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Departments
By Debbie Weber, OPJCC director
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The current pandemic caused by COVID-19 has highlighted social systems that are serving us well and systems that are failing us. It may be time (or past the time) for change of the systems that are failing us.
Systemic change can refer to change in any system, globally, nationally or locally such as health care, affordable housing, economics, immigration, schools, food, etc. It is required when efforts to change one aspect of a system fail to fix the problem and the whole system needs to be transformed. Systemic change requires imagination, innovation, ongoing learning and adaptation.
We have a rich treasure of wisdom to guide us through systemic change as well as personally living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of everyday life. This treasure is called Catholic Social Teaching.
The Catholic Church has a history of social teaching that goes back centuries and provides a moral challenge for living responsibly and building a just society. Modern Catholic Social Teaching is rooted in Scripture and articulated through official written documents issued by popes, bishops, and other prominent faith leaders. It has evolved over time in response to the challenges of the day.
Catholic Social Teaching covers all spheres of life such as social, economic, political, personal, spiritual and environmental. At its core is the protection of the dignity and well-being of all people. Promotion of ethical choices, just interactions within societies, and the preservation of the natural world are also integrated in the teachings.
Below is the first, and core theme, of seven key themes that are at the heart of our Catholic social tradition: Human Dignity.
Life and Dignity of the Human Person
“The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation
every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.” USCCB
Read that again and think about our sisters and brothers who experience homelessness. Do we in the U.S. treat our homeless population as if they are “precious?” Do we “enhance their lives” and their “dignity” as children of our loving Creator? Repeat that exercise but insert a system of your choice and ask the same questions. The world, post COVID-19, will not be the same as it was. Some systems will transform, and some will not. It is my hope that those involved in systemic change will keep Catholic Social Teaching at the forefront. of all the principles of our social teaching. We believe that
Sources: Caritas International Catholic Charities USA Catholic Community Services United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Staying Connected Through Technology
By Chanin Wilson, director of Associates
One of the things I have participate in a Zoom meeting. always loved about It is always the second Tuesday Elizabeth Seton is how she of the month. There are two stayed connected with her dear friend opportunities: one in the morning Julia Scott. They were not in the and another in the evening. This same geographic area, but they were a allows Associates in all time zones great comfort for each other through to participate. letters. We have the same ability to In the first month, we had be of comfort to each other, however, seven Associates join us. The topic we have more than just the ability to was the Associate “Christmas write letters. Card Ministry.” Associate Mary
Of the 200 Associates, half of Hirsh, who works in Mother them are in the Tri-state area, but half Margaret Hall, shared the impact are not. The common thread is the receiving cards had on the Sisters Charity charism. For eight years there in MMH, and the Associates had has been an online small group that the opportunity to share the graces meets every month. This group has they received by sending the cards. grown and changed as technology has In April, after the 20 participants changed. At first, it was a conference heard Associate Carla Rush talk call, then a Skype meeting, and now about her Sunday Reflection, the Zoom. What has not changed is the Associates then split into “Zoom blessing of being connected with Breakout Rooms” where four others who share the mission and With the assistance of technology, Director of Associates Chanin Wilson has the ability to work remotely from her home Associates had the opportunity to charism. office in Colorado. reflect then come back and share
The Sisters of Charity of with the entire group. Associates Cincinnati have always been forward-thinking. Living from Alaska, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, and England are in Colorado, miles away from the Mount St. Joseph connecting monthly over our shared charism. It is rewarding Motherhouse, I was hired as the director of Associates and to see how easily the groups relate and share. was permitted to work remotely. This is a major change from Associate Mary McHale wrote, “I really enjoyed the Zoom anything that had been tried before. There has been a lot of meeting. I have not been part of small group meetings for a learning, creativity, and new ways of thinking. Never would long while; it was great feeling a part of the Associates again.” we have thought the knowledge we were gaining would be so Candidate Jean Simpson was ready to become an Associate valuable so soon. in Mission just as the pandemic began. She had planned to
The Associate Office and the seven regional travel to Pueblo, Colorado, to make her commitment with her representatives meet every other month via Zoom. companion S. Barbara Jeanne Krekeler. Jean did not want to Technology has allowed the Associate Office to stay connected wait, so we offered the idea ofa Zoom Commitment. Sisters with Associates in all regions. It is always a bright day when and Associates from all regions were able to join. we can see each other, hear about all the exciting things S. Clarann Weinert in Montana commented, “That was a happening in each area and share creative ideas. lovely service. Thank you. It was good to see so many people.”
The North American Conference of Associates and New Associate Jean was touched at how welcomed she felt Religious (NACAR) has facilitated “Creative Conversations” and also how important her commitment was to others. for Associate leaders for the last couple of years. I have With all that is being canceled this year, I am grateful enjoyed meeting others and sharing ideas with people I for the ability to continue to be connected. What would would never have the opportunity to meet in person. From Elizabeth Ann Seton have thought about this? (Maybe that these meetings came the idea for the “Associate Share.” is a topic for an “Associate Share”!) Once a month Associates have the opportunity to sign up to
Never Giving Up Hope
By Associate Vicki Welsh
“T his is NOT a happy place!” These are S. Nancy Crafton’s own words, spoken to S. Jean Miller for a 2014 Intercom article about her ministry at Los Pobres, a center for the immigrant farm worker population in Avondale, Colorado. It is now the year 2020 and this is a story that has gotten worse! Yet the goodness and hope of this story is, as always, found in our Charity Charism: “As pilgrims we pray for the wisdom to know the needs of our sisters and brothers and we dare to risk a caring response.”
