U.S. Catholic

May 22, 2013

"Though I only ever received a few citations, all other encounters I had with the police included the officer making sure I left the area. Sometimes they were polite, sometimes they were rude, but always they added, “It’s against the law.” As if I didn’t know. As if I could do something about it. The hardships and insecurity of homelessness couldn’t dampen my spirit as much as the humiliation that my city hated me. They must have hated me, since I was denied shelter and yet forbidden to live without shelter."

— Paula Lomazzi, Executive Director of Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee and Staff Writer for Homeward Street Journal, in the article “Let’s not make it a crime to be homeless” at uscatholic.org. Read more and take the survey that follows.

2:23pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z_cADxlaoIHP

(Notes: 1)

April 26, 2013

What can the church do for worker justice in America?

The Editors of U.S. Catholic interview Kim Bobo, the founder and director of Interfaith Worker Justice, an organization to help workers get fair wages from their employers.

Read our interview here!

2:19pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z_cADxjb9pOo

Filed under: workers' rights Kim Bobo US Catholic America Interfaith Worker Justice fair wages Interview Catholic Social justice Church

May 21, 2012

"I like to think I’m the hostess of the protest."

— Sister Kathleen Desautels, Sister of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods and staffer at Chicago-based 8th Day Center for Justice.

11:14am | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z_cADxLtd0ap

Filed under: catholic social justice peace and justice NATO protests

May 10, 2012

Cutting public transit = cutting access to church?

transit cuts

In Pittsburgh, according to U.S. Census data 25 percent of households do not have a personal vehicle, and nearly 20 percent of workers use public transit to get to work. I wonder how many churchgoers use transit to get to church?

Thanks to budget deficits, Pittsburgh transit lines are facing a doomsday scenario, potentially losing half of the regions routes.

We like to cut public transit when budgets are tight, but tend not to get concerned about highways and building developments. Unfortunately, it seems the expansion and sprawl of major cities has helped contribute to the break up and dissolution of once Catholic enclaves. When you have to drive to church, are you less likely to go? How far are people willing to drive to church? What if you don’t have access to transportation? I think this is an especially important question for the increasingly Hispanic and new immigrant population of the Catholic church.

10:48am | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z_cADxLDpM9B

Filed under: transit church social justice public transportation catholic

April 17, 2012

"Walmart is now entering the Chicago market. It’s first round of commercials compares a grocery receipt with one from Jewel, the local union grocery story. Walmart savings: 20 percent on a single receipt. Just where do you suppose that savings comes from? Jewel’s parent company is enormous and can leverage the same product discounts Walmart does. The “savings” is labor costs, pure and simple. In other words your dollar discount on a 12-pack of soda is taken straight from the paycheck of a worker. So if you shop at Walmart, you are subsidizing the race to the bottom, as well as subsidizing Walmart’s poverty wages—and so are your tax dollars."

— Bryan Cones on how big businesses pass off the costs of paying workers to middle- and low-income tax payers.