NACPA convenes leaders for just treatment of church workers

CTA co-director Dan Daley and FutureChurch/CTA Women in Church Leadership (WICL) coordinator Chris Schenk participated in the 14th annual "Convening on Just Treatment for Those Who Work for the Church" March 20-21 at the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) offices in Washington, D.C. Gathered by the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators (NACPA), 21 senior administrators from major Catholic organizations shared their initiatives in seeking just treatment for church workers.

USCC's John Carr spoke on applying Catholic social teaching to labor-management negotiations in Catholic institutions. Sr. Carol Keehan, CEO of Providence Hospital in Washington, and Gerald Shea, AFL-CIO Assistant for Government Affairs, spoke of their work on a task force promoting dialogue to find common ground with workers, administrators, and labor organizers.

The U.S. Bishops' senior staffers also spoke about pertinent issues being addressed by the bishops and their committees. Important for our WICL agenda is the new Subcommittee on Lay Ministry that will continue work begun under a Lilly Foundation Grant. Findings to date are published in "Lay Ecclesial Ministry," available from USCC (www.nccbuscc.org).

The meeting was a great opportunity for mutual support between the just treatment efforts of our WICL project and those of other groups. NACPA does a great service by regularly sponsoring this event.