Catholic Myopia

When President Obama proposed legislation that would require Catholic institutions to include contraception in their employee health plans, the hierarchy went ballistic. In our diocese, the bishop wrote a very forceful letter, which every pastor was required to read at Mass, urging all Catholics to contact the White House and express opposition to the proposal. Under a banner of religious liberty and freedom of conscience, Catholics raised such an outcry that the President backed down and moderated his proposal.

Pope Paul VI’s encyclical letter, Humanae Vitae, explicitly forbade artificial contraception. That ban is still part of Catholic teaching, and bishops must promote it, especially when some of what falls under the label “contraception” involves abortion, but the vigor of the hierarchy’s campaign against the Obama proposal raises serious questions of moral priorities.

The last time an episcopal letter was read in all the parishes involved the issue of gay marriage, and the time before that involved abortion. Again, the Church has clear teachings on these issues which bishops are obligated to articulate, but the degree of opposition given to them dwarfs other concerns.

A friend of mine once mused, “I think you have to pay fines for your sins to get into heaven: a half million dollars for killing, ten thousand for stealing, a hundred for lying, and a quarter for masturbation.” The hierarchy seems to be standing this paradigm on its head.
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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

It’s an annual tradition here at Pie & Coffee to repost this video of “The Real Saint Patrick.”

In today’s Give Us This Day essay on St. Patrick, Robert Ellsberg writes:

Patrick’s thirty years as a wandering bishop are the stuff of legend. He is justly honored as the patron of Ireland. But it is well to remember that Patrick was the victim of Irish injustice before he became the symbol of Irish pride. His spiritual conquest of Ireland followed the prior victory of love over the anger and bitterness in his own heart.

Rocco Palmo covers the feast day in the Saint Patrick’s Day Capital of the World, New York City.

This week in Worcester Magazine, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy noted it’s the 15th (I think) anniversary of the local Catholic Workers being banned from the St. Patrick’s Day parade:

As a proud Irish-American, Worcesterite, and avid runner, I am delighted to see Worcester’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade grow with the addition of the Celtic 5K Road Race. As a member of the Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker community, I still do not understand why the Parade Committee banned us from carrying an icon of the saint with his words, “Killing cannot be with Christ.” That banner was carried in two parades prior to it being banned, and the Parade Committee gave us the Spirit of Peace trophy in 1994 and Book of Kells Award in 1995. The idea that excluding Saint Patrick’s call for nonviolence makes the parade, which includes many military units, more “fun,” as the current Committee Chair suggested in WoMag, is sad, especially in the context of Ireland’s long bloody struggle and our own wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Irish winner of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, joined many others in appealing unsuccessfully to the Worcester Parade Committee to welcome our banner. It still mystifies me why they do not.

(This banner is still held at the side of the parade, and various local dignitaries still stop by for a kind word. This St. Patrick’s Day politics is weird stuff.)

Also, here’s the only known audio of Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin. He’s reading his essay “Makers of Europe,” also known as “When the Irish Were Irish.”

Rep. McGovern, others arrested at Sudanese Embassy

Washington Post:

George Clooney and several of his activist colleagues were arrested and taken away in handcuffs outside the Sudan embassy on Massachusetts Avenue in on Friday morning.

Before their arrest, the assembled group of congressmen, religious leaders and cultural icons spoke about the humanitarian crisis faced by hundreds of thousands of Sudanese who have been prevented from receiving international aid by president Bashir.

Worcester’s Rep. Jim McGovern was among those arrested.

More at Amnesty International.

Last week, Rep. McGovern introduced the Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2012, “To require the development of a comprehensive strategy to end serious human rights violations in Sudan, to create incentives for governments and persons to end support of and assistance to the Government of Sudan, to reinvigorate genuinely comprehensive peace efforts in Sudan, and for other purposes.”

See also: McGovern’s 2006 arrest at the Embassy, McGovern’s 2009 arrest at the Embassy, various Darfur posts on this blog, Darfur Genocide on Trial, Protesting/Landscaping at the Embassy

508: Sunshine Week 2012 Special

This week’s 508 is a panel discussion about Sunshine Week and government transparency.

The panelists are Mike Benedetti, Thomas Caywood, Jeremy Shulkin, Kevin Ksen, and Mauro DePasquale.

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Mentioned: Sunshine Week petitions to the City Council, Bootleg 2008 Worcester City Council video archives

Audio: Download the mp3 or see more formats.

Video: Downloads and other formats.

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You can watch 508 Fridays at 7pm on WCCA TV13.

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, Athlete

Nice T&G article about Catholic Worker and Pie & Coffee contributor Scott Schaeffer-Duffy’s love affair with running:

He vividly remembers the date — Feb. 11, 2009 — when his mission to fitness began. That April, he ran in the Jay Lyons Memorial 5K and finished in a most-respectable 31 minutes, for a first-timer among the 50-59s. He was in the process of dropping 48 pounds from his 6-foot frame, yet he was now driven to drop his times considerably as well.

