TexLaMex February 2005, Page 4

Father John Korcsmar and Sister Rose Moreno went up to Washington, DC for the annual Social Ministry Gathering.  They were joined by Barbara Budde and Sr. Helen Brewer, DC from Austin.

Ever the news reporter for TexLaMex, John wanted to know what was brewing on Capitol Hill, and so he went to the Capitol City Brewing Company.  He had been curious about this place because he had gone by it so many times.  It is located next to Union Station on Capitol Hill near the capitol, of course.  He tried a Dunkweissen and hopes to check on the Prohibition Porter on the next trip.

The first gathering that Fr. John, Sr. Rose and Barbara went to was the meeting of the CCHD (Catholic Campaign for Human Development) Diocesan Directors.  John is the diocesan director for CCHD for the Diocese of Austin.  Sr. Amata Miller, IHM of St. Edward's University gave an excellent presentation on the past, present, and future trends of poverty in the U.S. At the Roundtable Meeting, Dr. William Dinges of The Catholic University gave a very good presentation on the polarization in the Church during the last election.  Mr. John Carr of the USCCB Social Development and World Peace gave an excellent presentation on the context within which we work these days in social ministry in the Church in the U.S.  There was plenty of hope and plenty of challenges in all he had to say.

John Carr explained the 6 Campaigns that the Social Development and World Peace Office will be working on this coming year:

  1. Judicial Nominations: Judicial Nominations: We are interested in judges who support the consistent life ethic.  
  2. Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform: In Collaboration with Migration and Refugee Services, we are interested in finding ways for more of the immigrant working population to have legal status.  
  3. Trade, Debt Relief, Foreign Aid:  Globalization is neither the source of the problem, nor the solution to it, but globalization must be managed.  
  4. Health Care for All: It is unacceptable that 45 million Americans do not have access to health care.  
  5. Catholic Campaign to End the Death Penalty: The hope is to convince politicians to not use the death penalty.  
  6. The Middle East: The hope is to encourage dialogue among the religious leaders in the Middle East.

If you would like to learn more about the meeting, you are welcome to read  John's notes.

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