​St. Joseph’s Workers4Justice
​Affirm that Black Lives Matter
An Invitation to Connect Catholic Social Teaching to Antiracism Work

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This We Believe
We affirm that Black Lives Matter precisely because it is demanded by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by Catholic Social Teaching; it is likewise encouraged by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that the Catholic faithful strive to eradicate racism through both a conversion of the heart and a reform of ecclesial, civil, and social institutions that suffer from systemic racism to this day (see Open Wide Our Hearts).

Background
St. Joseph’s Workers for Justice is a lay-led parish ministry of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish in Maplewood, NJ. The Gospel message and Catholic Social Teaching are an integral part of this parish community, which has been seeking to respond to the many racist injustices endemic to our local and national communities. Following the murder of George Floyd in late May, a group of parishioners felt that Catholic silence in the face of racial injustice was no longer an option. They came to Fr. Jim Worth, the pastor, with a proposal to form a Social Justice Ministry that addresses the many injustices--particularly racism--from the lens of the Gospel message and Catholic Social Teaching. The ministry has met weekly via Zoom and continues to do so. 

Action Items We Commit To 
The following action items are how we plan to move forward in concrete ways:

• The document, “The Catholic Call for Antiracism Work”, reflects the first step of sharing with our community Catholic teaching as it relates to antiracism; we encourage parishioners and the larger Catholic community to read it;
  
  
• We encourage our parishioners and other Catholics to sign the Open Letter to US Bishops on the March for Black Life
  
  
• A large, custom-made Black Lives Matter sign will be placed in front of the church building to affirm this commitment to our community;
  
  
• The parish will host a series of workshops and lawn chats about antiracist work in the context of Catholic Social Teaching and create opportunity for dialogue;
  
  
• We will collaborate with local antiracism and social justice groups from the community, faith-based or not;
  • In dialogue, we will seek to learn from their experience and share aspects of Catholic Social Teaching;
  • If faith-based, especially non-Christian communities, we will collaborate on works of interfaith justice;
  • We will partner with local community actions regarding social and racial justice; 
    
    
• We will listen to members of our parish and larger community--especially Black members and People of Color--and work with them on what they seek in terms of social and racial justice;
  
  
• Fr. Jim will celebrate a Mass in honor of victims of racial violence; we are particularly mindful of the disproportionately negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Black community, Native Americans, and People of Color (see CDC statement here);
  
  
• When it becomes feasible, we will invite Black speakers who can expertly address the connection between Catholic Social Teaching and antiracism work;

If you would like to get involved in any of these above action items, please email Kim and Axel Oaks Takacs., or visit the St. Joseph's Workers4Justice page on the website.