Is social justice the same as socialism?

By Kathy McGourty| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Scripture and Theology Social Justice
Lately there have been accusations that a church with a social justice mission is one that supports socialism.

Conservative TV personality Glenn Beck told Christians, "I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice' or ‘economic justice' on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. . . . If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop."

Kathy McGourty is a youth minister in Bloomingdale, Illinois.

 

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Is social justice the same as socialism?

By Kathy McGourty| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Scripture and Theology Social Justice
Lately there have been accusations that a church with a social justice mission is one that supports socialism.

Conservative TV personality Glenn Beck told Christians, "I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice' or ‘economic justice' on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. . . . If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop."

Kathy McGourty is a youth minister in Bloomingdale, Illinois.

 

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Our health care system needs a heart transplant

By Thomas G. Pretlow, M.D.| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Ethic of Life Social Justice
And our politicians need a brain transplant. Universal health care is the most compassionate option we have, argues a Catholic doctor, and it’s the smartest, most economical solution as well.

Thomas G. Pretlow, M.D., is a member of Physicians for a National Health Program and professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

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The Congo’s killing fields

By Kevin Clarke| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Social Justice War and Peace
Families separated. Millions left for dead. Do we share some of the blame?

Patrick Mwnyamahord knows where his father is buried because a neighbor showed him that small place. What he doesn't know is how his father got there, and there was no one he could safely ask, not then. Twelve years ago he and his family made one of a series of sudden escapes from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into nearby Burundi. On this particular exodus his father was too ill to travel and the family had to leave him.

Kevin Clarke is a writer living in New York.

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High and dry: Water poverty in the United States

By George McGraw| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Environment Social Justice
Some of us take for granted the most precious resource of all. Lack of water harms families not only in the Third World, but also here at home.

It’s 9 a.m. in the high desert of rural New Mexico, and the heat is already oppressive. People begin their day as you might expect: grabbing backpacks and heading to school, feeding goats and watering horses, patching holes in fences or crawling under cars to make small repairs. There is plenty to do.

George McGraw is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization DIGDEEP. To learn more about DIGDEEP and its Navajo Water Project, visit www.digdeepwater.org.

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Protecting migrant children requires compassion without borders

By Kevin Clarke| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Immigration Social Justice
Growing numbers of unaccompanied minors are risking their lives to escape their dangerous homelands. Will we offer them safe harbor?

Kevin Clarke is a writer living in New York.

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How Catholic colleges can and should help DREAMers

By Donna M. Carroll| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Hispanic Catholics Immigration Social Justice Young Adults
One university president shares tips on how to welcome and support undocumented students.

My involvement with immigration reform started with one student on a bicycle in a snow storm. How else, I learned, could he get to school without a driver’s license, which was not an option for an undocumented student in Illinois in 2007? Neither was a campus job, though he was an honors student majoring in economics. He asked for my help, tentatively at first—not for himself, but for the dream of citizenship—and so it all began.

Donna M. Carroll is the president of Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

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Ground breaker

By Brian Baker| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Social Justice
Undeterred by threats of failure, Jim Ziolkowski is proof that one man can build a better world.

After graduating from college in 1989, Jim Ziolkowski yearned for an adventure. So he bought a backpack, hopped on a plane with his brother Dave, and hitchhiked across Europe. When his younger brother had his fill and flew back home, Jim had other ideas. Exotic lands beckoned—places like Thailand, India, and Nepal. This time, he set out solo.

Brian Baker is a writer living in New Jersey.

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Week Two: Lent provides a perfect opportunity for conversion

By Father Allan Figueroa Deck, S.J.| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Parish Life Prayer and Sacraments Saints, Feasts, and Seasons Social Justice

Students of Pope Francis summarize his agenda with the phrase “pastoral conversion.” Lent is an especially suitable time to think and pray about conversion. But what is pastoral conversion?

Father Allan Figueroa Deck, S.J., Charles S. Casassa Chair of Catholic Social Values at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California and former executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.

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Best practices for charity and justice

By Jack Jezreel| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Parish Life Social Justice
Social ministry is the job of the entire parish community. What are we waiting for?

As the implications of the gospel, baptism, Vatican II, and, specifically, the recognition of the responsibilities that come with being seized by God’s love and Spirit unfold, the American Catholic parish has slowly but surely moved in the direction of being more deliberate about beckoning and organizing its members to engage in the needs of the world, both local and faraway. It’s called parish social ministry. Admittedly, it’s a work in progress.

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