The 1976 U.S. Catholic Bishops' Call To Action Conference in Detroit

A.D. 1977
Detroit Recommendations
Neighborhood

 

I Recommendation: The Parish and the Neighborhood

The parish, a fundamental unit of the church, in its worship, witness, and service must interpret, understand, respond to and celebrate the life experiences of its people. Therefore, we recommend:

1. In response to today's cry for community, parish liturgies and interfaith prayer services, as celebrations of Christ's dying and rising in our midst, must be celebrations of community life and neighborliness that on a regular basis express neighborhood concerns and issues. This will require:
a) The renewal and continuing education of all parish leadership;
b) The formation of strong, small, sensitive eucharistic communities, recognizing diversity;
c) The identification, authentication, and institution into ministries, and/or ordination of leaders from the community.

The prayer life of the parish will include discussion, reflection, and action on the implications of the gospel for issues of current importance to the community.

2. That the sacramental life of the neighborhood church should reflect the relationship between Christian commitment and community realities. Each sacrament should have specific and required preparation using lay participation and all available resources. There should be special concern about the preparation for the commitment in the sacrament of matrimony. Christian responsibility for public life and commitment to Christian values are to be emphasized at all levels of participation in the sacramental life of the church.

3. That the parish personalize its outreach into the neighborhood community to develop an increased level of human concern and positive interchange and intervention. Special efforts should include activities which would:
a) Establish and/or support neighborhood community groups;
b) Find and welcome newcomers;
c) Include ministry to the alienated, mentally, physically and socially handicapped, and any others whom society shuns.
d) Be knowledgeable of and respectful toward racial, cultural, ethnic, political, economic and religious diversity.

4. That the parish community educate itself in its role of "neighborhood servant" and implement this commitment by these or other methods:
a) By reaching out to interfaith and neighborhood coalitions;
b) By participating in parish-based diocesan programs;
c) By initiating programs to meet specific local needs not met by other groups;
d) By committing its spiritual, material, and personnel resources to this mission, even to the extent of funding a parish coordinator of social ministry.

5. Within the parish family stronger and closer relationships for mutual support and ministry among laity, religious, and clergy should be developed. In the selection and tenure of parish personnel great consideration and sensitivity should be given to the needs of the neighborhood.

II Recommendation: The Church and Neighborhood Action

To enable the church, as a nourished community of faith, to be a sign of Christian presence and mission in the neighborhoods, a caring community inculcating the virtue of neighborliness, we recommend that parish churches and other Catholic institutions recognize themselves as part of the neighborhood in which they exist, and working with and involved with the multicultural, pluralistic situation of neighborhoods, assume responsibility for supporting, strengthening and developing instruments through which people can deterMine their needs and improve the quality of their lives.

Toward this end we recommend:

1. As that sign of Christian presence and mission, the parish and other Catholic institutions should be a rallying point for immediate person-to-person assistance, as well as a facilitator to work with the people to determine and find remedies for their problems. That parish facilities and resources, meeting places, program space, personnel, office equipment and other in kind contributions be made available to existing action groups seeking to deal with neighborhood issues or to aid in the promotion of such action groups.

2. That a budgetary item of every parish to financially support competent neighborhood/community action groups be considered a necessary investment for neighborhood preservation and development; that diocesan agencies should provide resources for training current and potential neighborhood leaders; that each diocese provide as a minimum, matching funds in support of any parish contribution to competent neighborhood/community action groups.

3. That the church should initiate and be actively involved in the development of community organizing projects among all peoples. In the promotion of and the support of these neighborhood actions, the church should develop cooperative relations among parishes and with other religious, social, civic, governmental and health services organizations.

4. That people may become the true determinants in their own lives, each diocese shall establish an office for community affairs or shall expand its existing office:
a. To initiate, facilitate and support financially and/or with personnel, neighborhood offices of community affairs;
b. To work with other diocesan community affairs offices and other community organizations on a state-wide level to support neighborhood issues;
c. To provide support services for these neighborhood offices of community affairs.

5. That church leadership, state Catholic conferences, bishops, pastoral councils, as a means of supporting neighborhood preservation and development, do the following four things:
a. Allocate a fixed portion of their personnel and resources for education programs for Christian political responsibility;
b. Provide channels of communication between neighborhood people and those in positions of power and influence within the political and economic institutions of the community;
c. Regularly remind the Christian community of the effects of their actions on the lives of their neighbors and the need for a sense of accountability of the witness they give to the work of the church; d. Commit themselves to the concept of open neighborhoods, whereby new residents of any race, ethnic group, cultural background or religious faith would be welcomed as brothers and sisters in Christ.

