Working for justice is not 'meddling in politics'

By Marlene Quaroni - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | The mission of the Church is to promote justice and peace for all mankind through works of mercy and justice.

“The Catholic Church coined the phrase, social justice, in 1840, for a new kind of virtue necessary for the post-agrarian age,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski at the first of two workshops on Catholic social teaching, held Feb. 20, 2023 at St. Mary Cathedral in Miami. The archbishop also spoke at the other workshop, which took place in Spanish Feb. 27 at St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Pompano Beach.

At the cathedral, the archbishop and three other priests gave talks in English in one room and Spanish in another. Interpreting headsets were available for Creole-speakers.

“Social justice, in classical Catholic thought, is the capacity to organize with others to accomplish ends that benefit the whole community,” the archbishop told his listeners.

The Miami workshop was conducted in preparation for the annual Nehemiah Action at St. James Church in North Miami, set for March 13 at 7:30 pm.

The Nehemiah Action is a recreation of the “great assembly” in which Nehemiah, a Jewish leader in the fifth century B.C., held public officials accountable on many social justice issues affecting the people of Jerusalem. His actions led to the rebuilding of the destroyed city wall within 52 days.

Participants at the workshop received a form to fill out asking who they would invite to the Nehemiah Action, which is organized by PACT (People Acting for Community Together). Started in 1988, PACT is an interfaith coalition of 40 diverse Miami-Dade congregations – Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim – and several universities whose goal is to encourage public officials “to adopt solutions to serious problems,” according to its website.            

A similar group in Broward County, BOLD Justice (Broward Organized Leaders Doing Justice), founded in 2007, also works on issues they plan to address to public officials at a separate assembly.

“Our earthly life is a highway to heaven,” the archbishop said. “It’s a highway filled with potholes and obstacles that can impede our travel. We have to be concerned about the conditions of the road. Works of mercy and justice are an essential part of the mission of the Church because they have us working to make the way smoother.”

Archbishop Wenski said that anything relating to human beings and their dignity is within the purview of the Church, which measures public policy against Gospel values.

“This is not meddling in politics,” he said. “This is a service of love, and to fail to speak with courage and coherency would be to fail in the charity we owe our neighbor.”

Father Juan Sosa, pastor of St. Joseph Church, Miami Beach, said that PACT has made three systems accountable to God’s power: economic, political and religious.

“We want to see our shared values of justice, fairness, and respect prevail in our communities,” said Father Sosa. “We will look at how successful we are at acting on our values in three circles of relationships: personal, voluntary and necessity.”

Father Sosa said that one individual wouldn’t have much chance at success if he went to the electric company and tried to negotiate the price of electricity.

“We are powerless when we work alone,” he said. “PACT helps us build power and act powerfully. Powerless people are often treated unfairly. Powerlessness invites abuse and exploitation. There are two sources of power in today’s society, organized money and organized people. Ultimately, all power comes from God and God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and self-discipline.”

PACT is a grassroots organization that puts pressure on public officials to solve community problems such as the extreme heat in Miami, said Msgr. Chanel Jeanty, St. James’ pastor.

“The heat has led to higher electric bills,” he said. “One solution is to increase the tree canopy to 30%. The environment contributes to the well-being of where people live.”

Belief in God is not only about attending church, he said. It’s about envisioning living by the word of God.

“We use direct action to confront a decision-maker,” he said. “We have a model to follow, we have basic foundational principles. We are all kinds of people and we deserve access to privileges.”

Father Robes Charles, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Homestead, said the religious community has to stand and do something about injustice.

“We are not just Christians, we are Jewish, Seventh Day Adventists, Muslims,” he said. “We work for the people of God. Miami-Dade is so big. Spread the news. We’re called to do something. “

More than half of Miami-Dade students are not reading at grade level, he said. Sometimes, it’s bad teachers, and often there’s no help from the students’ parents. The underprivileged drop out of school and end up on the street committing crimes.

“We ask the school superintendent to implement solutions,” he said. “It is our duty to hold the justice system accountable so that they don’t destroy our kids.”

Some people work four or five jobs for $5, he said. They can’t watch over their children. “So what do we do? We organize to fight against this impropriety in society. We try to get friends and family involved.”

He stressed that the Nehemiah Assembly is empowering.

“Your chest is pounding,” he said. “People are clapping. People of God confronting the powerful. We’ve done a lot of good things. We follow up on the community leaders’ promises.

“I love to wear the, ‘I voted’ sticker after voting,” he added. “‘We work for justice’ should be our sticker.”

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