C21 Resources - Spring/Summer 2021 - Faith in Action Around the World

Setting the World on Fire

Peter G. Martin

when i arrived at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in 2003 for a diplomatic assignment as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, I knew I would be engaging with Holy See officials on the hot issues of the day, such as stability in Iraq, religious freedom in China, and other topics of interest to the Department of State. My marching orders were also to foster cooperation with other foreign diplomats in Rome who were accredited to the Holy See. I had little idea, however, that one of my closest partners in diplomacy would be the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic lay organization involved in peacemaking, refugee work, and interfaith dialogue. Indeed, by the time I completed my assignment at the Vatican, I had supported Sant’Egidio in peacemaking negotiations with rebels from Darfur, consulted on the group’s peace and reconciliation work in the Balkans, and served as U.S. representative to the Community’s annual Prayer for Peace, which brings together a diverse group of religious leaders from around the world to promote peace and reconciliation.

Nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Community of Sant’Egidio has become a powerful force for good in the world despite its small size. Its members are resourceful, indefatigable, and fueled by their Catholic faith and a belief in the power of prayer. Throughout my diplomatic career, working on issues from nearly every continent, I encountered many such examples of Catholics doing good, far from their own homes, working to help people of all races, cultures, nationalities, and faiths. With this issue of C21 Resources, we offer the reader the stories of some of these organizations and people, motivated by their Catholic faith and unrestrained by borders. The work is often unheralded, but quietly effective and inspirational.

Observers of international development efforts are aware of the outsized role that the Catholic Church and its related organizations play in education and healthcare around the world. And many Catholics are familiar with the “heavyweights” of international Catholic relief work, like Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Jesuit Refugee Service. However, lesser known organizations and individuals affiliated with the Church are also making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Catholic Relief Services is represented in the pages that follow through the courageous story of a Haitian CRS doctor fighting to rebuild her earthquake-ravaged country, as well as through conversations with the current and former heads of CRS, both of whom boast Boston College (BC) connections. Longtime BC teacher and journalist William Bole describes Jesuit Refugee Service’s inspiring 40-plus-year record of educating and otherwise “walking with” refugees.

Many Catholics know the Knightsof Columbus for their local volunteer work and support of those on the margins of American society. Fewer are aware that the Knights have been increasingly active internationally. A strong presence in East Central Europe has helped them take an active role in aiding Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country. The Knights have also been great champions of Christian communities under siege in Iraq. In this issue, we highlight McGivney House in Erbil, where the Knights have given displaced Iraqi Christians a chance to rebuild their lives after conquests by the Islamic State fighters.

I first worked with Monsignor Robert Vitillo of the Diocese of Paterson, NJ, in 2005 when he was Caritas Internationalis’s key representative in Geneva working on health issues. At that time, the State Department was supporting President George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Now Msgr. Vitillo is secretary general of another important Catholic organization that we profile, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), which serves refugees, asylum-seekers, victims of human trafficking, and others. As an illustration of the variety of the organization’s work, we highlight ICMC’s efforts to stop child marriage, a devastating trend affecting girls in numerous countries.

Boston College also has a long history of institutional and individual activism around the world, fired by its Jesuit, Catholic ideals. Established by legendary BC benefactor Thomas Flatley and his family in 2010, BC’s Irish Famine Memorial Fund (IFMF) has been a bridge from “the Heights” across the globe, bringing students from 57 countries on five continents to study at BC on scholarship, as well as funding development projects in communities in Africa and the Americas. The fund has also

inspired the next generation of young Catholic leaders to venture beyond U.S. borders to do good. You will read about two BC alumnae who collaborated with the IFMF to create a “game-changing program” to help form new leaders in global development. You will also learn about IFMF-sponsored service trips for nurses from BC’s Connell School of Nursing to assist vulnerable populations in the Dominican Republic.

These stories and others remind us that every act of solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world begins with an initial “yes” from an individual who decides that, whether working for a large organization or acting alone, he or she wants to make a difference in the wider world. Dr. Paul Farmer, remembered in this issue, experienced a sudden realization that his vocation was to serve the poor. His “yes” led him to found Partners in Health, an impressive organization that has saved numerous lives in Haiti, Rwanda, and elsewhere.

This issue also provides evidencethat willing, committed individuals are strongest when they work together. You will read about the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, which links 23 affiliated organizations in a quest to build a peaceful and more just world. Another network, Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church, draws on a variety of voices from around the world to remind us that we do not perform good works in a vacuum; they are supported by the framework of our rich Catholic intellectual and social justice tradition.

Now, it is true that there are many people in need in our own communities. We certainly must maintain our attention to the marginalized among us. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and repercussions from the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine have reinforced what we already knew: the world is interconnected. In 2022, what happens on one side of the globe reverberates everywhere. This reality should add a sense of urgency to fulfilling our duties around the world. As CRS President Sean Callahan tells C21 in these pages, we need to continue to care for our local communities, but as people of faith, we should not limit our attention to our “own backyard.” Callahan urges us to consider our place in the world community, “respect the human dignity of all of our brothers and sisters,” and act boldly. Or, as St. Ignatius would have it, “Go forth and set the world on fire.” ■

Peter G. Martin, a former U.S. diplomat, is special assistant to the president at Boston College. He is chairman of the steering committee of BC’s Church in the 21st Century Center and is the University’s accreditation liaison officer, among other roles.