Useful Resources for Dioceses & Parishes
We urge policy makers and public officials
to focus more directly on the ethical dimensions of environmental
policy and on its relation to development, to seek the common good,
and to resist short-term pressures in order to meet our long-term
responsibility to future generations … We need to use our
voices and votes to shape a nation more committed to the universal
common good and an ethic of environmental solidarity. —Renewing
the Earth, United States Catholic Bishops (1992)
The policies of government and industry
can do a great deal to protect or harm the environment, to pursue
or ignore the common good, and to promote or diminish justice. Our
faith calls us to bring our values to the debate about environmental
policy and to make our voices heard in defense of all creation, particularly
the poor and vulnerable. Across the country, parishes and dioceses
are advocating for environmental justice through their legislative
networks and are joining other local groups to educate and activate
their parishioners to work for socially and economically sound environmental
policies.
The Office of Peace and Justice
of the Diocese of Phoenix organized a Catholic
environmental advocacy campaign to participate
in forming state environmental policies.
The project aim was to involve 500 people
in education sessions in four parishes. The
sessions included reflection on the spirituality
of creation and its relationship to the environmental
decisions being made by the state legislature.
Participants also visited Nogales, Ariz.,
a predominantly Latino border community,
where they learned about the connection between
industrial pollution and high rates of cancer
and lupus. Finally, participants testified
before the legislature and advocated through
letters and phone calls for environmentally
sound and just policies.
Reflecting their parish’s
environmental mission statement, the environmental
justice committee of St. Raphael’s
Parish in Rockville, Md., acted to promote
education, action, and spiritual growth.
Many parishioners were active in the Eco-Civic
Network, which supported the policy of “reduce,
reuse, and recycle,” and resisted a
mass-burn incinerator through court hearings,
petitions, and demonstrations. Since political
action is important also, the environmental
justice committee entered the parish as a
member in Bread for the World. In addition,
it tracked state and national legislation
on hunger issues and foreign aid and shared
this information with the parish community
through letter writing and telephone campaigns.
The Diocese of Cleveland formed
a Diocesan Land Use Task Force to look at
the implications of regional sprawl for the
environment, racial justice, and economic
development. The task force explored the
moral dimensions of urban sprawl, connecting
it to questions of justice and stewardship.
They then developed a rationale for evaluating
public policy and promoting a more just,
economically sound, and environmentally safe
region.
The Diocese of Houma, Thibodaux,
Louisiana, and other local religious organizations
have become deeply involved in environmental
issues in response to the destruction of
wetlands. Local fishermen have been fenced
out of traditional fishing waters by new
levees, and increased development has destroyed
the natural processes which once protected
homes against floods caused by storms and
hurricanes. Church leaders were instrumental
in forming the Coalition to Restore Coastal
Louisiana to engage people in advocacy and
educational efforts. More than 4,000 people
have been involved in the project.
Environmental issues, especially
those related to clean air and water, are
among the three or four priority legislative
issues chosen each year by members of Sts.
Peter and Paul Parish in Williamsville, N.Y.
Parishioners research relevant state and
federal legislation and then ask all committees
that meet in parish buildings to respond.
Information is distributed to committee leaders,
who present the issues to their groups, facilitate
discussion, and distribute postcards that
are collected and mailed to targeted legislators.
Holy Spirit is a small but
active parish in Pennington Gap, Va., located
in the state’s poorest county. Several
years ago the county was targeted for a new
waste facility. Believing that their community
had sustained enough environmental damage
from strip mining, members of Holy Spirit
rallied to oppose the waste facility. They
attended hearings, signed petitions, wrote
letters, and protested at the courthouse.
They learned a great deal about environmental
issues and went on to develop an “earth-friendly” design
for their new building.
Catholic Charities in the Diocese
of Lansing formed Project Isidore as a feasibility
study designed to establish a Rural Life/Environmental
Director Position with the Michigan State
Catholic Conference to address land stewardship
issues in Michigan.