South Africa is buying these cameras to make it easier to create those dreadful passes. So we are not going to allow anyone to bring a Polaroid camera into our home. We will not buy one, and we don’t want anyone to take your picture with one. Do you understand?”

We all quickly agreed with the family mandate.

Mom was rarely so severe. She was an elegant woman, profoundly intelligent and deliberate, but always gentle in her approach to our learning. We knew she was very, very serious. Even Dad was quiet, almost bowing his head in deference to her passion.

I looked up to see a most remarkable thing, rare for a man who was as impassionate as she was passionate. He reached out and touched her hand, very gently. Almost startled by the gesture, Mom smiled at him. He returned the smile and removed his hand from hers. With that it was done. Polaroid Corporation had lost a customer.

That company would never know that a Black family in a little third floor apartment on the south side of Chicago had taken a stand against a horrid injustice. The South African government, more than 8,000 miles away, had no idea nor could it care that this little family had stood up against its ungodly tyranny. But we did. We knew.

That night I learned what social justice truly meant. We learned there was a new and important way to love your neighbor, even if you didn’t know them. Even if you had never met them, they were still your neighbor. We learned on that long ago night that to love your neighbor was to suffer for them.

This idea of deep love was embodied by our mother. She was a friend to Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett’s mother. We prayed for her and Emmett when all the terrible things happened. The women in the neighborhood had brought food and comfort to Ms. Mobley during those days of torment.

Mom particularly embraced our Catholic faith as a safe harbor during that time, where she found the comfort only God can provide. In every difficult moment we faced, her faith got us through. We, that small family from the south side of Chicago, learned well the tenets of our faith, that faith is never restricted to the Sunday morning Mass.

Our faith is not static but transportable. We are to apply our faith to the moments we live outside the building we call church. For we are the church, we are where the deposit of faith is to be made manifest. We are the church that lives in the world which breaks down anger and injects love, which enables generosity to overcome selfishness, which causes humility to be more important than pride.

The church lives as long as our faith lives.

Deacon Art Miller is a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Hartford and former head of the archdiocese’s Office for Black Catholic Ministries, which has since closed.

Let Us Dream: January Community Conversation

Let Us Dream: January Community Conversation

Virginia Schilder
February 9, 2022

On Thursday, January 27, members of the NETWORK community joined together for our first Community Conversation of 2022. The theme was: “Let us Dream — Reflecting on 2021; Dreaming about 2022 and Beyond.”

The evening’s topic was inspired by Pope Francis’ book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. NETWORK Executive Director Mary Novak welcomed community members, saying, “This is the time of year to remember and dream. And it is a sacred gift to do it in community.”

The facilitator for our conversation, Colin Longmore, NETWORK Grassroots Outreach and Education Specialist, spoke with excitement about the possibilities for the upcoming year of advocacy. He described the intention of this conversation as a space to look back on the year behind us and to dream together about the year ahead — to connect what we’ve learned to our hopes and our goals.

Colin explained that while NETWORK community conversations usually feature a guest speaker or a presentation from a NETWORK staff member, for this conversation, the community was the “featured speaker.”

The reflective element of this community conversation aligned with the emphasis on learning and deep listening that characterizes the synod on synodality launched by Pope Francis last year. It also parallels the reflection that NETWORK is undertaking as we celebrate our 50th anniversary, thinking intentionally about who we are and where we came from so that we can work toward our future with clarity. As Mary Novak said, “Our quest to the future must begin with remembering.” And this remembering, in particular, entails examining the consequences of being founded as a predominantly white organization, and how NETWORK lives out its commitment to racial justice in our political ministry today.

The instructions for discussion were simple yet bold: “Dream big and dream detailed!” We broke into small groups to discuss the questions: What were your top three learnings of 2021, and what are your top three hopes for 2022? Together we responded to these questions across personal, local, and societal levels.

In our discussion, a major “learning of 2021” was a realization of the fragility of our democracy, and the grave effects and injustice of voter suppression. Another common learning was a more acute understanding that our pandemic response must not be an attempt to “go back to normal” — because “normal,” in the United States, means inequality. Several community members expressed finding Catholic Sisters and the work of groups like NETWORK to be a source of courage and fortitude throughout the tumult of 2021.

As we turned to our dreams for 2022, community members shared hopes of ending voter suppression, advancing racial justice, combating polarization, and promoting environmental justice. We voiced hopes for the passage of legislation like Build Back Better, and that more people in our country will join in working to create a truly just, multiracial society. Many expressed a hopefulness found in the engagement of younger generations and the example of Catholic Sisters.

