Stockton, Calif., Feb 17, 2017 / 05:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Friday sent a message of encouragement to the hundreds of religious and community leaders participating in a meeting of popular movements being held this week in California.
“It is the Church, the Christian community, people of compassion and solidarity, social organizations. It is us, it is you, to whom the Lord Jesus daily entrusts those who are afflicted in body and spirit, so that we can continue pouring out all of his immeasurable mercy and salvation upon them,” Pope Francis said in his Feb. 17 message to a regional meeting of popular movements being held in California.
“Here are the roots of the authentic humanity that resists the dehumanization that wears the livery of indifference, hypocrisy, or intolerance.”
The Feb. 16-18 conference being held in Modesto, about 30 miles southeast of Stockton, was organized with the support of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and the PICO National Network.
The PICO network was a recipient of part of a $650,000 grant from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Documents from the foundations posted to DCLeaks.com claimed the grant was part of a strategy to use Pope Francis’ U.S. visit to shift the priorities of the Catholic Church in the United States “to be a voice on behalf of the poor and communities of color.”
“PICO and FPL have been able to use their engagement in the opportunity of the Pope’s visit to seed their position in the long-term project of shifting the priorities of the U.S. Catholic Church to focus on issues of injustice and oppression,” the memo said.
The conference aims to promote the structural changes for greater justice in racial, social, and economic areas.
“It makes me very happy to see you working together towards social justice,” Pope Francis said in his message to the meeting. “How I wish that such constructive energy would spread to all dioceses, because it builds bridges between peoples and individuals. These are bridges that can overcome the walls of exclusion, indifference, racism, and intolerance.”
The Pope confronted the “invisible tyranny of money” as a disability and restriction to human dignity and the common good. He also discouraged corrupt acts which leads to the benefit of a few and to the ruin of many families.
“The economic system that has the god of money at its center, and that sometimes acts with the brutality of the robbers in the [Samaritan] parable, inflicts injuries that to a criminal degree have remained neglected. Globalized society frequently looks the other way with the pretense of innocence. Under the guise of what is politically correct or ideologically fashionable, one looks at those who suffer without touching them.”
Pope Francis said we must instead respond with change to a system that better reflects loving our neighbor as ourselves. Emphasizing the need for immediate action, he said it is our responsibility to pay attention to present realities, which if unchecked may develop a dehumanizing system that is harder to reverse.
“These are signs of the times that we need to recognize in order to act. We have lost valuable time: time when we did not pay enough attention to these processes, time when we did not resolve these destructive realities. The direction taken beyond this historic turning-point … will depend on people’s involvement and participation and, largely, on yourselves, the popular movements.”
The call for action comes at a time of immigration reform and a refugee crisis.
Pope Francis reiterated the question of the lawyer to Christ in the Gospel of Luke: “Who is my neighbor? … My relatives? My compatriots? My co-religionists?” He recognized that the lawyer’s hope may have been for Christ to label neighbors and non-neighbors.
“Do not classify others in order to see who is a neighbor and who is not,” the Pope exhorted. “You can become neighbor to whomever you meet in need, and you will do so if you have compassion in your heart. That is to say, if you have that capacity to suffer with someone else. You must become a Samaritan.”
Recalling that those at the conference have a commitment “to fight for social justice, to defend our Sister Mother Earth and to stand alongside migrants,” Pope Francis affirmed this choice and shared reflections on “the ecological crisis” and that “no people is criminal and no religion is terrorist.”
“The ecological crisis is real,” he emphasized first. “Science is not the only form of knowledge, it is true. It is also true that science is not necessarily ‘neutral’ — many times it conceals ideological views or economic interests. However, we also know what happens when we deny science and disregard the voice of Nature. I make my own everything that concerns us as Catholics. Let us not fall into denial. Time is running out. Let us act. I ask you again – all of you, people of all backgrounds including native people, pastors, political leaders – to defend Creation.”
“No people is criminal and no religion is terrorist,” Pope Francis then said. “Christian terrorism does not exist, Jewish terrorism does not exist, and Muslim terrorism does not exist. They do not exist. No people is criminal or drug-trafficking or violent.”
He recognized, however, that “there are fundamentalist and violent individuals in all peoples and religions – and with intolerant generalizations they become stronger because they feed on hate and xenophobia.”
“The wounds are there, they are a reality. The unemployment is real, the violence is real, the corruption is real, the identity crisis is real, the gutting of democracies is real,” he continued, identifying the world’s suffering as a “gangrene” whose stench has become unbearable, leading to more hate, quarrels, and even a “justified indignation.”
In the face of this crisis, he said Christians have an opportunity to impact the world: “We also find an opportunity: that the light of the love of neighbor may illuminate the Earth with its stunning brightness like a lightning bolt in the dark.”
He ended his message in reference to the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi: “let us give everything of ourselves: where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, let us sow pardon; where there is discord, let us sow unity; where there is error, let us sow truth.”
In the course of his message, he thanked Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, Bishop Armando Ochoa of Fresno, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, Bishop David Talley of Alexandria, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
“I would also like to highlight the work done by the PICO National Network and the organizations promoting this meeting,” Pope Francis also said. “I learned that PICO stands for ‘People Improving Communities through Organizing’. What a great synthesis of the mission of popular movements: to work locally, side by side with your neighbors, organizing among yourselves, to make your communities thrive.”
