The Diocesan Department of Life, Dignity and Justice, which carries out the social mission of the Church, locally, has been restructured to address emerging ministry needs.
The Department is now comprised of six ministries: Respect Life and Pastoral Care Programs, Community Service and Outreach Programs, Education and Formation Programs, Advocacy and Justice for Immigrants Programs, the Office of Restorative Justice and the Office of Life, Dignity and Justice.
Sister Chilee Okoko, D.M.M.M., Department Director, said the restructuring was done to put more emphasis on the Catholic Social Teaching that underpins the outreach and advocacy efforts of the Diocese. Jose Luis Elias serves as the Director of the newly-created Education and Formation Programs ministry.
“Every aspect of education and formation in the department will be directed and organized by same director,” Sr. Okoko notes, “unlike previously where each director organizes their ministry formation and specialization courses.”
Another goal of the restructuring was to better coordinate all of the public policy advocacy efforts on a variety of social issues, Sr. Okoko said. Abraham Joven is serving in that capacity as Director.
“In advocacy efforts, which could concern any or every aspect of the ministry like in Respect life issues, Restorative Justice issues, education, immigration, social justice issues, healthcare, every director and personnel of the department will be involved, and participate actively in the process,” she said. “This effort will be led and championed by the director of Advocacy and Justice for Immigrants.”
The ministries of the department network with other dioceses under the umbrella of the California Catholic Conference (CCC) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and work in close collaboration with others that engage in social justice, advocacy and community services like Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE), and Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC).
Full story at Inland Catholic Byte.
A phrase like “more emphasis on Catholic social teaching” is a sure sign that something is awry and that leftist ideology is being slipped in under the guise of Catholic faith and formation. Distorted “Catholic social teaching” is — more often than not — a coded expression for “whatever the Democrat Party supports”.
There is such a thing as authentic Catholic social teaching, and it’s valuable, but it’s hardly ever a component of distorted “Catholic social teaching”. Take subsidiarity, for example: that classically conservative component of authentic Catholic social teaching is almost never brought up when distorted “Catholic social teaching” is presented.