#csmg

Catholic Advocacy 2025:

As we begin a new political administration that promises to challenge many of our cherished Catholic social issues it may be time to offer a primer on the need to promote legislative advocacy within parish social ministry. Our Church has a prophetic voice and while our Magistarium and Bishops may offer their insights on these issue through their teachings, in a democracy it is the role of the Catholic faithful, the citizens, to advocate on these issues to their legislative representatives. A parish social ministry ought to promote some type of parish advocacy committee that voices these social principles and concerns along with their own community experience. This is perhaps the genius behind why Pope Francis has been using the term “political charity” when describing this activity. Dismayed by ideologies that dismiss political systems and instead  support unregulated economic forces Pope Francis calls for a spirit of political engagement that is in dialogue with charitable institutions.  

Whereas individuals can help others in need, when they join together in initiating social processes of fraternity and justice for all, they enter the “field of charity at its most vast, namely political charity”. This entails working for a social and political order whose soul is social charity. Once more, I appeal for a renewed appreciation of politics as “a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity, inasmuch as it seeks the common good”. (FT: #180)   

The term, “political charity,” informs us of the obligation to justice, an obligation that calls to promote legislative advocacy, and the importance of promoting justice that is influenced by charity. Pope Francis invites us all to be involved with the political system, an invitation that is repeated every four years when the US Bishops disseminate their pastoral document “Faithful Citizenship.” The concept of political charity defines Catholic advocacy in a way that transcends partisan ideology; it is based on two very important elements, the strength of our social principles and the experience of our social ministries.

I have shared on this social teaching before on posts where I describe what it means to be a Catholic Citizen for example. For now I want to offer resources and the latest legislative asks from groups in affiliation with the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB). In the video above and below the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) and the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) share the resources they have for doing legislative advocacy. Please check these resources out.

The Circle of Protection (Bread for the World and its broader coalition of organizations which include the USCCB), the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering (CSMG) and Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) offer their legislative priorities for the 119th Congress and specific asks based on current legislation. Here are the three priorities for the Circle of Protection, the letter follows (CCUSA's legislative priorities are below).

The Farm Bill: Congress should steer clear of cuts to SNAP, and there are bipartisan opportunities for poverty-reducing improvements in the Farm Bill. - The Circle opposes the House Agriculture Committee’s version of the Farm Bill, because it would cut $30 billion from future SNAP benefits;

Appropriations for next year: Congress should give priority to poverty-focused programs such as WIC, housing, and international aid. - The Circle also opposes the deep cuts in poverty-focused programs in the appropriations bill that is now moving through the House

Grounded in what the Bible teaches about social justice, the Circle of Protection leaders are united in support of higher taxes on high-income people and corporations: They insist that any tax breaks for corporations should be paired with an expansion of the Child Tax Credit for the poorest families. - The Circle urges the Senate to bring the House’s proposed expansion of the Child Tax Credit to the Senate floor and pass it.

Here is the video on Ignatian Advocacy 101 along with the policy priorities of CSMG and CCUSA.

CSMG has similar asks but it is also worth noting them here. At the end of January many diocesan Catholic members will be adding their voice on these issues to Congress as they advocate support vulnerable families by:  

Ensuring that all tax and budget decisions support children and families and help them flourish, especially families experiencing poverty.

Passing Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations now and ensuring the highest levels of funding possible for international poverty- and hunger-reducing development and humanitarian assistance in Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026.

Preserving and supporting humanitarian protections for vulnerable families, including refugee resettlement.

Catholic Charities USA offers the following legislative priorities for the 119 Congress.

CCUSA calls on Congress to prioritize programs that address the protection of all human life; religious liberty; poverty and racial justice; housing and homelessness; food and nutrition; economic security; climate change; support for disaster relief; support for children, youth and seniors; and immigration and refugee policies.

Click on the link below to read the legislative priorities and I want to raise the following on disaster relief and immigration reform.

Enact measures enumerated in the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act bill, introduced in the 117th Congress, and the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019, passed in the House in 2019.

Provide appropriations for the Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Grants to Assist Low-Income Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (42 U.S.C. 5177a).

Expand funding levels for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP).

Provide additional funding for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and CDBG Disaster Recovery funds.

Create new legal pathways for entry into the U.S. to reduce irregular migration, reunite families, staff struggling industries and boost the economy.

Protect individuals who were brought to this country as children by continuing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy.

Provide permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship for essential workers, including frontline healthcare and agricultural workers, teachers and others who reside in this country under DACA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) protection.

Improve access to Employment Authorization Documents for all immigrants by adequately resourcing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to enable the agency to shorten the processing time of Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) applications. Reducing the waiting period from 180 days to 30 days for EAD asylum applicants would also improve access.

Provide adequate funding for refugee admissions and resettlement to at least the historical average of 95,000.

Strengthen border security with policies that are proportional and just, ensuring that they are implemented in a humane and orderly manner and in coordination with state and local government, as well as faith-based and nonprofit service providers.

Robustly fund alternatives to detention that are trauma-informed and provide immigrants with community-based support to enable them to comply with legal obligations.

Let's be honest, many of these policies will not have a chance in getting passed, be that as it may it is important for us, as Catholics, to add our voice to the prophetic teachings of our Church and advocate on these policies. The legislators, whether they vote with us or not, need to hear that many of us care for our brothers and sisters in need who suffer from poverty, economic and social insecurities, natural disasters, or unjust anti-immigrant policies.

The USCCB also offers the following step-by-step resource for doing advocacy.