Social teachings focus of seminar

By KATE BLAIN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

"We have to compel ourselves to be active," says Sister Alethea "Lee" Connolly, CSJ.

For Sister Lee, being an active Catholic involves more than just attending Mass. She hopes to show how much more in a four-part course next month on Catholic social teachings.

Originally offered to novices of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Sister Lee's course has been expanded to include catechists and other interested Catholics in the Albany Diocese.

Into practice

The head of the St. Joseph's sisters' Office of Housing and Social Policy, Sister Lee is a firm believer that every Catholic should put the Church's social teachings into practice.

For those unfamiliar with the term "social teachings," Sister Lee will start her course with a brief history of the subject, beginning in 1891 with the Church's teachings on working conditions and child labor, and leading up to the U.S. bishops' report on Catholic social teachings issued in June.

"The American Catholic Church has a tremendous history in taking on teaching for justice, but it has not been communicated to the laity," said Sister Lee. "For some people, this sounds like some new thing that happened in the '60s."

Variety of topics

The instructor plans to cover the responsibility to vote, participation in government and defense of the poor, among other issues. Her textbook for the course will be Dr. Marvin Mich's "Catholic Social Teachings and Movements," which integrates explanations of the Church's defense of the needy with vignettes of people who "lived out the message," including Dorothy Day and Cesar Chavez.

It's obvious that the Church has long encouraged a responsibility to "look outward" toward the needy, said Sister Lee. Yet "the concept of justice has to do also with the role we play," she added. "We have a responsibility to shape society so that the protections and the benefits are distributed where they're needed...to defend the human dignity and rights of every person."

She pointed out that Catholics can be a tremendous force in advocacy and politics, citing statistics from Gov. Pataki's last election: "Whether you're for or against Pataki, he won by 54 percent of 38 percent [of registered voters] who went to the polls. Catholic participation could make a great difference. Its absence makes a great difference."

Gains

Religious educators who attend the course can receive credits toward advanced catechist/youth ministry certification, but Sister Lee declared that anyone who signs up will learn about the principles of compassion, concern for the poor, justice and community. She issued a particular invitation to Catholics on parish public policy or social service committees, parish council members and other leaders.

The dilemma of where to place our priorities in the distribution of wealth "has to challenge you to creativity and maybe self-sacrifice," Sister Lee noted.

(To learn more or to register for the Catholic social teachings course, call Sister Lee at 783-3674. The four-part course will be offered from 10 a.m.-noon on Feb. 5, 19 and 26, and March 5. It will be offered again at the annual Spring Enrichment gathering in May. The cost is $15 for materials.)

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