St Vincent de Paul Society SOCIAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE. GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Subject: CULTURE CHANGE. Although advocacy for social justice has always been an important aspect of the work of the Society, it has traditionally been left to higher Councils to pursue these matters. Looking forward, the Society’s plans now call for members at all levels to become aware of and active in social justice issues, as Ozanam exhorted us. Some questions which might be asked as we consider this change are: 1. What do members understand by the term “social justice”? 2. How do members see the relationship between social justice and their “normal” work within the Society? 3. Are members generally interested in social justice issues? 4. To what extent can we expect members to become involved with social justice issues? 5. Would involvement in social justice issues lead to less time for “ normal” conference work? 6. Would this really be a “culture change”?
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St Vincent de Paul Society SOCIAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE. GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Subject:
LOCAL INVOLVEMENT.
If normal conference work is to include social justice issues in the future, we might ask ourselves how will local involvement be accomplished: 1. Will social justice become an agenda item at conference meetings? 2. How will conferences identify local social justice issues? 3. Will conferences undertake local advocacy on specific local issues? 4. Do members need some form of training in social justice/advocacy? 5. What are some aspects of social justice likely to arise locally?
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St Vincent de Paul Society SOCIAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE. GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Subject:
STRUCTURES.
As social justice work becomes more common throughout the Society, right down to local level, what organization structures might be needed to ensure our success in helping the poor in this way: 1. Will Diocesan and/or Regional social justice teams be needed? 2. Will Diocesan/Regional/ Conference social justice officers be needed? 3. Will regular reporting up through the council line be needed? 4. How should social justice communications from National and State level get down to members?
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St Vincent de Paul Society SOCIAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE. GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Subject:
COLLEGIALITY.
One of the great keys to the success of the Society’s conference work is the strong collegiality which exists throughout the conference network – we help one another. If our endeavours to bring about social justice are to be successful, we will need that same sense of collegiality – a willingness to work together with the common objective of bringing justice to the poor: 1. In what ways might a conference need help from another conference on a social justice issue? 2. How could conferences work together on shared needs on social justice issues? 3. Are multi-conference teams likely to be effective? 4. Are Festival Meetings are suitable forum for working on social justice issues? 5. Are the normal conference (parish) boundaries applicable to social justice work?
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