Archdiocese to Speak Out at Rally for Bill on Wages

[rug]

By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: November 20, 2011

Supporters of a bill that would raise wages at city-subsidized projects are celebrating the introduction of a formidable voice to the debate: the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities, is scheduled to speak at a rally on Monday organized by a coalition of religious, labor and community leaders to urge the passage of the bill, originally introduced last year by two City Council members from the Bronx.

The archdiocese has been hesitant to weigh in on legislative matters, and, indeed, Monsignor Sullivan was quick to clarify in an interview Sunday that the archdiocese had not taken “a specific position” on the bill, saying it generally did not take a position on any piece of legislation.

But he added that the rally on Monday, at Riverside Church, would provide an appropriate setting for the archdiocese to address economic hardship and unemployment, matters of utmost concern to the church.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/nyregion/archdiocese-of-new-york-to-participate-at-rally-on-wages-bill.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

This is what the bill is about:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/nyregion/24wage.html

[pnwmom]

1. True, they can't take positions on specific bills, but they can and should

speak about poverty and unemployment. Christians everywhere should be speaking up LOUDLY.

[pennylane100]

2. It keeps the attention away from their war on women and pedophilia.

Of course they want their members to earn more money, so they can give more money. If only they were a little more concerned about the welfare of the children of their parish and the fifty percent of their members whose lives they are trying to control, they would have a little more credibility

[rug]

3. Do you know what the bill is about?

[laconicsax]

4. Enlighten us as to which part of the bill isn't about increasing wages. n/t

[rug]

5. It's entirely about wages.

You already have the link.

Enlighten pennylane it's not about pedophilia.

[laconicsax]

6. She never said it was about pedophilia.

She said that the archdiocese's support distracts from the child rape issue.

[pnwmom]

7. Care for the poor and economic justice has always been at the core of Catholic Christian belief.

This is nothing new, but I'm glad they're speaking out more loudly now. (Beyond their own Sunday services.)

[darkstar3]

8. Obedience to God and belief in Jesus are at the foundation.

Everything is built somewhere above that.

[pnwmom]

9. Love of God. Love of neighbor -- even the enemy, or the "Samaritan."

Everything else flows from that.

You aren't loving the "other" if you allow them to live in poverty without sharing what you have in abundance.

[darkstar3]

10. Tell that to the myriad of churches who spend more on making their houses of woship shine

than they do on any form of charity.

BTW: You aren't "loving the other" when you pull all services out of D.C. because new laws prevent you from discriminating against homosexuals.

[pnwmom]

11. The Catholic Church has always been involved in charity.

I am very disappointed with some of the dioceses' decisions to pull services. I think it is a mistake and not in accord with their teaching.

However, that doesn't make their teachings about economic justice wrong -- or something new that they've just brought up now as a distraction.

[darkstar3]

13. Perhaps, but that does not make it foundational, so my point stands.

I think their retreat from D.C. was a cowardly move, but it was calculated to allow them to stick more closely to their teachings, and the reason I know that is because members of the Catholic hierarchy, who make up the teachings for the laity, gave the reasoning.

As for their teachings on economic justice, I'd be more impressed with those if they were actually given a consistent focus, instead of being trotted to the center of the limelight when it's convenient for the Church's PR.

[pnwmom]

17. Love for God. Love for others. Everything else comes from that,

and concern for those less fortunate is right at the core, with loving others. You aren't Catholic, are you? Where are you getting your ideas about what the Church teaches?

[darkstar3]

20. Says you.

I get my ideas from reading. Not just the pretty red letters in the Bible, but also the Catechism of the Catholic Church and press releases issued by church leaders. And the more you write the more I suspect that you get your ideas not from the Church itself, but from some internal vision of what you think the Church should be.

[laconicsax]

12. Why isn't it a part of the creed then?

:shrug:

[pnwmom]

18. It's one of the two commandments mentioned by Jesus in the Bible.

Mark 12: 28-31:
"One of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

More than half of the parables Jesus told in the Bible had to do with money, and the cumulative message is very clear: you're not loving your neighbor if you allow him to suffer from want while you could be sharing. This was from a publication of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, but it could have been written by any Catholic publication.

http://www.thecompassnews.org/compass/2003-10-24/foundations.shtml

Jesus' messages about money seem less to do with "too much" than with "too little." Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is concerned with people having too little of what they really need. That meant health for the sick, welcome for outcasts, food for beggars, and protection for women and children.

But Jesus' concern also included those who had too little of what really matters - the Kingdom, in which everyone has a close relationship with God and with others.

And Jesus saw that money and wealth often cause a poverty of character, a lack of what really mattered. That is why - when the rich young man "went away sad, for he had many possessions"- Jesus said "it will be hard for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of heaven." It's also why he told us to "give to the one who asks of you" (Mt 5:42) and that we would be judged by the measure, the generosity, by which we give (Mt 7:1).

What we do with wealth - whether that be a plenitude of money, power, talent, influence or anything else that comes to us through the grace of God - shows where our heart is.

____________________________________

From Matthew, Chapter 25


Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35
h For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
37
Then the righteous* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
40
i And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41
* j Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42
k For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
44
* Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
45
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’
46
l And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

[laconicsax]

19. That's a lot of copy-pasting to not answer my question. n/t

[pennylane100]

16. I do not believe that I am the one that needs enlightening.

You might want to read my post more carefully and see my response to laconicsax.

[pennylane100]

15. Where in my post did I criticize the bill.

The catholic church needs more paying customers so of course they want their followers to earn money. Well the church would have a lot more money if their priests would learn stop molesting young children. The total amount paid out in 2007 alone was $600 million. If you took all the abuse settlements ever paid all over the world, you may have enough to end world hunger.

The archdiocese if New York rose to a new level of hypocrisy when it issued a statement saying that it was hesitant to weigh in on legislative matters. Well they can start by respecting the right of women to control their own bodies, they can stop pushing for a ban on gay marriage and they can get out of the adoption business unless they recognize the right of gay couples to adopt.

[NMMNG]

14. "The archdiocese has been hesitant to weigh in on legislative matters"

Since when? They're always vocal when it comes to restricting the rights of women and LGBT people. Or are they only hesitant when they are advocating a position that helps people?