I feel sad, frustrated and disturbed by the attitude of the conservative section of the Catholic Church toward the Greens
The Catholic heirarchy of Australia have joined forces with ultra right wing political and ultra right evangelical lobbyists to fight the Greens. ( For those who are unaware of this, the Catholic Education Department has sent letters to all schools advising parents not to vote Green. In the recent Melbourne by-election parish priests have told their congregations to vote Labor rather than Green. The result was that Cathy Oke Green candidate gained the largest primary vote but Labor, who courted the preferences of the SEX party, Family First and the LIBERALS who are their opposition, won on preferences. Unbelievable. )
Catholic hierarchy see the Greens as a threat to Catholicism but this is far from the truth. Greens policies are founded on the very core principles of Catholic teaching. See for yourselves!
Greens core beliefs:
Ecological sustainability
Good economic management means taking care of our earth - not treating our most precious resources like a giant business in liquidation: ‘everything must go!’. The levels of pollution in our atmosphere mean that business-as-usual will no longer work if we want to avoid dangerous climate change. The future for Australia can still be a prosperous one if we build our economy on green principles rather than short-term self-interest.
Grassroots participatory democracy
Real progress comes when enough people believe it is possible to make a difference and decide to do something about it. All Greens members and supporters are driven by the desire to work towards a better Australia. In contrast to the two major parties, which are run by executives in head office, the Greens involve members in key decisions and our campaigns are powered by thousands of ordinary people volunteering their time, skills and support.
Social justice
Many of the social problems we have today – crime, discrimination, disease, poverty – could be dramatically improved if we focus on eliminating extreme inequality in Australia and across the world. The Greens believe that it should be the priority of all governments to alleviate poverty and to extend opportunity to all members of society.
Peace and non-violence
Australia’s foreign policy should be based on dialogue, diplomacy and cooperation, not aggression. Trying to prevent or counter violence with violence itself will not work. The Greens are committed to peaceful and non-violent solutions locally, nationally and internationally.
This is what the Catholic Peace and Social Justice Ministry, Catholic Diocese of Joliet Illinois says are the core principles of Catholicism. Sound familiar?
Seven Core
Values of Catholic Social Teaching
Life and Dignity of the Human
Person
Our belief in the sanctity of human
life and the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of all the
principles of our social teaching. We believe that every person is precious,
that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every
institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the
human person.
Call to Family, Community, and
Participation
Our tradition proclaims that the person
is not only sacred but also social. How we organize our society – in economics
and politics, in law and policy – directly affects human dignity and the
capacity of individuals to grow in community. The family is the central social
institution that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We believe
people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the
common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable. The role
of government and other institutions is to protect and promote the common
good.
Rights and
Responsibilities
The Catholic tradition teaches that
human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if
human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Every person has a
fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human
decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities – to one
another, to our families, and to the larger society.
Option for the Poor and
Vulnerable
Catholic teaching proclaims that a
basic moral test is how our must vulnerable members are faring. In a society
marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition instructs us
to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
The Dignity of Work and the Rights
of Workers
We believe that the economy must serve
people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it
is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work
is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected – the
right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions,
to private property, and to economic initiative.
Solidarity
Our culture is tempted to turn inward,
becoming indifferent and sometimes isolationist in the face of international
responsibilities. Catholic social teaching proclaims that we are our brothers’
and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live. Learning to practice the virtue of
solidarity means learning that “loving our neighbor” has global dimensions in an
interdependent world.
Care for God’s Creation
The Catholic tradition insists that we
show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. We are called
to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of
God’s creation.
Redacted from Sharing Catholic Social Teaching - Challenges and
Directions, Reflections of the U.S. Catholic Bishops. 1998
email us: JUSTeach@paxjoliet.org
If the Church had not been hijacked by an ultra conservative element and had not consequently reneged on the agreements of its own bishops at the Second Vatican Council and proceeded to squeeze out nearly all of its inellectuals and progressive thinkers including people such as Fr. Paul Kelly and some Jesuits and bishops until those who remain are either ultra right wing, conservative reactionaries themselves or worse, too afraid to speak out; the Church and the Greens would find that they are almost entirely of one mind.
