Urban Solidarity

10 March 2011

Benedict XVI

… [L]ove for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind is as essential to [the Church] as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel. (Deus Caritas Est, # 21, 2005)

Benedict XVI

If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just towards them. … Justice is the primary way of charity. … The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them. This is the institutional path … of charity, no less excellent and effective than the kind of charity which encounters the neighbor directly…. (Caritas In Veritate, # 6, 7, 2009)

The Fullness of Charity

Fullness of Charity has two equally essential modes Direct Service – encountering our neighbor directly

by feeding the hunger, clothing the naked, offering hospitality to the homeless, etc.

Advancing Justice – the institutional path of charity by working to transform the structures of the community so that there is a greater realization of the common good.

Both Direct Service and Advancing Justice are necessary for the Church to be the Church

The Catholic Response St. Vincent DePaul Society

St Vincent Hotel Other programs for transition out of poverty

Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley A variety of social services programs – Adoptions,

refugee resettlement, supervised child visits, etc. Catholic Social Action – Weavers of Justice

Networking the social action efforts of parishes and Catholic organizations into a regional collaborative advancing justice

Urban Catholic Schools – providing education in Dayton’s poorest neighborhoods

The New Metropolitan Reality

50 years of urban sprawl has concentrated the poor and the minorities in the center

city, developed strong patterns of economic and social

inequality within the region, and developed patterns of social isolation between the

people of the suburbs and the people of the center city

The growth of metropolitan areas has created patterns of injustice – the injustice is increasing

The New Metropolitan Reality

How can we create more just patterns within the region?

Inside game – creating neighborhoods of choice and opportunity – communities that are economically diverse

Outside game – working together as a region to work for the common good of the metropolitan region

Both the inside game and the outside game are needed to promote patterns of justice

The New Ecclesial Reality

The Catholic Church has traditionally been organized around parishes education, services to the poor, etc.

If the Catholic Church is going to advance justice within the new metropolitan reality then it must both develop parish focused programs to promote justice in

the metropolitan area, and network and align these efforts so that it can be a

partner with others to advance urban justice in the metropolitan area.

Given this new metropolitan reality and the new ecclesial reality how do we organize the Catholic Church in the greater Dayton communityto advance urban justice?

The Big Question

The Common Good and Social Justice

The common good of a society is the “sum total of social conditions which allows people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.” (Gaudium et Spes 26)

The common good Requires social structures for its realization –

social structures organize the overall conditions of society

Is focused on the human flourishing of all people in the society

The Common Good and Social Justice Societies are often embedded in larger societies.

The common good of a given society is related to the common good of the social entities that make up the society

The common good of a given society is related to the common good of the larger society in which given society is a part

The act of social justice is the organizing of individual and groups to transform the social structures of a society so that there is a greater realization of the common

good.

Catholic Principles for Advancing Urban Justice

Respect for Human Life and Dignity Priority for the Poor Participation Subsidiarity Solidarity Strengthen Family and Build Community

Urban Solidarity Urban solidarity is both a social principle and a

moral virtue that recognizes the interdependence of all peoples

and groups of the metropolitan region; It is not a feeling of vague compassion at the

problems of the poor; it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good of the metropolitan region

Urban solidarity is a commitment to love one’s neighbor in the metropolitan region with the readiness, in the Gospel sense, to lose oneself for the sake of the other

Given this new metropolitan reality and the new ecclesial reality how do we organize the Catholic Church in the greater Dayton communityto advance urban justice?

Back to the Big Question

One Possible Approach

Catholic social tradition is both Themes and principles – dignity of the person,

common good, etc Continuous process of social inquiry

See, Judge, Act, and Reflect Act, Reflect, Transform

One Possible Approach Act – to meet immediate and urgent needs

A parish group takes time to volunteer at St. Vincent’s Develop a friendship with the people encountered

Reflect – on the roots causes in social structures and Catholic social teaching Ask the WHY question – Why are people homeless? What social structures are contributing to injustice and suffering?

Transform – the social structures to address the root causes Take action to transform social structures Create new alternative structures – low income housing in the

suburbs – support families to who are working for economic self-sufficiency

Conclusion Our Catholic faith calls us as a Church

not only celebrate the Word of God and the Sacraments but

to exercise the virtue of urban solidarity To exercise the virtue of urban solidarity requires

both conversion (personal transformation) and social transformation – transformation of social structures

so there is a better realization of the common good The virtue of urban solidarity requires the Catholic

Church to work at both the parish level and deanery level and to work in partnership with other organizations of good will.