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Past Events
Doing Justice in a Divided Nation & Church
April 27, 2021
After opening remarks by Seeds of Justice Network Board President Pat Dougherty and prayer by Bernie Sammons, Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ, reminded us that our divisions as a nation and Church have a history spanning centuries. He highlighted facets to history and noted the divisions are becoming increasingly personal – to the end that many see the “other” as the enemy or as evil.
Using the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, Fr. Kammer challenged us to look beyond “our team” for “Team Catholic” and called us to practice “faithjustice” by:
Listening deeply
Reaching across division to work on specific issues of shared interest
Drawing on the variety of Catholic teachers and resources
Generously using storytelling, Scripture and humor.
Then local justice leaders shared their work and opportunities to engage. Elyse Max shared the work of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and Denise Lieberman shared how Missouri Voter Protection Coalition guards the vote. Kim Davis shared a powerful story of her personal passion in starting Project Read & Feed and the impact it’s making for children in St. Louis.
One of the special elements of the program featured small group discussion where participants met several other like-minded and hopeful neighbors, reflected on the content shared, and made plans for future action. Upon reconvening as a full group, participants shared out, heard about opportunities to participate in JustFaith programs, and were called to action.
Voting: What’s a Catholic to do?
October 6, 2020
Panelists:
Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ
Meg Olson, NETWORK Lobby
Daniel Isom Ph.D., REJIS Commission; Retired Chief of Police SLMPD
Heidi Schlumpf, National Catholic Reporter
To continue exploring the topic, we recommend:
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops video series (in English, Español, Tagalog, Tiếng Việt)
Catholics, Abortion and Voting: Time to Correct the Record – National Catholic Reporter article discussed in Q&A
Justice, Peace & Human Development Resources & Tools – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, includes the Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching referenced in the closing prayer
Systemic Racism is a Pro-Life Issue – National Catholic Reporter/National Black Catholic Congress podcast
Catholic Social Thought – Jesuit Social Research Institute