Almost 600 diocesan and national social ministry leaders gathered from February 9-14, 2007 in Washington to celebrate and act on the social mission of the Church. Below are some of the highlights of the 2007 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering. You will also find links to some of the keynote presentations and you will see the complexity and comprehensiveness of this annual meeting of social ministry leaders.

In addition, you can see the descriptions for the “wrap-around” meetings held by most of the 19 national Catholic partners who collaborate in the overall meeting.

Audio CDs
Many of the plenary addresses and some workshops are available below. Audio compact disks can also be ordered for many of the sessions. Go to AVER Associates and click on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops link to see what is available.

Opening Eucharistic Liturgy
Celebrant and Homilist: Most Reverend Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington. The St. Camillus Multicultural Choir brought prayerful music to the liturgy.

OPENING PLENARY SESSION

Spirituality for Social Mission, Ronald Rolheiser, OMI
The author of the acclaimed book, The Holy Longing, outlined elements of a spirituality to keep us anchored, focused and hopeful. Fr. Rolheiser weaved together Scripture, Catholic teaching and experience in a compelling call to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”

To purchase an audio recording of Fr. Rolheiser’s address, click here.

MORNING SESSION
Breakfast and Catholic Charities USA “Poverty in America” Discussion
Ms. Allison Boisvert, Justice and Charity Minister, Pax Christi Catholic Community, of Eden Prarie, MN, discussed the state of poverty in the United States by asking, “Who are the poor, what are their challenges, and how has society failed those in need?” Participants received the Catholic Charities USA 2006 policy paper, Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good.

Opening Plenary: Good News for a Broken World: Overcoming Fear with God’s Love
Mr. John Carr, Secretary, Social Development and World Peace, USCCB, offered reflections on the political and ecclesial context for our common mission. He presented some thoughts on what’s “broken” and where the “good news” is as we gather in Washington. He also offered some directions and dangers for “overcoming fear with God’s love” even in a fearful, polarized Capital and nation.

Audio is available for purchase here.

DOMESTIC PLENARY
Tackling Poverty in America
Our faith calls us to a renewed commitment to overcoming poverty in this, the richest society on Earth. Professor Rebecca Blank, the co-director of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy and a former member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors, has done extensive work on poverty, welfare and the interplay between religion and economics. Professor Blank helped us reflect on the task of overcoming poverty and restoring community in America, ideas and approaches to help families escape poverty, and the role the Catholic community can play.

Audio is available for purchase here.

INTERNATIONAL PLENARY
Campaigning Against Global Poverty: Do Our Voices and Actions Deliver Good News and Concrete Results?
Charity Musamba, a native of Zambia, explored how changes in U.S. policy (in the areas of debt relief, foreign aid and trade) can improve the lives of people in developing countries and reduce poverty. Charity was the National Coordinator for the Debt Cancellation and Trade Justice Project hosted by Jubilee -Zambia. She is a dynamic leader who is currently pursuing doctoral studies on poverty reduction in Africa at the Institute for Development and Peace at the University of Duisburg-Esseon in Germany.

Audio is available for purchase here.

DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL ISSUE BRIEFINGS
Participants attended workshops addressing the Gathering’s top four issue priorities in preparation for Tuesday’s advocacy day on Capitol Hill. Issue workshops included:

Domestic Priority Issues Briefings:

Working Toward Just Immigration Reform
Congress was unable to complete comprehensive reform of our broken immigration system last year. They will try again this year, and are now putting together new legislation. This briefing updated participants on the status of the immigration reform legislation, summarized the position of the USCCB on the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and prepared participants for the difficult questions about immigration that could have be raised in Capitol Hill meetings.

An audio recording of this session can be purchased here.

• Working Toward Just Farm and Food Policy
  In 2007, there will be renewed discussion about U.S. farm and food policies as Congress works on reauthorizing the Farm Bill. This briefing prepared participants to advocate to their Senators and Representatives for policies that support domestic farmers, promote rural development, and reduce hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world.

  Purchase audio here.

International Priority Issues Briefings:

• HIV/AIDS and Foreign Aid
  The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the largest commitment ever by any nation for a global health initiative dedicated to a single disease – $15 billion over five years. PEPFAR is up for renewal in 2007. This briefing equipped advocates to promote robust funding for morally appropriate programs that fight HIV/AIDS.

  Purchase audio here.

