Let’s say you’re the top administrator at a small Catholic high school in Modesto. One day the bishop mentions that the Vatican – yes, the Vatican – wants to send about 600 people to spend four days on your campus for meetings literally geared to change the world in terms of social justice.
Oh, and one of the most prominent cardinals from within Pope Francis’s inner circle will be among those attending.
Wait, one more thing: The pope himself might teleconference in, as well.
Tremendous honor or logistical nightmare?
“Actually, we look forward to it,” chuckled Jim Pecchenino, president of Central Catholic High School, adding that it is, indeed, an honor.
“It” is the World Meeting of Popular Movements (WMPM), a mass gathering of grassroots social justice leaders from all over the world who will converge in Modesto from Thursday through Feb. 19 to discuss, share and learn with and from each other in an effort to combat injustices in their various communities.
Bishop Stephen Blaire from the Diocese of Stockton contacted Pecchenino several months ago about holding the conference at Central Catholic. The campus opened its new Mark Gallo Health and Fitness Center in August, which also was designed as a large event center. The facility made the school a perfect choice.
That conversation will revolve around three main themes as set by the Vatican, according to Steve Pehanich, director of communications and advocacy with the California Catholic Conference, one of several organizing groups behind the event – “land, labor and lodging.” In addition, organizers got together with some of the grassroots leaders to define additional topics to be discussed; racism and migration were added for the Modesto meeting.
While the conference is an interfaith gathering, more than 30 U.S. bishops as well as Vatican officials will attend. Most notably among them is Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Vatican’s department for Integral Human Development. Turkson is among Pope Francis’s senior leaders and president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
While Pope Francis could participate via satellite, there’s been no confirmation, Pehanich said, adding that making a firm commitment would mean a lot of disappointed people if something were to come up and make the pope’s presence impossible.
The goal is for each grassroots member to take what they learn over the four days and use it to implement change and improvement back home, according to Pehanich.
Organizers say the Central Valley was chosen for the WMPM because its diverse population knows firsthand the economic and social hardships within those main land, work and housing themes.
“The idea behind these (meetings) is to have them in the peripheries. The idea is to go where the people are that the pope is trying to energize,” Pehanich said.
This will be the fourth WMPM, with previous conferences held in 2014 and 2016 in Rome and 2015 in Bolivia. This week’s Modesto gathering marks the first in the United States, according to another of the organizers, PICO (People Improving Communities through Organizing, the largest network of faith-based groups in the nation).
Full story at The Modesto Bee.
As an graduate of Central Catholic, I pray that no radical group, will be at the Conference….i.e. Black lives Matter, etc……
And remember…..pro-life is the biggest social injustice issue!
Be careful whom you invite dear Central Catholic!!!
Saul Alinsky infiltrated the Church in Chicago in the 1940’s. Now Community Organizing and Communism has infiltrated Rome. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
The Pope needs to get the Catholic Church in order first, rather than promoting some lefty pie-in-the-sky waste of time, effort and money, while the patrimony of Peter goes to hell, twisted out of recognition. The catacombs are looming.
As Elizabeth said, Abortion which is the killing of an innocent unborn child is the biggest social injustice in the world. Over 65 per cent of black children conceived are aborted. Wonder if this will be discussed. If Black Lives Matter, why are so many Black children being killed before they are born. Would love to hear the agenda of the four days.
Diego: Agenda – https://popularmovements.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/US-WMPM-Agenda_FINAL_logos_v4.pdf
I cannot find any evidence that BLM is invited.
The San Diego contingent includes
organizers from the San Diego Organizing
Project (SDOP), the local PICO affiliate;
United Domestic Workers; Black Lives
Matter; Employee Rights Center; two staff
members from the diocese’s Social
Ministry Office; and Father Neal
Wilkinson, from Our Lady of Guadalupe
Parish in Barrio Logan.
The Southern Cross– San Diego diocesan newspaper, p.2-17
P.2
I wonder if George Soros will attend this event, which seems to be solely for the propagation of the New World Order agenda.
Californians for Life must insist on being there.
If Bishop Blaire is involved, you know it must be politically liberal—-and thus, a bad deal.for faithful Catholics.
If right to life was not invited, we must conclude that the effort to stop he killing of an unborn baby is not a popular Catholic organization.
Are any Catholic bishops or priests speaking out against this?
Makes me rather sad, that my old school, which was a wonderful learning experience, and where we had also good and clean fun, is now having groups that are mentioned in a post by Vince Ferrez in an above posting!
I’ve called Bishop Blaire’s office and told him of my concern.
All Central Catholic graduates, speak up, respectfully of course!!!
“We shall have world government, whether or not we like it. The question is only whether world government will be achieved by consent or by conquest.” – Paul Warburg, son of Federal Reserve architect Paul Warburg, in a speech to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 1950.
Correction – Quote is that of James Warburg, son of Paul Warburg.
Will George Soros be funding this “event”, or perhaps the Communist Party USA?