This community conversation was rooted in a belief in the transformative political power of dreaming and of articulating visions in community. As Fr. Brian Massingale writes in his book Racial Justice and the Catholic Church,

“Visions illumine possibilities that are overlooked, paths not taken, potentials that lie dormant, and capacities not yet developed. Visions spring from and fuel the nonrational centers of the human person from which come the courage, fortitude, and determination needed to engage and persevere in protracted struggles against injustice. … We will never get our theorizing about justice right, nor truly understand African American praxis for justice, without some account of the power of vision, in particular, the visions of the welcome table and the Beloved Community.”

In sharing our learnings as well as our dreams and visions at our “welcome table,” we named and offered one another our vulnerability and laments as well as our resilience and hopes. Sharing our dreams in community is not only the ground of justice work; it also serves as an important and refreshing time of connection and relationship-building. (Some members of my small discussion group delighted as they learned that they have a mutual friend!)

Our first Community Conversation of 2022 grounded us in a reflection of the past year and sent us into the year ahead with renewed resolve. This resolve emerged from an uplifting community of solidarity, shared vision, and collective discernment. The community member who spoke last in our conversation captured the spirit of the evening when she expressed a commitment to becoming more involved with NETWORK — because, as she said, working to change our hearts and enact a vision of justice is up to all of us. “The invitation is to do this together… to let go of those boxes we put people in. There is a role for all of us!”

Christians Should Honor Dr. King With United Witness on Voting Rights

Christians Should Honor Dr. King With United Witness on Voting Rights

Minister Christian Watkins
January 17, 2022

With Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s son calling for “No celebration without legislation,” the milestone of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day resonates differently this year. Never in recent memory have voting rights been so hotly at the center of our country’s policy debate. The Senate has a historic opportunity to restore our democracy and protect our right to vote by passing the Freedom to Vote Act, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which have now been combined into one bill, H.R.5746. We need immediate action to protect our democracy.

In his 1957 speech “Give Us the Ballot,” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the denial of the sacred right to vote “a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition.” With the passage of 34 laws restricting access to voting in 19 states across the country last year, this tragic betrayal is becoming a reality.

In the Senate, the filibuster has been used to block popular bills to stop lynching, end poll taxes, and fight workplace discrimination. The weaponization of the filibuster is racism cloaked in procedure. Now, this Jim Crow-relic is being used to block crucial voting rights protections. Today, Dr. King’s family is joining with faith leaders, civil rights leaders, and voting rights advocates to call on the Senate to end the filibuster and deliver on legislation that protects the right to vote.

This is a crucial moment for people of faith to come together around this issue, and it couldn’t be more apt. January 18-25 is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an annual observance among Christians who want to see their collective witness in the world live up to the prayer of Jesus in John’s Gospel, “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). For over a century, this has primarily taken the form of theologians gathering to dialogue about issues that divide one church denomination from another — and in many cases finding commonalities and ways to bridge these divides.

But equally important is the pursuit Christian unity through what some call a “dialogue of service,” a shared witness to build up the common good. The commitment to upholding human dignity through the right to vote – and, , the election of leaders who will enact policies that build up the common good as Dr. King rightly pointed out – is something that should draw Christians across denominational lines very close together. Indeed, simply collaborating with my coworkers at NETWORK finds me, a United Methodist, working alongside a Catholic Sister and Presbyterian organizer to push Congress to protect the right to vote.

Now is the time to pass the H.R. 5746, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, a transformative piece of legislation that sets national standards to increase access to the ballot box, neutralizes partisan and racial gerrymandering, protects our elections from interference, increases transparency in campaign finance to prevent dark money from buying our politicians, and more. Unfortunately, this bill is at risk of being blocked by the filibuster. These anti-democratic efforts cannot be allowed to sabotage passage of robust voting rights legislation.

Why Catholics Should Be Actively Engaged in Efforts to Protect Our Democracy

Why Catholics Should Be Actively Engaged in Efforts to Protect Our Democracy

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar
January 6, 2022

Rep. Veronica Escobar represents Texas’ 16th Congressional District. She took office on January 3, 2019, making history as the first woman elected to this seat. This reflection appears in the First Quarter 2022 issue of Connection magazine, NETWORK’s official member publication.

When Catholics think about how they can live out the values of their faith through their politics, protecting their democracy is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But it should be. Not only does the church support democracy as the form of government best suited to guarantee the protection and flourishing of all people, but people of goodwill have the responsibility to exercise solidarity toward those on the periphery who become the most vulnerable when democracy comes under threat.

