A part of the Social Ministries and Community Outreach of St. Mary Magdalene Parish

“The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts.” 

--Opening to Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World

Committee Convener: Joyce Rothermel, 412.780.5118 or [email protected]

What   The Social Justice and Peace Committee mobilizes parishioners to understand and act on Catholic Social Teaching regarding pressing issues at the local, national, and international levels. Following the call of Jesus to love all people as our sisters and brothers, especially those who are poor, oppressed, or in special need, the committee’s focus is social action to change social policies for a more just and peaceful world.  The Committee supplements the parish’s outreach for justice through the Ministry Center which provides Works of Mercy whenever possible. The Committee focuses on the structural roots of the problems that bring people to our door and other issues that undermine the quality of human life that God intends. It mobilizes the parish for Social Action.  It supports other local organizations and campaigns working for peace and social justice such as Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi, Wilkinsburg’s Sanctuary Project, Just Harvest, Wilkinsburg Affordable Housing Advocates, Stop Banking the Bomb, etc.
 
How    Principal activities of the committee include

• monthly letter writing, lobbying officials on issues affecting the common good
• supporting local efforts that provide food and other necessities
• joining with the Global Solidarity to organize and support the annual Advent Fair Trade Fair to support impoverished artisans and raise funds for the parish’s Global Partners
• collaborate with Pittsburgh Pax Christi and other organizations working for justice and peace

Why   Following Jesus’ call to love has a social dimension. This was first articulated by the Hebrew prophets, by Jesus (for example in his rebuke of the Pharisees), by the early Church Fathers and other leaders. More recently as more Christians became educated and participants in a democratic society, Popes starting with Leo XII in Rerum Novarum call us to address various social needs.  Most recently Pope Francis gave a loud call to respond to the environmental crisis and its impact on the poor in Laudato Si and to today’s social divisiveness in Fratelli Tutti. From these Gospel responses, Catholic Social Teaching developed and provide criteria, a lens, for evaluating new problems as they emerge.
 
Key themes of Catholic Social Teaching*

• The Dignity of Every Human Person & Respect for Human Life – the foundation to Catholic teaching on abortion, euthanasia, poverty, capital punishment, war, nuclear weapons, etc.
• Call to Association: family, community – the foundation to Catholic teaching on the rights of the family and the importance of social interaction as crucial for human fulfillment, etc.
• Principle of Participation – the foundation to Catholic teaching on the right to participate in seeking the common good in various institutions, etc.
• Dignity of Work & Rights of the Worker – the foundation to Catholic teaching on living wage, the right to a union, etc.
• Preferential option for the poor & vulnerable – the foundation to Catholic teaching on the priority that should be given to those with special needs without power. It maintains the balance and unity in society for the common good.
• Principle of Solidarity – proclaims that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers locally and globally – all part of the human family. Loving our neighbor has a global dimension in an interdependent world, as is evident in the Covid pandemic.
• Principle of Stewardship of Creation – the foundation to Catholic teaching on the need to protect the environment and on the resultant, problematic, growing gap between the rich and poor
• Principle of Subsidiarity – the foundation to Catholic teaching that puts a proper limit on government by insisting that no higher level should perform anything that can be efficiently and effectively handled by a lower level, closer to the problem.
• Principle of the Common Good – the social conditions that allow people to reach their full human potential and to realize their human dignity. 

*adapted from “Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching,” William J. Byron, SJ
 
The Committee uses these themes as lenses through which to evaluate pressing issues that threaten the well-being of sisters and brothers locally and around the world. It advocates public policy in a politically non-partisan way.