[…]
Cry me a river, your Excellencies. If this “freeze” were to become permanent (God willing) you might have to lay off more of your hundreds of D.C. employees, sell off your enormous headquarters, give up your frequent transatlantic jaunts and global vacations, leave your richly appointed mansions, cancel your four-star lunches and – gasp! – confine yourselves to preaching the Gospel.
Is it really a good idea for Catholic Charities, Refugee Services, etc. to be taking money from the government?Why do we do this? Where in scripture do Christ, Apostles, St. Paul, etc. look to the government to support works of charity? Why not rely on appeals and contributions from people in the pew to carry on these charitable works?
The USCCB looks like just another secular group with its hand out to get more $$$ from the government. And, can we be sure that Catholic organizations are not taking money to support wrongdoing or law breaking? as in facilitating illegal immigration?
Charlie USCCB laments the loss of the dollars because the loss will damage the word and reputation of the USCCB. If that is not hypocritically rich, what is?
Sorry Charlie USCCB. You have no one to blame for any loss of word and reputation.
You lost those when you began to take US taxpayer money to fund your ‘charitable’ ‘work.’
These self-righteous sort of bishops ought to thank God for the second chance He gives them in this state of affairs. USCCB ought to return to the mission Jesus commanded of his apostles and their successors. Jesus called his disciples and apostolic successors to a GREAT COMMISSION to preach the word among all NATIONS. Jesus did not command resettling all people of all other nations in ONE. Re-settling illegal immigrants was NOT part of the Great Commission Jesus commanded.
If The Church wishes to resettle illegal migrants, refugees, or hordes of criminally culpable illegal aliens, the government likely will not stop you. BUT For the Roman Catholic Church to ask for government assistance in its ‘work of God’ is a bark up a dry dead tree. It is the RCC asking for a hand-out from the US citizens, and the Constitution does not allow the establishment of any Church, even one which claims it may be the government’s best and most charitable ‘charitable’ arm.
Some sods really ought to get a life.
This is great news. Now that the Catholic bishops are suing the Feds, the Justice Drpartment and D.O.G.E. will be granted a discovery motion to audit the files of every diocese in the USA to determine where every dime was spent. If every diocese cannot give a full accounting for every dime handed over, then the dioceses will have to return hundreds of millions of dollars – maybe even billions. I’m hoping that every diocese is bankrupted in the process. I know for a fact that various Catholic agencies receiving money from the Feds have been politicized and are merely front organizations for the leftist Democratic Party. We can begin with CCHD.
Deacon, have you ever heard of the Single Audit Act?
The power of the government to audit churches is ordinarily severely limited. Churches do not fie 990 Forms because that is the flip side of “the wall of separation”-not as commonly believed because they adhere to 501(c)(3).
However as a government accountant (it’s sort of like being an exorcist), I can tell you all government cheese is attached to a string that ties it to the trap. The Bishops are sacrificing the right of the church to have an autonomous existence with their foolish money grab.
The Single Audit Act of 1984—Public Law No. 98-502 and its Amendments of 1996—Public Law No. 104-156, established a standardized and uniform audit process for non-Federal entities that receive and expend Federal funds to administer various Government programs and initiatives. The type of audit created by the Single Audit Act is commonly referred to as a Single Audit.
The provisions of the Single Audit Act were codified by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Uniform Guidance, Subpart F—Audit Requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented the Uniform Guidance in Title 45 CFR Part 75, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for HHS Awards.
A Single Audit is an audit of a non-Federal entity’s financial statements and of its expenditures of Federal awards. Single Audits are conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and the requirements of the Uniform Guidance.
Thanks, Pitchfork, for sharing your exorcism expertise!
So are you saying that the Church taking government funds could be rendered totally null, void, debunkt, defunkt, and totally bankrupt if the slack noose-string between the money-cheese and the audit-trap is pulled tight?
Do you know if the USCCB’s charities–Catholic Charities, CRS, or their ilk–ever underwent audit under the Single Audit Act?
USCCB = United States Conference of Catholic Beltway Bandits. That is what they have become.
US Conference of Catholic Beltway Bandits. Oh, that’s a good one. I was thinking bureaucrats myself, and think the USCCB should be disbanded for that reason. It (USCCB) has turned out Bishops into bureaucrats.
Can pewsitters sue Catholic Bishops in civil court?
I’m half tempted to put a note in my next envelope instead of a check.
Dear Father X:
I would normally make a donation in the the amount of $XXXX for the period. Unfortunately, I believe some of this will be directed to the Bishop and the USCCB.
As I believe they are more concerned with aiding and abetting those violating the laws of the United States; and since the examination of conscience that used to be available in this Parish said adherence to civil law was part of the Fourth Commandment; and since the USCCB is has the money to litigate for the receipt of money to continue aiding and abetting those who violate the law; I will be redirecting my donations to several charities that I think are more concerned with the salvation of souls than Bishop S and his “brother Bishops” including the Bishop of Rome seem to be.
Depends . If the USCCB is suing for services already provided under contract they should be paid. If you hire a contractor to do work for you, and he does it according to the contract he should be paid. Same thing, Unfortunately not all honor contracts and so lawsuits start.