Some threats are easier to see. On January 6, 2021, our nation and the world witnessed the most direct assault on U.S. democracy in our history: violent insurgents storming the U.S.

Capitol in an effort to stop me and my colleagues from certifying the 2020 presidential election. Not only were the insurgents trying to upend a Constitutionally mandated process, but they were trying to silence the voices of Black and Latino voters in places like Arizona and Georgia who decided the election for President Joe Biden.

The pushback from Republicans was swift and unmistakable.

Some 17 states, including my state of Texas, enacted restrictive voting laws that disproportionately burden voters of color and limit their access to the ballot box. In November, the Justice Department sued Texas, noting its strict limits on assisting voters at the polls burdens people with disabilities and limited English proficiency. This is just one example of why our country urgently needs the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act, both of which passed the House in 2021 but have languished in the Senate.

“Democracy is based on mutual respect, on the possibility that each person can contribute to the good of society and on the consideration that different opinions do not threaten the power and security of states, but through honest debate mutually enrich them and enable them to find more suitable solutions to pressing problems,” Pope Francis argued in early 2021.

Shutting people out of the voting process is no way to ensure honest debate, and it’s telling that the lawmakers most adamant on enshrining these restrictions into law are also the ones least serious about finding solutions to the pressing problems mentioned by the pope: climate change, mass migration, and unprecedented economic inequality. Those who benefit from these crises know very well that including the voices of marginalized people in these systems could reduce their power and influence, as it did in 2020.

And it’s this awareness that should galvanize the 70 million Catholics in the U.S. and all people of goodwill to fight alongside those who stand to be the most impacted by the erosion of our democracy. The House of Representatives is doing the work — we sent the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act to the Senate. We have been patient, we have been willing to work with the Senate, and even supported the Senate-authored Freedom to Vote Act as an alternative to our bills.

But we are running out of time. We must urge the Senate to work for the American people. Whether that means passing the For the People Act or the Freedom to Vote Act, the Senate must act now.

“If one part of the body suffers, then the whole body suffers with it,” St. Paul wrote (1 Cor 12:26). The same applies to threats to democracy. My district is over 83 percent Latino, and we know what it means to have destructive policies inflicted on our communities and families without them ever having a say.

A threat to one person’s voice is a threat to everyone’s. As Pope Francis has reminded us in his teachings on caring for the environment, we are all connected. Women have had the right to vote in this country for only a century, and the original Voting Rights Act passed in 1965 only to be gutted by the Supreme Court nearly 50 years later.

We must take seriously our responsibility to ensure that the rights of all, not just the wealthy and influential few, are protected equally. The Senate and President Biden must pick up where the House left off on voting rights. A democracy that ensures the participation of only the wealthy and powerful is not worthy of its name.

This story will be published in the upcoming First Quarter 2022 issue of Connection. Become a NETWORK member to receive a copy mailed to your home. 

Running from the past is no way to dismantle racism

Running from the past is no way to dismantle racism

Julia Morris
November 23, 2021

Did you know that the Catholic Church was one of the largest slave holders in North America? Me neither.

I have spent over a decade in the church and in countless hours of schooling, Mass, and service projects no one mentioned this to me once. I went to Catholic school for 12 years, 5th grade through college, but it was not until my post-grad Catholic year of service that I learned that the Catholic Church played a role in American slavery.

The private Catholic education system did not just forget to teach me and countless other, predominantly white students about this history. The Catholic Church is and was, running from an uncomfortable past.

The church’s history runs parallel, overlapping, and intertwined with white supremacy United States. The Catholic Church was a major player in the transatlantic slave trade, and the effects of white supremacy are still felt today, as researcher Robert P. Jones reports that white Christians who regularly attend church on Sundays are more likely to hold racial bias.

While the church did not teach me about racism, it did teach me about sins of omission, or leaving out parts of the truth to manipulate your listener. Leaving out parts of our history is lying. If the public education system in the United States was to do the same, it would not only be immoral but contribute to the increasing distrust our citizens have towards our own institutions.

What kind of effects could excluding teaching students about racism have on the American public? Take a look at Catholic politicians.

President Biden was Catholic educated yet he upholds Title 42. A Trump era immigration policy instated under the guise of containing the spread of COVID, which former CDC officials reveal they found no evidence that it would have any control to slow the spread of COVID were “forced to do it”, by the Trump administration. Biden’s choice to uphold Title 42 shows his either lack of care for or his inability to see the policy’s xenophobia.

