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Building Solidarity: Beyond Parish Boundaries
Ecological concern has now heightened our awareness of just how interdependent our world is. Some of the gravest environmental problems are clearly global. In this shrinking world, everyone is affected and everyone is responsible. … The universal common good can serve as a foundation for a global environmental ethic. —Renewing the Earth, United States Catholic Bishops (1992)
As Catholics, we see ourselves as members of a universal church, tied to our brothers and sisters around the world as one family in Christ. Yet many parishes find making the international connection among the most challenging aspects of social ministry. With problems so great and so distant, it's often difficult for parishioners to see how they can make a difference. As a result, international concerns are often the last to be addressed. But, as the examples below demonstrate, this doesn't have to be the case. Here are models—examples of parishes working on behalf of their brothers and sisters for sustainable development and environmental protection in other lands.
Seeds of Hope
The Church of St. Anne in Fair
Lawn, N.J., has incorporated international
concerns into its environmental justice program
through its education ministry and through
a Seed/Pen Pal exchange program. In addition
to studying local environmental concerns,
the parish school, adult education, and confirmation
preparation programs include speakers and
materials on global ecological concerns.
The parish sent seed packets to African missions
to help promote sustainable agriculture.
Parishioners are now establishing pen pals
and other exchanges with African missionary
communities.
International Trade Project
The St. Vincent de Paul Society
of Lane County, Ore., has developed a trading
project that combines assistance to a developing
community with a recycling program in Lane
County. The Society established a St. Vincent
de Paul store in Belize City, Belize, and
ships items there that would otherwise be
discarded and sent to a local landfill. Lane
County members have shipped clothing, office
equipment, refrigerators, and books donated
by local businesses, hospitals, churches,
and individuals.
LPP Energy/Water Systems, Diocese of Brownsville,
TX
The refugee shelter, La Posada
Providencia, using the skills of the refugees
themselves, seeks to install a solar hot
water heater, a solar oven and a cistern.
The goals of this sustainable lifestyle project
are to conserve energy resources within one
Catholic institution; teach refugees methods
of sustainability using U.S. technology;
and reduce the energy costs of a non-profit
that receives little outside funding.