By Eileen Connelly, OSU and David Eck

The right to life and the dignity of the human person

ARCHDIOCESE — The Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Catholic Collaborative on Darfur offers many opportunities for parishes and individuals to learn and take action.

In 2006, representatives from 27 area parishes, including St. Monica-St. George, Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), St. James of the Valley, and St. John’s in West Chester, selected this issue to focus on throughout the year, explained Sherrie Heyse, an IHM parishioner who serves as chairperson for the collaborative task force on Darfur.

The group has since become part of a local interfaith (Catholic, Jewish and Muslim) organization — Greater Cincinnati Advocates for Darfur.

In May of 2007, the task force helped organize a local rally against the genocide. More than 400 people came together for the event, which was held on Fountain Square. Among those present to lend their voices were Nick Clooney, a strong activist for Darfur, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, and refugees from the war-torn area. The rally concluded with a march to the National Underground Freedom Center and prayer service.

Last fall, the group took part in the Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay, which visited more than 30 cities, including Cincinnati, and called on China to use its influence over the government of Sudan to end the genocide. Representatives from the collaborative were among those who gathered at the University of Cincinnati beneath the symbolic torch to hear speakers and to pray. A torch was then displayed at area parishes as a way of promoting continued awareness, Heyse said.

The task force continues to keep busy. Heyse maintains an email list and sends out calls to action to keep people informed on the ever-changing situation in Darfur and urging them to keep in contact with political leaders.

"We have to keep the issue on their radar screen and encourage our legislators to keep voting for aid. Catholic Relief Services is on the ground in Darfur and is one of the primary aid distributors. The people there need to be able to access aid from the U.S."

Heyse said an education event is planned for August at Xavier University in conjunction with the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education. She urged local Catholics to take advantage of opportunities to educate themselves on the Darfur crisis, to write letters and to pray for the people for whom violence, hunger and insecurity are daily realities.

CT FILE PHOTO

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Catholic Collaborative on Darfur helped organize a Fountain Square rally against genocide in May 2007. Here, Claire Ruben, 9, from Loveland, works on a poster for that rally.

For more information about the situation in Darfur and ways to help, visit http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/socialaction/darfur.html.

At Mary, Help of Christians Parish in Fairborn, social action for the right to life and dignity of every human encompasses a broad spectrum of activities — everything from encouraging recycling to counseling a woman with a crisis pregnancy.

The parish’s social actions committee, promoting a consistent ethic of life, consists of about 10 different parish ministries that work interdependently. Ministry chairs meet monthly to update each other on specific events, offer assistance and discuss ways to increase parishioner involvement in social action, said Pat Banaszak, who heads up a parish-based women’s network.

In addition to the women’s network — which promotes abstinence, the respect of life and works with those in a crisis pregnancy — some of the interrelated ministries include Weavers of Justice, environmental awareness, Operaton Rice Bowl and Liturgical Crossing.

Though the parish has been involved in social action for about 20 years, the ministries have become more cohesive over the last five.

"Working together we’re so much stronger," Banaszak said. "It works well in our parish. When we’re doing a fund-raiser for one, we all know and we all support each other."

In the women’s network, for example, volunteers help women empower themselves, work with relationships so they can avoid future crisis pregnancies and encourage them to have their babies.

All the ministries work at the root causes of the problems.

"We’re not just putting a band aid on their problem," Banaszak said.

In another instance, the committee held a workshop for volunteers who work with the poor. The curriculum trains volunteers to teach skills necessary for rising out of poverty and into a better life.

"We want to cover the whole family and raise those families that are at the level of poverty to become empowered," Banaszak said. "We want to take care of the environment. That’s a major part."

To that end, environmental ministry plants a parish garden each spring and provides the harvest to the poor. They also do highway cleanup and promote recycling throughout the area.

Weavers of Justice is a collaborative made up parishes in the Dayton Deanery that targets a specific community issue. The collaborative is currently working on homelessness in Dayton.

A Liturgical Crossing ministry connects the parish with St. Benedict the Moor Parish in Dayton. The arrangement allows the parishes to learn about each other’s cultures.
Susan Takacs, a 22-year Mary, Help of Christians parishioner, said that Catholics in the various social action ministries become stronger when the ministries work together.

"I think it makes us more community," she said. "It makes us appreciate each other’s talents. We appreciate other people’s viewpoint, people from other lifestyles."

In the next issue: Call to family, community and participation