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Because We Are Catholic

Battling Sex Trafficking: Catholics Raise Awareness and Bring Support to Victims
May 31, 2018 Because We Are Catholic, News

Deeply buried in our society’s glittering bustle one of the most sordid crimes against humanity continues every day almost unnoticed – the sale of young girls for sex.

Pope Francis warned earlier in the year that, “modern forms of slavery are far more widespread than previously imagined, even – to our scandal and shame – within the most prosperous of our societies.”  

An estimated 40 million people around the world are enslaved today.  Most are held against their will for cheap labor, but a substantial number are held against their will for sex.

Catholic Chaplains: Providing Spiritual Support Behind Prison Walls
April 19, 2018 Because We Are Catholic, Publications, Restorative Justice

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation manages more than thirty prisons in the state with a combined inmate population of over 130,000. The California Department of State Hospitals also runs five state hospitals, housing mental health patients who have some involvement in the criminal justice system.

As part of restorative justice, it is important that people living in these facilities have their religious needs met. Catholic Chaplains do just that.           

DACA Recipients—Keeping The American Dream Alive
January 9, 2018 Because We Are Catholic, Publications

 “...Let us consider this: we are all immigrants on the journey of life, none of us has a fixed abode in this land, we all must go.” – Pope Francis (03/21/2015)

Diocese of Stockton Focuses on Environmental Stewardship
September 7, 2017 Because We Are Catholic, Publications

(PDF bulletin inserts in English and Spanish.)

Years before Pope Francis wrote about care for our common home in his encyclical, Laudato Si, the Diocese of Stockton was already practicing its own kind of environmental stewardship. Created in 2005, the Environmental Justice Project at Catholic Charities, Diocese of Stockton, has been tirelessly working for more than 10 years to help steward God’s creation.

Walking with the Families of At Risk Youth
August 24, 2017 Because We Are Catholic, News

(PDF bulletin inserts in English and Spanish.)

Today too, children are a sign. They are a sign of hope, a sign of life, but also a “diagnostic” sign, a marker indicating the health of families, society and the entire world. Wherever children are accepted, loved, cared for and protected, the family is healthy, society is more healthy and the world is more human. – Pope Francis

Parents of at risk youth ride a tidal wave of emotions:  hurt, sadness, guilt, confusion. In a state of defeated silence, they come to Padres Unidos to understand critical parenting skills and how best to communicate and work with their children.

Tax Credits and Preparation Programs Ease Tax-time Hardships
March 28, 2017 Because We Are Catholic, Publications

(PDF bulletin inserts in English and Spanish.)

Taxes. They come each year with precise predictability, yet are met by many with angst and foreboding. The fear of having to pay an unexpectedly large tax bill or for tax preparation services can be budget crushing, especially for low-income wage earners and others who constantly face financial hardships.

Welcoming the Stranger: Practical Advice for the Undocumented
February 1, 2017 Because We Are Catholic, Immigration, Publications

(PDF bulletin inserts in English and Spanish)

When Diana Campos first came to live in the U.S., she was only an infant.  

“I was born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. a year later. I have lived here my whole life,” said Campos.

“Growing up undocumented I became accustomed to what it felt like to be an Americanized Mexican living in a society that did not fully accept me. I graduated from high school in 2012 and found myself with acceptance letters to colleges that I could not attend. I found myself driving in fear of being pulled over without my license.  A lack of a work permit made me feel useless and my future looked dark,” she said. “I was stripped of basic rights, I, as a person of faith, knew every person was born with.”

 

Year of Mercy: Grassroots Catholics Work to End the Use of the Death Penalty
September 30, 2016 Because We Are Catholic, News

(PDF for Bulletin Inserts - English, En Español) Stanley “Tookie” Williams was one of the early leaders in the West Side Crips, a South Central Los Angeles street gang. An openly volatile and violent person, Williams was a drug addict, and had little regard for human life. In 1979, Williams was convicted of four murders, two with special circumstances for their heinous nature. He received the death penalty as punishment.

Year of Mercy: The Calling to Care for the Homeless
August 4, 2016 Because We Are Catholic, Publications

(PDF for Bulletin Inserts - English, En Español) During this Extraordinary Jubilee Year, Pope Francis has called on the Church to live out the Corporal Works of Mercy. Catholic churches in California, and around the world, have taken his call to heart in new, innovative ways as they have looked to serve the homeless in various parishes throughout the state. 

Year of Mercy - End-of-Life Conversations and Visiting the Sick
June 13, 2016 Because We Are Catholic, Publications

A controversial law – opposed by both political parties – went into effect last week. Instead of devising compassionate, informed and dignified end-of-life treatment, patients can now ask their physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs instead.

Doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals and organizations – recognizing the fundamental shift in patient care this law entails – have announced they will not participate.  Instead, they are recommitting to better end-of-life care, better education for patients and families, and a better overall approach to treatment at the end of life.

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