Diocesan justice leaders win award
Jim Lund and Mary Heidkamp, co-directors of the Peace and Justice office of the Chicago archdiocese, were honored Feb. 25 for their contributions to church-related social action all over the country. They were awarded the Harry Fagan Roundtable Award at the annual meeting in Washington, D.C., of the Association of Diocesan Social Action Directors. Previous recipients since the award was inaugurated 10 years ago include veteran activists Msgr. Jack Egan and Peggy Roach, labor advocate Msgr. Gorge Higgins, and NETWORK organizer Nancy Sylvester.
Lund and Heidkamp, who are married and have two children, have been involved in diocesan-sponsored peace and justice organizing for the past 18 years, first in Rochester, NY, then in Louisville, and finally in Chicago since 1989. They have lectured or led workshops at leadership gatherings in dozens of dioceses and have addressed past CTA conferences.
Integrating social justice into parish life as a regular component is a relatively "new frontier," said Lund, adding that the rate of progress varies widely from place to place. He said it is difficult to identify dioceses that are on the cutting edge but noted that Rockville Centre, NY, now has 80 parishes with a social ministry person on the staff. In the city of Chicago, with its tradition of community organizing, peace and justice ministries are faring well, said Lund, but in the suburbs progress is much slower.
Lund and Heidkamp have distilled much of their experience and wisdom into a Paulist Press book, Moving Faith into Action.
Call To Action News is one of three quarterly publications from Call To Action. For more information, contact:
Call To Action
2135 W. Roscoe
Chicago, IL 60618
(773/604-0400; fax 773/604-4719)
cta@cta-usa.org