Summer flowers, children riding bicycles, and neighbors chatting on the front porch. It is a beautiful day, as I sit here on Saltonstall Avenue, writing my monthly column for our newsletter. Yet, one only has to turn on the TV or pick up a paper to read about the troubles in our world. There is violence in Gaza and Israel, and in Iraq; a civil war in Syria that has killed more than 100,000 people; and gangs and drugs in Central America are having a heavy impact. All are causing a migration of people. More than 2 million refugees have fled out of Syria and into neighboring countries. Half are children. A flood of 90,000 child arrivals in the USA in FY 2014 is projected. It is estimated that 60% of these children have a refugee claim.

These situations are complex, with no easy solutions. That is why we look towards Catholic Social Teaching for guidance. The Old Testament, New Testament, and modern Catholic Social Teaching all teach us that every person is created in the likeness and image of God, and call us to care for the alien among us. Strangers No Longer, a joint pastoral letter of the U.S. and Mexican Catholic Bishops, stresses that vulnerable immigrant populations, including unaccompanied minors and refugees, should be afforded protection. The Most Reverend Mark Seitz, Bishop of El Paso, Texas, in his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee representing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, provides a more thorough background on the root causes of the border crisis situation and a perspective on Catholic Social Teaching. 

What are we to do?

• First and foremost, we pray. We pray for the safety of all of our brothers and sisters living in the midst of violence and fear.  Pray for an end to the violence and for peace so that all people can live in dignity. See our Resources section below for a selection of prayers.
• Learn about what is being done - and what more can be done to address the root causes of poverty and violence and to protect children, by visiting the CRS website and by reading the MRS-CRS Backgrounder.
• Building on the power of prayer, we invite you to take action. Ask President Obama, your Senators and Representatives to do more to end the violence and support peace in the Holy Land today. You can send a personalized email or call using this toll-free number, 1-866-596-7030. To get talking points and more information on calling your representatives, visit this link.

Enjoy the summer. Continue to be a people of hope, prayer, and action.

Peace,

When the new school year opens on September 2, 2014, St.  Martin de Porres Academy has a lot to celebrate! A light on the hill in New Haven's Hill neighborhood, both literally and figuratively, the independent Catholic middle school has thrived for ten years in an area where significant rates of unemployment, teen pregnancy, infant mortality and crime are a regular part of life.
 

Housed on Columbus Avenue in the former Sacred Heart-St. Peter School building, St. Martin's opened in 2005 - the first Catholic school to open in the City of New Haven since the 1950's! The Academy is a faith-based, independent school serving children of families of low income throughout Greater New Haven. It is a Catholic school committed to a belief in the dignity and worth of every person.

In a neighborhood where others see poverty, St. Martin's sees possibility!  A middle school serving 5th through 8th graders, St. Martin's follows the unique and highly successful Nativity-Miguel model of urban education -- one of 64 such schools in cities across the nation. Its mission is to transform lives through education and opportunity, thus breaking the cycle of poverty in under-served communities.

Read more about the school's history and mission . . .

OCSJM Congratulates St. Martin de Porres Academy on 10 years of service!

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Bishops which works to break the cycle of poverty by helping low-income people participate in decisions that affect their lives, families and communities. CCHD offers a hand up, not a hand out. Groups who receive funding from CCHD identify problems that affect the poor and then work along with them to find just solutions. 

Two Connecticut groups that will receive national funding this year: the Naugatuck Valley Project and United Connecticut Action for Neighborhoods.

The Naugatuck Valley Project (NVP) is an organization composed of religious congregations and labor and small business organizations which help save and create jobs, affordable housing, and critical public and private services in the Naugatuck Valley. NVP focuses on the development of leadership qualities and organizing skills of low income people as they engage in citizen action and democratic economic development campaigns. These activities have ranged from successful fights for community policing, immigrant services, retiree benefits, job training, the creation of affordable housing, as well as successful campaigns to save and create jobs through employee buyouts.

United Connecticut Action for Neighborhoods (UCAN) assists low income residents of Connecticut to solve problems and change structures that adversely affect their lives. UCAN achieves this by empowering people, training leaders, building communities, and changing public policies. Today most of UCAN's organizing work is centered in the Caring Families Coalition so that every CT resident has access to quality and affordable health care.

Local grant money, disbursed by OCSJM on behalf of CCHD, has also been allocated to the following groups: Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT), Publicly-assisted Housing Resident Network (PHRN), and Capital Good Fund.

For additional information on CCHD and how it works with local groups, visit the OCSJM website. If you are interested in learning more about the grant process or would like to become part of our Grant Review Committee, please contact Lynn Campbell at (203) 777-7279 or info.ocsjm@aohct.org.

OCSJM has been pleased to welcome Ramon Garcia, a Seminarian for the Archdiocese of Hartford who has spent the summer working as a CCHD-sponsored Intern at the Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry. Among other tasks, he has had opportunities to visit with CCHD-funded projects in our diocese, and to see first-hand the struggles faced by those who live on the fringes of our society.  He has also visited with Pastors across the Archdiocese to talk with them about the mission and goals of CCHD, and to encourage parish support of its efforts to address root causes and break the cycle of poverty.

Ramon will begin his fourth year of Theological Studies in the fall at St. John Seminary in Boston, MA, and will be ordained a deacon in preparation for Priesthood. His home parish is St. Matthew Church in Forestville. He shares reflections on his own experience of immigration, and the current situation in the United States, in an article featured on the OCSJM website.