6. That the Catholic community through its leaders regularly call all people to their moral responsibility, and seek their cooperation to insure that human values, including the right to life, to personal security, to work, to education, to health care, to adequate food, and to a decent home, be guiding actions, private and public, and apply fully these human values to include those unable to work.

7. That the urgent need in the inner-city situations mandates that the church recognize innercity neighborhoods as territories demanding priority attention and demanding interim missionary personnel, and that the Catholic Church pledge itself to remain as an active force in the inner-city; that the church pledge itself to contribute actively to the advancement in our society of black Americans, ethnic Americans, native Americans and persons of' Hispanic descent.

8. That each diocese recognize the vital responsibility of ministry to Catholics and other persons who ask for our ministry at colleges and universities and allocate a fixed portion of its personnel and resources to assist these people in effective Christian action in their collegiate neighborhoods.

III Recommendation: Church and Community Development

In order to assist the people of the United States of America to identify, articulate and meet their needs, we urgently seek new national and diocesan strategies, policies and programs for the development of urban neighborhoods and rural communities. Such policies and programs, based on the concept of equality of persons, races, ethnic and culturally diverse groups, must include a recognition and commitment in every diocese that community development must flow from the needs of the people as identified by the people.

Such policies must recognize that neighborhood, its creation, growth, and development is a valid and viable concept for urban and rural living and it is the core concept which should give direction and purpose to all urban and rural planning and development. The diocesan and national church must not only listen to the voice of the people, especially the powerless, but must also actively provide opportunities and resources for new vehicles for organizing their voice and implementing their decisions.

Consistent with the above, we call upon all church leaders to support the powerless in their:

(1) right to be self-determining;
(2) right to be publicly supported by church leadership in their efforts to organize;
(3) right to a use of all church properties and resources, even across diocesan lines provided such use does not interfere with the primary use of such properties and resources;
(4) right to full accountability for the use of all church funds and resources.

The policy is to include:

1. That each diocese undertake a self-study as to how its resources in terms of people, property, talents and finances are being used, with a full public report within one year.

2. That each diocese and neighborhood parish look at its daily operations as to the utilization of its resources in the neighborhood community in which the parish resides. Furthermore, each diocese should within three years develop a plan on social justice and an implementation schedule. It is also recommended that dioceses endorse the concept of "twinning" and/or "quota systems of sharing- or equivalent sharing procedures.

(A: "Twinning": Parishes/dioceses share resources with other less fortunate parishes/dioceses; B: Quota systems of sharing: All parishes are assigned quotas to a central fund from which distribution is made to parishes according to needs and/or inability to raise sufficient funds for its needs.)

It is to be recognized that any such program will be directed toward the goal that each parish become financially self-sufficient.

3. That education for action takes place on all levels in the church.
a. That community participatory education in the neighborhood parishes include the social, economic and political realities of the community in which all the people reside as well as analysis of larger social issues affecting many communities. Such issues would include immigration; delivery of' services; quality of education; the aged, youth and the handicapped; the ownership and use of natural resources, including land, as this relates especially to the worldwide crisis of food and energy, race relations; crime-, industrial and economic development.

All such issues should be addressed in terms of the interrelationships between city, county, state and federal governments and the interdependence of rural, urban and suburban communities. This education should be addressed equally to the people of the community as well as to those influencing public policy.
b. That multicultural education on these issues be seen as a must for the development of better racial and ethnic relationships in the culturally pluralistic society in which we live.
c. That bilingual education, where needed, to achieve these goals be implemented.
d. That social justice courses in the area of neighborhood parish community development, community organization and multicultural education be mandatory in the training of seminarians and in the continuing education of clergy and religious.

4. That in each diocese the decision whether or not to close parishes and schools should include the involvement of the neigborhood/community. Due attention should be given to the value of consolidation of some parishes and/or schools due to shortage of personnel or funds. A plan shall be developed to maintain the witnessing value and commitment of the church to the neighborhoods.

5. That the diocese, recognizing the impact of public policy on individual parish/neighborhood communities develop a staff position to be held by individuals specifically trained to monitor and report on a diocesan and neighborhood level, and whose major responsibilities shall consist of the monitoring and reporting of local, state and federal policy and program initiatives which impact on the parish/neighborhood community. Organizations dedicated to alleviating urban and rural problems by influencing congressional legislation should be created and supported within each diocese.

6. That an office of ministry of social concerns be established in each diocese to coordinate the actions and activities of the departments of the diocese in its action for social justice and parish neighborhood development and organizing, as to:
a. Overlapping of services;
b. Utilization of finances;
c. Areas of involvement;
d. Coalition building;
e. Interfaith cooperation.

