For Immediate Release
January 18, 2019
Media Contact: Eli S. McCarthy, PhD
Director of Justice and Peace, CMSM
emccarthy@cmsm.org
Cell: 510-717-8867
Catholic Coalition of Advocacy Organizations Sends Joint Statement to Congress Urging Them to Face the Moral Crisis
WASHINGTON, DC—On the occasion of Martin Luther King Day on January 21, a group of national and international Catholic justice and peace organizations delivered a joint statement to Congress today, entitled “Facing the Moral Crisis: A Catholic Offer of Wisdom and Courage to Congress” which calls on Members to courageously take the first steps to end the political polarization that the group says is eroding democracy in the United States. “Inspired by Dr. King, we declare that this is a moment of moral crisis in the United States,” the statement reads. “The habit of inflicting suffering on some for the supposed benefit of others is all too common in both our political discourse and policies today.”
The full statement can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/FacingtheCrisis.
Offering as a source of wisdom, words said by Pope Francis in his speech to Congress in 2015 and in his more recent World Day of Peace message, and as a source of courage, words said by Dr. Martin Luther King, the Catholic groups call on each Member of Congress to “break free of the division and polarization that grip our nation.” The group goes on to describe six topics as “signs of the times” and components of the national crisis: varied forms of corruption; border security and immigration reform; racial justice and voter suppression; climate change and care for the environment; nonviolence, the end of war and the strategy of fear; and good politics at the service of justice and peace.
Speaking in one voice, the eleven Catholic organizations affirm the shared responsibilities and hopes of “faithful Catholics and citizens of every faith and humanitarian tradition” that can empower Members of Congress to turn away from division and political polarization and respond to the urgent concerns of our time.
The signatories on the statement delivered to Congress on January 18 are as follows. Additional Catholic organizations are invited to endorse the statement by going to https://tinyurl.com/EndorseFacingtheCrisis.
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Franciscan Action Network
Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Pax Christi International
Pax Christi USA
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute Justice Team
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