Statement
Bishop McElroy to Participants in the U.S. Regional Meeting of Popular Movements (USWMPM)
Message from Bishop Robert McElroy of the Diocese of San Diego to the World Meeting of Popular Movements, U.S. Regional Meeting in Modesto, California, February 16-19, 2017
[Remarks delivered at the U.S. Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements during a panel discussion on the barriers marginalized people face in housing and work on February 18, 2017.]
"For the past century, from the worker movements of Catholic action in France, Belgium and Italy to Pope John XXXIII’s call to re-structure the economies of the world in “Mater et Magistra,” to the piercing missionary message of the Latin American Church, the words “see,” “judge” and “act” have provided a powerful pathway for those who seek to renew the temporal order, in the light of the Gospel and justice.
As the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace described this pathway, it lies in “seeing clearly the situation, judging with principles that foster the integral development of people and acting in a way which implements these principles in the light of everyone’s unique situation.”
There is no greater charter for this gathering taking place here in Modesto in these days than the simple but rich architecture of these three words: “see,” “judge” and “act.” Yet these words -- which carry with them such a powerful history of social transformation around the world in service to the dignity of the human person -- must be renewed and re-examined at every age and seen against the background of those social, economic and political forces in each historical moment.
In the United States we stand at a pivotal moment as a people and a nation, in which bitter divisions cleave our country and pollute our national dialogue."