S. Nancy and a legion of 40 volunteers are imbued with this charism. It is total love that fuels the center’s ministry; a ministry that has only suggested operating hours. For in truth, the problems of a displaced people know no time of day or situation too great to bring to Los Pobres. The center provides migrants with food, clothing, medical care, bill assistance, and even a place to lay their heads when there is nowhere else to go.
Dedicated donors help support the center, which opened in 2000. At that time Los Pobres was about 5,000 families, 200 visiting each week. Many factors have caused the numbers to decrease, but not the seriousness of the problems! Here are some of the changes S. Nancy has witnessed in the last 20 years:
Misdemeanors became felonies. Driver’s licenses from their native countries were confiscated and destroyed, leaving them with no official ID. If a worker was stopped for any reason without a license they were incarcerated and deported. This resulted in the ceasing of the migrant farm worker traveling across the United States to follow the crops. They had to ‘hunker’ and settle out in the five counties in and around Avondale. S. Nancy said they see about 1,000 families with 600-1,000 children. Many of these children are from mixed documented parents with Mexican and American children all desperately trying to find a way to have a status change for immigration.
In 2012, President Obama instituted by executive order DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Thousands of children, young adults and high school students were able to legally drive, work and go to college. DACA papers at that time cost $495 to process and obtain. In 2016, immediately after the inauguration of the new president, the DACA program was ended. Thousands of dollars in legal fees are incurred to help secure the retention of the detainees within our country. The fee for a renewal document, alone, was raised to $895 if it remains solvent. The temporary reprieve that the Supreme Court gave us this June may be just that,
S. Nancy Crafton stands outside Los Pobres in Avondale, Colorado, with Rudy.
temporary. The president has already filed papers to stop it once again.
You may remember a great deal of confused misinformation surrounding the caravans coming toward the U.S. in droves from as far away as South America. The Department of Homeland Security began discouraging refugee applications by closing entryways at the border. Authorities went so far as to automatically charge all these adults crossing the border as felons! As a result, the adults were incarcerated and because children could not be put into these prison settings, they were separated into holding cells, amounting to little more than cages.
S. Nancy picks up the most recent thread of the story. “Now we have the pandemic virus COVID-19 upon us. The closure of the U.S. with the advice of the CDC has impacted every human being on Earth. However, the greatest impact is within that segment of society on the lowest rung: those menial labor, agriculture and low-income jobs
without benefits. The government financial aid excludes the immigrants who with their ITINs** pay more than $7 billion in Social Security yearly. None of them qualify for assistance. Also, families with one undocumented parent do not qualify for assistance. They already are not allowed to have health insurance due to a lack of Social Security Numbers. Life is one of survival.
“One of Los Pobres’ American-born caregivers was denied government help because her husband is undocumented. They have three American-born children. He pays his taxes with an ITIN number. She pays with her Social Security Number. Any family member that has an ITIN number totally denies any other family member access to the stimulus package even though that member has a Social Security Number. Without her foreign-born husband, the wife would have been eligible for a stimulus check of $2,700!”
Hardships arise on a daily basis. S. Nancy, as a trained nurse, shares some of her most poignant stories about the health care road blocks that the immigrant encounters. Read Jorge’s story told by S. Nancy:
“One cold Tuesday morning I arrived at our closed center to find three young men patiently waiting for help in our parking lot. They had driven 36 hours with an injured friend. They had slept all night in the car not knowing whether or not someone would come to find them.
The three of them were working as a roofing crew when Jorge fell off the roof injuring his back. His friends drove him to the nearest hospital where he was turned away due to his lack of insurance and documentation. After making a few frantic calls to friends in other states, they started out for Colorado. The trip was painful and difficult; they had gas money but no food or water. Jorge was in terrible pain. I found him lying in the backseat of
A mother and her two children at Los Pobres Center.
the small compact car, his legs drawn up in a fetal position. He told me his back hurt so badly and his legs were cramping but he could feel them and move his toes. I put a call into an orthopedic surgeon who has helped us more times than I can count. He sent them right into the Emergency Room at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital where the surgeon met them.
Jorge was taken to surgery after MRIs and spine films showed a badly fractured lumbar spine. He underwent an ‘instrumented fusion’ and was hospitalized for five days. After a brief recovery, Jorge returned to roofing as is often the case with our clients who feel desperate to send money to their families.” S. Nancy cares for each client as a loved and valued member of God’s creation, buoyed by her Charity Charism. She never loses love or hope for those she serves. To read additional narratives about Margarita and Federico, visit the following link: https://www.srcharitycinti.org/news-andevents/feature-stories/. Editor’s note: An ITIN is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number which is a tax processing number issued by the IRS. The IRS issues ITINs to help individuals comply with the U.S. tax laws for those not eligible for Social Security.