April 2015 Volume 1, Number 3 A message from the CCUSA staff liaison On December 10, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated The Service of Charity (http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_ben-xvi_motu-proprio_20121111_caritas.html). According to Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso, Secretary of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Pope's motu proprio is primarily concerned with laying out the responsibility of each bishop to oversee charitable agencies in his diocese, in order to reinforce such agencies' Catholic identity. The document has the status of canon law. In an interview with Catholic News Service, Msgr. Dal Toso said that the ‘New rules issued by Pope Benedict XVI for the governance of Catholic charities will not prevent such charities from accepting government funding, so long as the funding does not entail conditions that conflict with church teaching (Rocca, Francis X. “New charity rules don't forbid state funding, Vatican official says,” Catholic News Service, Dec. 6, 2012; http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1205102.htm).

Related to this matter, Peg Harmon, Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, Inc., responds to Fr. Fred Kammer’s chapter “Why Partner with Government?” in Thomas J. Davis’ Religion in Philanthropic Organization Funding: Friend or Foe? (the book is readily accessible from your local public library (or its interlibrary loan service or your favorite book seller). In her article, she speaks as one leader of a Catholic Charities agency with the hope that it will provide insight into our complicated but significant relationship with local, state, and federal governments. Kathy Brown (kbrown@catholiccharitiesusa.org) Sr. Director, Mission Integration Mission Integration and Catholic Identity, Catholic Charities USA

Peg Harmon on “Catholic Charities, Religion, and Philanthropy” and government partnering

Governments, as all human institutions, can behave in ways that may cause people of faith to question the wisdom of developing and maintaining partnerships in order to achieve the mission of their own organizations and institutions. Not surprisingly, some in the Catholic Charities movement are now questioning the relationships their agencies have forged over the past 100 years with federal, state and local government entities to serve those who are most vulnerable in our communities. Fr. Fred Kammer S.J., Director of Jesuit Social Research Institute (New Orleans) and former President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, addresses this challenge in the chapter “Catholic Charities, Religion, and Philanthropy.” i

This chapter deals with a number of issues but the question in Part 4 of the chapter, “Why Partner with Government?” responds to this directly. The approach that Fr. Kammer has taken is based on two pillars, the responsibilities ascribed to government by Catholic social teaching and the benefits to both government institutions and Catholic Charities for developing and nurturing mutuality. As a leader of a Catholic Charities agency that began accepting government funding in the early 1970s, these questions are of particular importance to me and my organization.

Current political rhetoric concerning the appropriate size and role of government does not align well with Catholic social teaching. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have spoken and written on the proper role of government as including the responsibility for justice, the protection of human rights, and the promotion of the common good. In fulfilling these responsibilities, the government must further act to create the safety net of economic support for those who can work through support of minimum wage, for those who do work but do not earn adequate wages, and for those who cannot work because of age or disability. Government alone has the capability to address the scale of the issues of concern of the Church such as inherited poverty, discrimination and income inequality. As the Church leadership has identified these right roles of government, so has the Church taught how we in Charities, may work with government to support them in fulfilling these roles.

Partnership between government and Catholic Charities has the capacity to:

• Strengthen the Gospel based mission of service as described by both Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as the heart of the identity of the Church.

• Provide the capacity to leverage the resources of the Church while integrating the respect for the dignity of each person as intrinsic especially those who are most vulnerable as the inspiration for the quality of our work.

• Reinforce the shared responsibility of government for promoting the common good.

• Reinforce the principle of subsidiarity through the shared responsibility for administrative oversight of public funds by government while structuring the role of Charities to provide direct services in according with our values with highly trained and effective staff.

• Promote good will and evangelization, not through conversion, but through the witness that we do what we do because we are Catholic not because those who we serve are Catholic.

• Influence public debate regarding the responsibilities of government and the nature of services to achieve compassion and justice, as these values are being diminished by political rhetoric and as for profit entities influence how social, health and human services are provided.

• Shape public policy on human and social services through the demonstration of the outcomes and benefits of our work and through the relationships developed between government actors and Charities staff while partnering in service.

Like all relationships, the one Charities has with government is complex. The sense of overly intrusive oversight of how we do what we do, the need for Charities to be steadfast in remaining true to our individual and collective mission while struggling with compliance with regulations and requirements and a sometimes, encouraging an unwilling partner to accept their responsibilities for those who are most vulnerable, will require an ongoing assessment of the very nature of this relationship.

The 1999 Bishop’s statement is a challenge to those of us in Charities as we relate to the government to assure that “…The programs that make up this system should serve the needs of the poor in a manner that respects their dignity and provides for adequate support.” iiAnd in 2011, the United States Bishops requested that Catholics ask of candidates how they intend to help our nation pursue a number of goals, including, “…Help families and children overcome poverty: ensuring access to and choice in education, as well as decent work at fair, living wages and adequate assistance for the vulnerable in our nation, while also helping to overcome widespread hunger and poverty around the world, especially in the areas of development assistance, debt relief, and international trade….”iii

Collectively we can meet this “witness of actions” of our Church to create a just and caring society.

What is new in Catholic identity and mission resources? Benders, Alison M. Just Prayer: A Book of Hours for Peacemakers and Justice Seekers. 2015.

Laboa, Juan Mara. Caritas: The Illustrated History of Christian Charity. New York ; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014. McGreevey, John. “One Nation Under God,” Commonweal, April 20, 2015 (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/book-reviews/one-nation-under-god)

McMullen, Gabrielle L., and John Warhurst. Listening, Learning and Leading: The Impact of Catholic Identity and Mission. 2014.

O’Connell, Gerard. “Pope Francis Announces a Jubilee Year of Mercy,” America, March 13, 2015 (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/book-reviews/one-nation-under-god).

Pope Francis. “Misericordiae Vultus: Bull Of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee Of Mercy,” April 11, 2014 (http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/bulls/documents/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html).

Schmalz, Matthew N. “Holy Cross project tries to answer: what is Catholicism?,” Crux: Covering all Things Catholic, April 23, 2015 (http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/04/23/holy-cross-project-tries-to-answer-what-is-catholicism/)

Save the Date past events available on video recording

April 28, 2015 || The Catholic University of America, “Ending Extreme Poverty Now: Working Together with the Poor” (available soon at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIyjmpcCSGmY-eAzuDNryZxzxUcUqY1-Y) April 29, 2015, | Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, Georgetown University; “The Mission and Message of Pope Francis and Catholic Social Thought: A Conversation with Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez” (available soon at catholicsoicalthought.georgetown.edu) May 30-June 13, 2015| Catholic Charities USA, 2015 O'Grady Institute - Freiburg and Rome Campus (filled) June 13-19, 2015| Catholic Charities USA, Leadership Institute

Stay connected to the CCUSA Catholic Identity and Mission Network

Chairman Kevin Hickey, Executive Director, Catholic Charities of Camden

(856) 342-4102, email Kevin.hickey@camdendiocese.org

Staff Liaison Kathy Brown, Sr. Director, Mission and Ministry, CCUSA

(703) 236-6245, email kbrown@catholiccharitiesusa.org

Online Catholic Identity and Mission resource collection https://www.scribd.com/CIM_CCUSA/collections

i Davis, Thomas J. Religion in Philanthropic Organizations Family, Friend, Foe? 2013. ii Catholic Church. In All Things Charity: A Pastoral Challenge for the New Millennium. Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1999; available online http://www.usccb.org/about/catholic-campaign-for-human-development/in-all-things-charity.cfm#vi. iii Catholic Church. Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States ; with Introductory Note. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011, pp. 29-30; available online http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship.pdf.