Senator Joe Manchin is Catholic, in spite of foundational Catholic teachings that uphold the family and caring for children, he still pushed for work requirements for the Child Tax Credit that would benefit 400,000 children in West Virginia. Work requirements are a well-known dog whistle aimed at demonizing Black and Brown folks living in poverty.

Lets face it: This is a lose, lose, lose situation. Pandering to racists doesn’t help advance good policy. Refusing to reconcile is hurting the church’s numbers. People of color, as usual, are paying the price with food insecurity, facing bigotry, and their lives.

If the Catholic Church is actually serious when it says that racism is an intrinsic evil, then Catholic educators, politicians, and voters are going to need to start acting like it. So take it from me and the 87% of Americans who want this to be taught in schools -– not teaching about racism helps no one.

Sign President Biden’s Birthday Card!

Sign President Biden’s Birthday Card!

  • (messages may be shown publicly)

As Pope and President Meet, A Call for Interconnectedness

As Pope and President Meet, A Call for Interconnectedness

Mary J. Novak
October 28, 2021

Existential threats to the environment, a global refugee crisis, anti-democratic movements at home and abroad, and the COVID-19 pandemic are among the challenges surrounding President Joe Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis on Oct. 29. As collaboration between these two world leaders takes shape, a key to its success will be their both recognizing and then acting upon the interconnectedness of everything that confronts them.

This ability to see interconnection is constitutive to the spirituality of the Catholic sisters whose legacy lives on in the U.S. Church and at NETWORK in particular where it is my honor to continue that legacy. And it is not difficult to see this ability lived out by the pope and the president themselves. Both men are of the same generation. Both came into leadership positions in their 30s, have weathered periods of darkness and were entrusted with power late in life. They share the opportunity to use that power to guide the world toward a much brighter future than is currently being offered and both feel called by God to this role at this time.

Their meeting will be the 31st of its kind, starting with the 1919 meeting of Woodrow Wilson and Benedict XV. But to connect this week’s meeting with a comparable example of a pope and president meeting amidst great upheaval and positioned to build the future anew, we should look to the October 1965 meeting in New York between Paul VI and Lyndon Johnson.

Two months before that meeting, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, offering legal protection to millions of people whose rights were violated by racist laws. The ground lost on this issue in recent years would have once been unthinkable to many well-intentioned white people. But now, as that ugly truth confronts us, we urgently need to protect the right to vote under federal policy with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Two months after the New York meeting, Pope Paul closed the Second Vatican Council and instituted the Synod of Bishops, setting a trajectory of engagement with the world and encounter with people at the peripheries. Communities of women religious were among the most robust adopters of the council’s vision, and Pope Francis ardently pursues it for the whole church to this day.

Biden, himself a proponent of that vision and an ally to women religious, has proposed a formidable economic agenda, reminiscent of LBJ, which seeks to help people where they are, in their everyday struggles. These struggles are worsened by the egregious income and wealth disparity in this country, a fact the Catholic Church rightly condemns. In 1965, the U.S. sought to go to the moon in a shared spirit of scientific exploration. Today billionaires have begun traveling to outer space for fun.

The last time Francis and Biden spent significant time together was the pope’s 2015 visit to the United States, where Francis challenged our country to live up to our own ideals. The same year, Francis published his letter on care for the environment, “Laudato si,” again highlighting the interconnection of all creation. A lot has happened since then, and at times the pope seems to grasp the threats we face more acutely than our own elected officials do.

Shortly before the election of Donald Trump, Francis spoke against building walls and the manipulation of fear, which he said “anaesthetizes us to the sufferings of others, and in the end makes us cruel.” He later noted that those who manipulate fear reject the interconnection of all people and shift blame onto a “non-neighbor.”

These words proved prophetic in heralding the racist immigration policies of the Trump administration. They also highlight why it’s so unacceptable for the Biden administration to have continued Title 42 and other policies that make life even more difficult for people seeking refuge in our country. Disapproval for the president’s handling of immigration is now at 58 percent (Grinnell College National Poll), and it is senseless to allow these cruel policies to jeopardize his entire agenda.

If our Catholic president wants to be a world leader in keeping with the vision of Pope Francis, he should follow the lead of women religious and enact policies that better recognize the interconnected nature of all people, all creation, and the common good. He must ensure the protection of the people most targeted by the anti-democratic forces he denounces. I pray Pope Francis can provide him the spiritual strength and fraternal correction he needs to act on the interconnectedness that we know he sees, making it real for the millions of folks who have been left behind for so long.