COMMUNITY ORGANIZING and the Reign of God

BY BISHOP JOHN STOWE, O.F.M., CONV.

My inspiration to join the Conventual Franciscans after high school was largely motivated by the sense of family and community I experienced with the friars, whom I had known all my life from my home parish and high school..I took a course on St. Francis in high school that resonated with me; I learned about the freedom Francis discovered in serving outcast lepers and how that experience freed him from the “upward mobility” trajectory his merchant father expected of him.

Francis’ call to conversion was experienced in the church and among the marginalized. His joyous spirit attracted many to join his fraternity, which grew into a large movement that rejected violence as much as it embraced simplicity of life. The election of Pope Francis to the Chair of Peter in 2013 has brought those same values to the center of the church. Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, is leading the church with the spirit of his namesake, Francis of Assisi.

My formational experiences in Jesuit educational institutions heavily complemented my attraction to Franciscan fraternity. As a postulant, I began studies in philosophy and history at St. Louis University, where the friars had a house of studies. There I came to appreciate the “faith that does justice” approach to all that I was learning. Opportunities for expressing solidarity with the Central American sanctuary movement and opposition to the U.S. support of repressive regimes and preference for armed violence made my faith and prayer life come alive. That my Franciscan province had a presence in Central America also helped deepen my solidarity with the global south..

During my senior year at St. Louis University, the Jesuits at the Central American University (UCA) were martyred; the witness of the “faith that does justice” became even clearer. I had the opportunity to continue studies in theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (now part of Santa Clara University) and continued to pursue interests in the history of Latin American colonization and prophetic voices within the church who denounced exploitation of the natives and alignment with oppression.

During the course of my studies, I was active in my province and order’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation commission. On a visit to El Paso and later to San Antonio, I encountered community organizing through the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). From COPS (Communities Organized in Public Service) in San Antonio, I learned about the history of giving economically disadvantaged people a voice in the community and the power to bring about constructive changes. In El Paso, I witnessed an accountability session where city politicians and candidates answered questions of their constituents and responded to the agenda of the people rather than giving campaign speeches. I watched in awe as an immigrant told elected officials that they had to abide by the rules of the session and stopped them from attacking opponents. The well-prepared participants insisted that their agenda be heard and responded to.

When I completed my theology studies and was assigned to our Franciscan parish in Ysleta, El Paso, I was eager to connect with the community organizers as part of my pastoral ministry. My first encounter with a lead organizer was mutually disappointing only because she was disappointed that I was not the pastor, whom she insisted the organization had to work with. The parish was already a member of the organization, which by that time had brought water, streets, and sewage to many of the border colonias that lacked these basic aspects of infrastructure. I was persistent and eventually convinced the organizer that I would bring the pastor along.

An early lesson in community organizing was that not everybody is impressed with their accomplishments or methods, and some have a hard time grasping why the church is engaged with these kinds of issues. With all of my formation, I thought this should be obvious, and I was dumbfounded that anyone would object. I learned that despite an impressive ability to create and support an agenda that is beneficial to the local community, politicians have figured out that showing up at events, presenting flags, and taking photos will easily convince people that they are the good guys and that community organizers are really troublemakers who don’t understand what the government is doing.

There are definitely no shortcuts in organizing. There is a constant need to start over with face-to-face meetings and small group house meetings to hear the challenges that people are facing and discover common interests and needs that they can address more forcefully together.

Inspired by the comunidades de base in Latin America, it is not difficult to see the needs of the people addressed in scripture and discover there the tools for empowerment. From the formation of leaders, such as the judges who assisted Moses to the awakening of the power of priests, prophets, and kings given to each of us in baptism, community organizing became ever more clearly a way to connect faith to everyday life.

The analysis of power and structures undertaken by the organizing community also had its application in parish life. The formation of leaders is of obvious advantage to a parish. Forming a real sense of common interest among families helps build a stronger community. Watching the organization help potential leaders find their natural abilities and study complex issues and then teach them to others is tremendously rewarding. Seeing my parishioners speak directly to mayors, city and state representatives, senators, and judges has been deeply satisfying. It also helps people understand how their church, functioning as a real community as well as an institution, has an impact on their neighborhood, city, school district, and, of course, their lives.

Catholic social teaching begins with an emphasis on the dignity of the human person. Community organizing helps people develop self-understanding and an understanding of their role in society. It helps people transform from passive objects of indifference to real actors advocating for their needs. Catholic social teaching emphasizes that human beings are meant to be part of a community, a community of equals who must be respected, seen, and heard. Organizing makes clear what can be accomplished together infinitely surpasses what one can do alone.

The themes of Catholic social teaching come alive in community organizing as just wages, safe working conditions, care for the environment, and other issues are addressed as part of the justice necessary for peace (especially on the local level). Organizing is an exercise in solidarity and is based on the balance of rights and responsibilities assigned proportionately in society; it calls for the preferential option for the poor to be realized in budgets, laws, infrastructure, and more.

Recently, some U.S. community organizing leaders had an opportunity to sit down for a lengthy conversation with

Pope Francis in his home. The pope was impressed with their connection to real people and real communities. He congratulated them for not speaking as theorists or academics, but communicating real transformation in the lives of real people. While Pope Francis has been an organizer himself of the World Meeting of Popular Movements, he is more familiar with people in the global south organizing from the streets, the slums, and even the garbage heaps where they are forced to live. He knows about the struggle against dictators, military governments, and oligarchies that are unresponsive to their populations, especially the poor. He was interested to learn about how this works in the United States, in a democracy that used to be held as an example throughout the world. He was also impressed with the expression of faith put into action that motivates the leaders he met. He experienced a synodal moment with them.

Community organizing has been using a synodal model in communities for a long time, and it is a sign of hope to see this kind of organizing going on in the church. Organizing begins with a faceto-face encounter and then expands those encounters to people who share some aspect of life. It involves listening to the hopes and concerns of people and expressing them together. It really is no wonder that where organizing has been strong, the concept of synodality is easily understood, even if the name and terminology is not.

Pope Francis wants a synodal church that is walking together, and community organizing teaches people how to walk together in effective ways. Missionary disciples can easily be community organizers capable of listening and bringing forth common issues; community organizers can easily be missionary disciples when their organizing is based on the values of faith and a desire for the reign of God.

Bishop John Stowe, O.F.M., Conv. joined the formation program for the Conventual Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Consolation at St. Bonaventure Friary in St. Louis, Missouri in 1985, made his solemn vows as a Conventual Franciscan in 1992, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1995. Stowe served in El Paso, Texas as a pastor, vicar general, and moderator of the curia and chancellor for the Diocese of El Paso from 2002 until 2010, when he was elected vicar provincial of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation and became pastor and rector of the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio. On March 12, 2015, Pope Francis named him the third bishop of Lexington, Kentucky. He serves on the USCCB subcommittee of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and is the bishop president of Pax Christi USA.