• Middle East
  At the time of the gathering, the deteriorating situation in Iraq, together with the President’s new proposal, new Congressional leadership and the report by the Iraq Study Group, had increased pressures to reevaluate U.S. policy toward Iraq. At the same time, 2006’s armed conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon highlighted the volatility of the Arab-Israeli dispute and the way it aggravates other conflicts in the region. This briefing equipped advocates to promote constructive U.S. policies in a region that is in crisis.

  Purchase audio here.

MORNING SESSION
Participants were able to choose from seven international and six domestic issue workshops that addressed a wide range of important priorities for the bishops and national Catholic organizations.

International Issue Workshops

• U.S. Policy Toward the Middle East: Is There any Good News?
• U. S. Policy toward Left-Leaning Governments in Latin America: Good News or Bad?
• President Bush’s New Plans for Foreign Aid: Should We Be Concerned?
• Renewing HIV/AIDS Programs: Are We Winning the Struggle Against the Global Pandemic?
• Extractive Industries: Reversing the Resource Curse
• Darfur: How Can We Turn Terrible News into Good News?
• Farm Bill 2007, Part I: Empowering Farmers at Home and Abroad

• Farm Bill 2007, Part II: Fighting Hunger at Home and Abroad
• Health Care and the Uninsured: Reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
• Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 110th Congress: A Catholic Perspective and Plan of Action
• Accessing Affordable Housing
• Why Uncle Sam Can’t Keep All Those Promises...and What It Means for Social Policy
• Global Climate Change: Lots of Talk, but What is the Forecast for Action?

AFTERNOON SESSION
Hill Visits
Participants braved the snow and sleet and marched to Capitol Hill to voice their concerns on key issues, including:

• Immigration Reform
• Farm and Food Policy
• Peace in the Middle East
• HIV/AIDS

CRS-Sponsored Reception and Perspectives from Capitol Hill
Catholic Social Ministry leaders met in the Dirksen Senate Office Building to unwind after a long day and share their experiences from Capitol Hill. Catholic Relief Services staff tracked the number of reported visits in real time. Upload map from Chris West. Then, Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Bob Casey from Pennsylvania took time from their schedules to address the Gathering about the importance of faith in their public lives.

2006 U.S. CATHOLIC Award for Furthering the Cause of Women
Since 1978, the editors of the magazine U.S. CATHOLIC have been recognizing important contributions of individuals working to further the cause of women with the annual U.S. CATHOLIC Award. This year’s award went to Ms. Sharon Daly, former vice president of social policy for Catholic Charities USA and previous director of domestic social policy for the USCCB. Click here to visit U.S. CATHOLIC online.

MORNING SESSION
Strategy Sessions
Special interactive strategy sessions explored innovative practices and strategies for participants to use in the year ahead.

To order an audio copy of any of these sessions click here.

• Pro-Life and Pro-Justice: Promoting Collaboration and Avoiding Divisions
  The Catholic community has enormous potential to shape a world more committed to justice and peace and more respectful of human life and human dignity from conception to natural death. But sometimes there are divisions within our community that reduce our ability to be effective in the public arena. Participants discussed how we can best work together.

  For notes from this session, click here.

• Collaboration with Priests and Deacons in Social Ministry
  Support for social ministry from the clergy can make a significant difference in the effectiveness of our efforts. In this session, participants investigated strategies for working on social justice priorities in partnership with parish pastors, priests and deacons.

  To view the outline from this session, click here.

  For notes from the session, click here.

  For a flier describing workshops for priests and deacons on the Church’s social mission, click here.

• Recruiting, Engaging and Educating New Leaders
  Christ’s message that how we care for the “least among us” is the measure of our lives as his disciples is a message for every believer, not just the people currently on the social concerns committee. This session helped participants think about getting beyond “preaching to the choir” to identify effective ways to recruit and engage new leaders for social mission.

  To review key ideas from this session, click here.

• Teaching Deus Caritas Est
  In his first encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI described the mission of the Church by saying, “love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential to her as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel” (DCE, No. 22). Yet too many Catholics have not heard this message. This session helped participants explore strategies and tools for more effectively sharing the essential message of Deus Caritas Est.

• Justice for Immigrants
  The Catholic community has been a leading voice in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. In this session participants identified effective strategies for helping Catholics understand Church teaching and join in the advocacy efforts of the Justice for Immigrants Campaign.

To order an audio copy of this session, click here.

Click here to find contact information for all of our 19 sponsoring organizations

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