New areas of concern and needs of the people of the parish/ neighborhood/communities should be channelled into this office and that support be given to existent programs with proven effectiveness.

7. That a similar office or department of each state conference be established to serve the same function on a state level for the better utilization of the limited resources in all areas of social justice, and to maximize the uses of finances and input in the areas of locality development, social action, social issues in the areas of community development in the local parish/neighborhood, in an effort to work toward community development and organization in city, county and state issues.

8. That the U.S. Catholic Conference establish a similar office to coordinate the actions on behalf of social justice and community development of all organizations and institutions of the church, with special emphasis on housing and employment needs.

9. That there be initiation and continued development of effective advocacy with the poor through the support and expansion of agencies such as state Catholic conferences, Catholic Charities, or diocesan offices for rural life, urban affairs or social action.

10. That there be initiation and continued development of effective advocacy with the poor through the support and expansion of the Campaign for Human Development, not only by increasing financial contributions but also by encouraging the work of parish and diocesan social justice education action committees in each parish and diocese to offer continuing support of the groups which have applied for CHD funding. This support could be informing public opinion, utilizing church professional resources for technical assistance and education about moral issues in domestic policies.

IV Recommendation: The Church and the Rural Community

Inasmuch as we recognize that global hunger, social problems, rural problems, and urban problems are intimately interrelated, we urge the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to implement a priority concern to improve the quality of life in rural areas.

In order to assist the church to address itself to the needs of rural America, we recommend:

1. That the National Conference of Catholic Bishops continue its support of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference as the American church's voice for land, town and country related concerns, and that it urge grassroots support adequate for carrying out this role. Each diocese will have a Catholic Rural Life Office assisting community organization and serving rural needs. In the dioceses that are primarily metropolitan this office will serve as liaison for urban rural issues. These designated bodies will interpret rural concerns to church organizations and the general public.

2. There should be an evaluation of church structures and programs of ministry to the rural community in the light of the present needs for social action, religious education and social services.

3. That these same offices and other appropriate agencies support those movements and organizations designed to preserve the land both as a gift from God and as a precious natural resource which should have a wide distribution to all the people. The activities of these offices and agencies will include support of legislation to stop the abuse of land speculation, exploitation of agricultural workers including the undocumented alien, large agribusiness, and concentrated land holdings, and will express continued support of the family farm.

4. That our bishops be encouraged to address a pastoral letter to the people of their diocese on the dignity of rural life for Christian living.

5. That our bishops reevaluate their policies, disbursement of funds, and personnel placement in rural communities beginning June 1, 1977.

6. That the bishops, in consultation with the people of God, develop new structures and ministries appropriate to the needs of rural communities, such as mobile teams of resource persons and new forms of lay leadership and ministry.

7. That the pastoral formation focus on rural as well as urban parish ministries.

8. That national church organizations consider the needs of more rural dioceses in the location of meetings and allotment of funds. Specifically that the church in its concern for the principles of economics and social justice, given special consideration of the long-standing instabilities of rural America, urge that the Campaign for Human Development give a high priority for allocating its funds to community organizing activities, including and especially rural communities.

9. That a special task force be set up through National Catholic Rural Life Conference to address and develop legislative action relative to the problems of: rural poverty; rural health and housing; land use and theology of stewardship; estate, property, and income tax reform; rural financing (redlining); corporate tax deduction (loss) farming; use of food products as a national and international political tool.

10. That the national church support the people of Appalachia and the program and values outlined in the pastoral, This Land Is Home to Me.

11. That the national church support legislative and self-help programs for the rural poor that they may share in God's spiritual and temporal gifts.

12. That the church support efforts to improve conditions for all farm workers (including but not limited to migrants) rather than encourage their departure from agriculture.

13. That the church support the God-given rights of the poor rural wage earners, migrants, share-croppers, and family farmers, and the rights of small and independent businessmen; that the church recognize and encourage their rights to organize.

A follow-up plan of action should be developed in consultation with Appalachian organizations and the Commission on Religion in Appalachia. The follow-up program should include a focus on the pastoral and social action concerns of Appalachian migrants.

V Recommendation: Ongoing Implementation

That the National Conference of Catholic Bishops through the bicentennial office establish a representative task force drawn from delegates to this conference:

a. To sustain the Call to Action momentum;
b. To promote the implementation of all the recommendations;
c. To set in motion another consultation within five years to evaluate the results of this program and to suggest goals for the next period.

 

Reprinted with permission of the Quixote Center.