508 #185: Transparency

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk about the HX Library and transparency in Worcester government with Michael Morisy, Jen Burt, Nicole Apostola, Jeremy Shulkin, and Kevin Ksen.

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Audio: mp3 download link, other formats, feed

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Contact info.

You can watch 508 Fridays at 7pm on WCCA TV13.
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Why I am Hunger Striking at U.Va.

Dear Friends and Family:

Many of you may have heard that the 14 members of Living Wage Campaign at U.Va. have committed to a hunger strike on Saturday Feb. 18th.  I am among the 14.   Though I am no longer a student, I still feel very strongly about this cause and encourage you to get involved (see below).  We are entering day 5 of the strike (see an update of the day 4 here).   Moral is high, though we know that trying times are ahead.   See some press coverage here and here or read an article about it here or here.

The hunger strike decision did not come lightly nor easily.  After years of engaging the administration in more conventional ways, including two meetings with the President herself, we became convinced that we needed different tactics.  Read the our official announcement here.  We are part of a 14-year long effort to secure justice for our community. We have the support of Charlottesville City Council, churches, and many other local community groups.  Employees have also been voicing their support, though many are scared of retaliation.  We’ve collected some anonymous testimonies from U.Va. employees, and a new one is posted everyday on our blog.  Read one here.

We are asking that this institution becomes one that prioritizes human needs.  A “living wage” essentially is a wage that allows families to support themselves, based on the cost of living in an area.  The fact of the matter is that hundreds if not thousands of U.Va. employees do not make enough money to live in Charlottesville.  A recent survey showed that over 20% of Charlottesville families were below the poverty line.  U.Va. is the largest employer in the City and has more than enough money to make a dent in local poverty levels.  Employees are forced to work second or third jobs, go on government assistance, or make choices between healthcare and food.  At a rally today, a local doctor who works mainly with low-income populations in town said that “many of the people he sees do not have health insurance, and many of these work for subcontractors at U.Va.”  He supports us because he has seen the damage that below-living wages have caused.  All of this while U.Va. employs most of the highest-paid Virginia State employees, with salaries reaching above $600,000/year.

We are asking that the University pay at least $13.00/hr, including benefits, indexed to inflation (our full demands are online).  Currently, U.Va. contracts labor services with private companies that can pay as little as $7.50/hr with no benefits.  Direct U.Va. employees make more, about $10.65/hr with decent benefits, but that still puts them far beneath a living wage.  If you want to learn more about what a living wage is, how it is calculated, etc. read our research document entitled “Keeping Our Promises.”  It contains all the information that you need to know.

We will soon be in the season of Lent, which as many of you know, is a season of fasting and penance.  The connection between fasting and struggling for justice is as old as Christianity itself. St. Luke describes Jesus being “led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry” (Lk 4:1-2).  Then, immediately after this trial in the desert, Jesus returns to Nazarath and describes His mission “to proclaim good news to the poor./He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners/and recovery of sight for the blind,/to set the oppressed free,/to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”  (Lk. 4:18-19).  By quoting Isaiah and referencing the Jubilee as the manifesto of his earthly mission, Jesus unambiguously calls Christians to work for justice in the world. We pray that our own fast also awakens hearts to this call.

I am inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, which clearly calls for a living wage and the prioritization of human needs in business. I draw upon the history of working for justice that is part and parcel with the Catholic faith. I draw courage from the writings of Dorothy Day and others. I draw strength knowing that you my friends and family are praying for me. I feel blessed to have this opportunity to apply the teachings of the Church and of Christ to my life.

In the end, I decided to hunger strike because I believe that our institutions, especially ones of education, should be geared towards human needs and centered on the compassion of Christ. Jesus treated people’s needs as holy, and we should do the same.

How can you help?

1)  The Campaign will be maintaining a public presence outdoors, near Brooks Hall and the Rotunda. Come anytime between 10 and 7 and join us holding signs, passing out flyers, or just to keep us company (it can get lonely out there!).  Check out the full schedule here.
2) Come to our daily events:
12pm rally/march (we have a variety of speakers each day, ranging from church groups to the Mayor of Charlottesville, to U.Va. employees)
6pm vigil (reflections from strikers, cleaning up the site, hanging out)
7pm-8:30pm (Flash Seminars led by U.Va. professors, all in Brooks Hall on the topic of living wages)
3) Join the Living Wage mailing list for updates and action alerts.
5) Pray! Pray for the strikers, pray for a conversion of values among the administration, and pray for the hard-working families of Charlottesville.

As day 5 of the strike ends, I am filled with hope and look forwards to seeing you tomorrow and any other day this week. Feel free to forward this to any of your friends or family.

Thank you!

Hunter Link