Useful Resources for Dioceses & Parishes
The ecological problem is intimately connected
to justice for the poor … The option for the poor embedded
in the Gospel and the Church’s teaching makes us aware that
the poor suffer most directly from environmental decline and have
the least access to relief from their suffering. —Renewing
the Earth, United States Catholic Bishops (1992)
Outreach and charitable projects can
provide opportunities to focus on the “justice” dimension
of “environmental justice.” Too often, the most vulnerable
people in our society are also most often victims of society’s
failures. Particularly in the case of environmental health hazards,
the poor, the sick, and the unborn are often severely affected.
Across the country, parishes, schools, and other Catholic organizations
are finding innovative ways to connect concern for the environment
with concern for the poor and vulnerable. They’re improving
the physical condition of poor neighborhoods, providing health education,
establishing gardening projects for low-income communities, and, in
many other ways, addressing environmental threats to those most in
need.
Parishes in two impoverished
Detroit neighborhoods developed a project
that connected residents to their environment
and to the land. They sponsored the cleanup
and greening of fifty abandoned lots. They
also involved fifty households in a community
gardening project. Parishes held training
and follow-up sessions focusing on Catholic
social teaching.
Parishes in the Archdiocese
of Seattle, along with the Archdiocesan Communications
Office and the Coalition for a Livable Washington,
worked together to publicize the Jobs for
the Environment. The program was a highly
successful effort to create environmentally
sound jobs in distressed communities that
have been torn apart by conflicts between
those who want to protect the ancient Pacific
Northwest forests and those who want to protect
the quality of life in communities that depend
on the timber industry. The program’s
latest initiative was a video that tells
the story of Jobs for the Environment. The
video is designed to be used as an educational
tool in parishes and with other groups.
Focolare, a Catholic ecclesial
organization in the Diocese of Indianapolis,
developed a project in response to the United
States Environmental Protection Agency’s
brownfield program. The EPA offered grants
to encourage businesses to develop contaminated
commercial and industrial sites, or “brownfields.” In
most cases, these sites are in low-income
urban communities. The Brownfield Initiative
consisted of four community meetings to educate,
encourage, and enabled low-income residents
to be informed participants in any efforts
to develop “brownfield” sites
in their communities.
Parishes in the Diocese of
Portland, Maine, used parish lands and encouraged
parishioners to use their yards to grow fresh
produce that was donated to local soup kitchens.
Each parish in the diocese received an educational
kit including seeds and ideas for their use.
The project was spearheaded by the diocesan
Office of Social Justice and Peace. It was
designed to help parishioners deepen their
understanding of Catholic teaching on the
environment and stewardship of the land,
as well as on charity and feeding the hungry.
The Bishop Dwenger High School
in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend,
IN educated Catholic students about the link
between poverty and environmental problems
in Appalachia within the context of Catholic
social teaching on the environment. In addition
to repairing housing for the elderly, the
students became familiar with the environmental
problems faced by the local Catholic parish
in this coal area.
The Greater Richmond Interfaith
Program in the Diocese of Oakland, CA aimed
to create a model of church-based community
gardens in five Catholic parishes. It aided
low-income parishioners and residents by
providing a nutritious source of home grown
food, entrepreneurship, and community building.