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Dr Emilce Cuda delivers a keynote address at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering Dr Emilce Cuda delivers a keynote address at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering 

US social ministry leaders explore prophetic vocation, community organizing

Keynote speakers at the Catholic Social Ministry gathering in Washington, D.C., stressed that Catholic social ministry is different from the politics of the world, emphasizing the need for unity to become “missionaries of hope and advocates of justice”—the theme for this year’s event.

By Christopher Wells

US Catholic social ministry leaders are meeting in the nation’s capital this week for the 2025 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, an annual event aimed at bringing together “hundreds of participants whose faith inspires them to address pressing current domestic and global challenges affecting our most vulnerable brothers and sisters at home and around the world.”

This year’s Gathering focused on the theme: “Missionaries of Hope, Advocates of Justice.”

Cardinal Christophe Pierre during a visit to Vatican News (archive photo)
Cardinal Christophe Pierre during a visit to Vatican News (archive photo)

‘Following our prophetic vocation’

In his keynote address at the Gathering’s Opening Plenary Session on Saturday, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, said the gathering was an “excellent opportunity to listen to one another, to dialogue, and to discern what the Spirit wants us to do in our mission for the common good and for the promotion of people’s human dignity.”

His remarks focused on “following our prophetic vocation” to “announce, by our actions and words, the truth that will transform society: namely, that God loves His people, and that He desires all people to experience their dignity as his children, as well as solidarity with one another as brothers and sisters in the human family.”
 

Rejecting “political messiahs” who propose “simplistic and polarizing solutions,” Cardinal Pierre said Catholic social ministry must be different, uniting to pursue the common good, first and foremost through assisting those most in need.

He insisted on the importance of giving people hope by helping those deprived of justice, and suggested three specific areas in which Catholic social ministry “is necessary to bring about greater justice”: “abolition of the death penalty, advocacy for world peace, and the just treatment of migrants and refugees.”

“Even if these are not the precise focus of your own apostolate,” he said, “we can still be united in mind and heart in regard to them.”

Concluding his address, Cardinal Pierre reminded his audience of the importance of renewal “in our common faith and our shared commitment to the Spirit of Christ.” And he encouraged them to “exercise synodality by listening, dialogue, and discerning what is of the Spirit,” assuring them that “this will help us become, in the grace of this Jubilee Year, ‘missionaries of hope and advocates of justice’.”

Dr Emilce Cuda delivers her keynote address at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering
Dr Emilce Cuda delivers her keynote address at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering

‘Building bridges by organizing hope’

The next morning’s Plenary Session, dedicated to the theme of “Building Bridges by Organizing Hope,” featured keynote speaker Dr. Emilce Cuda, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Her address focused on Pope Francis’ contribution to the Magisterium, starting from Praedicate Evangelium’s evangelizing community as one that “gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives, bridges distances, is willing to abase itself if necessary, and embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others.”

This, she said, is the starting point of community organization, which means “building bridges of inclusion, reconciliation, and fraternity that can unite organized communities.”

Dr. Cuda went on to explain the work of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which involves reconciliation across the Americas. This involves a focus on unity “as the path of salvation,” which she described as the “Catholic contribution” to a world often marked by division and polarization.

In order to build unity, she said, organized communities must dialogue with everyone, which is the best tool to guarantee peace.

Dialogue, however, presupposes “organizing hope,” often in the face of a “pseudo-religious narrative” based on fear that leads to isolation. Such a narrative, she said, makes it impossible for communities to organize and threatens solidarity and subsidiarity, and ultimately human dignity.

On the contrary, she said, Catholic social ministry must not be afraid, but instead continue to organize hope, following the lead of Pope Francis.

However, Dr. Cuda warned, although hope cannot be lost, it can be manipulated. If that happens, she said, it can become ideology, “and that is the worst politics.”

Therefore, she said, Catholic social ministry leaders must not lose true hope, but commit themselves to organizing: “We must go out as Church, but build bridges of communication, without leaving anyone outside or behind.”

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29 January 2025, 09:35
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