The issues that conservatives indicate as sticking points are abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia and funding to Catholic schools.
The Greens are not pro-abortion however, we are against the criminalisation of abortion. When abortion was illegal it caused many extreme health and social problems. Even Tony Abbott says that he would not want to criminalise abortion again. He agrees that it needs to be in the hands of the medical and educational professionals. Criminalising abortion does not make it go away. We do however agree that we do need to find an alternative to the large number of abortions in Australia per annum.
The Greens are not pro-euthanasia. Colleen Hartland introduced a 'Dying With Dignity Bill' which acknowledged the fact that, everyday, doctors and nurses help people to die with dignity by overdosing them on morphine. Their aim is to reduce pain but their actions are in fact illegal. The Dying With Dignity Bill aims to reduce the risk of doctors being sued for this common compassionate act, while at the same time giving patients a greater say in their medical treatment/palliative care.
The Greens policy does not intend to take all funding away from Catholic schools but rather to stop funding those profit making institutions which have plenty of resources and equipment such as Xavier, Genazzano, Scotch College and Trinity College. Low income, not for profit schools would be exempt.
And that leaves same sex marriage. The Church is happy enough to support a civil union for same sex couples but argues that it shouldn't be called marriage. Does that mean that civil unions are not considered marriage? Tell that to the many millions of men and women who have been married in registery offices around the world. A civil union is marriage. Even in the eyes of the church, a civil union is a marriage. I was taught that the sacrament of marriage takes place between a couple and God. The priest simply blesses the union. Why not bless a same sex couple who want to love, honour and cherish each other for the rest of their lives? Well? Who are they hurting? How does that hurt marriage?
And what of the children? There was a recent study done on child abuse in lesbian households. The study found that there was no child abuse amongst lesbians. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/10/lesbians-child-abuse-0-percent_n_781624.html
'Nuff said.
Lisa Owen
This is the community welcome on the church bulletin of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Daytona Beach Florida. Go OLLC!
We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.
We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.
We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion,” we’ve been there too.
If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.
We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts … and you!
AND THIS IS THE DIOCESE OF BALLARAT'S VISION STATEMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
The Ballarat Diocesan Ecological
Sustainability Group
Vision Statement
Introduction
As part of God’s creation, humans are
celebrated as a part of all creatures, the natural environment and the universe
itself. Genesis demands of humans that we look
after and care for the Earth as ‘responsible stewards’.
In January 2001 Pope John Paul 11, in
commenting on the environmental health of Earth stated that, “we immediately
see that humanity has disappointed God’s expectations degrading that
“flowerbed” which is the Earth, our dwelling place”. He called all humanity to
avoid ecological “catastrophe” and called Catholics especially to an
‘ecological conversion”.
In an address in Berlin in 2011 Pope
Benedict XVI said, “Young people had come to realize that something is
wrong in our relationship with nature, that matter is not just raw
material for us to shape at will, but that the earth has a dignity of its own
and that we must follow its directives. If something is wrong in our
relationship with reality, then we must all reflect seriously on the
whole situation and we are all prompted to question the very foundations of our
culture. The importance of ecology is no longer disputed. We must
listen to the language of nature and we must answer accordingly.”
Our
Vision
To
foster and encourage communities to understand and embrace the ecological conversion at a local, national and
world level
We aspire to achieve these
objectives by promoting:
1)
an
environmental spirituality that is essential to the spiritual life of Church
communities
2)
the
linkage between the sustainability of the environment and social, spiritual and
physical health.
3)
the
attitude that a safe ecological environment is a universal right for all
species including humans
4)
the
view that a sustainable ecology is required for present and future generations
5)
that
humankind has a duty to strive for a sustainable environment to overcome
poverty and injustice.
Conclusion
We desire to sustain the
ecological conversion called for by Pope John Paul 11 and achieve ecological
sustainability, reduce the human ecological footprint and avoid the loss of
ecosystems and species.
