Five Things to Remember on Jan. 8

 

1.      For National Migration Week, January 6-12, USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services has launched a postcard campaign that calls on Congress to pass just and compassionate immigration reform. You can send an electronic postcard to the local representative and senator from the Justice for Immigrants Website, http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/index.shtml.

2.      January is Poverty Awareness Month. Today in America, over forty-six million people live in poverty. That’s over ten percent of all families and more than 1 in 5 children. Close to 23 million are unemployed or underemployed; our economy still cannot produce enough decent jobs. This is a scandal and a serious moral failure, but there is hope.  For over forty years, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has been empowering families and communities to fight poverty and create economic opportunity because as Pope Benedict XVI said in Deus Caritas Est, “love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential to [the Church] as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel. The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word.”

3.      Ambassador Thomas Melady makes a strong case that Americans must take child poverty seriously in his guest blog on the USCCB media blog yesterday.

4.      Catholic Schools in the inner cities and urban areas remain a significant presence: four decades ago 46.5 percent were located in urban and inner city areas, today 42.3 percent of the schools are still in the urban/inner city locales.  During the same period of time, suburban schools increased from 25 percent to 36.5 percent. Source: “The Annual Statistical Report on Schools, Enrollment and Staffing; United States Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools 2011-2012 published by National Catholic Educational Association.

5.      God loves you.

 

Children in Poverty: A Shame of the Nation

January is Poverty Awareness Month. To help raise awareness among Catholics of poverty and its underlying issues, USCCB has updated its website, www.PovertyUSA.org, and launched a Spanish counterpart, www.PobrezaUSA.org. Our blog is also running a series of posts by guest bloggers reflecting on poverty in our country and the world today. Today’s post is by Thomas Patrick Melady.

Some months ago I worked with a committee on the U.S. economic situation. I knew that our country was coming out of an economic recession. Unemployment rates were between eight and nine percent, perhaps even higher. These rates were high for the United States. Examining data on the subject, I saw how poverty especially affected U.S. children. I was shocked by what I learned.

I also felt ashamed because though an active participant in organizations concerned about the welfare of people, I never realized the seriousness of the poverty situation. I suspect many fellow Americans are in the same situation — ignorant of the condition affecting many of our young children. This is a national shame, and it looks like we don’t care.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports on U.S. poverty rates as they relate to children and their family status. They report on individuals under 18 who are in a household by birth, marriage or adoption but are not themselves a householder. The poverty rate within this group of individuals is 21.4 percent. That’s 15.4 million children. It grows further distressing when one considers that children under six have a poverty rate of 24.5 percent. That’s 5.8 million children. Simply put, one in four young children in the U.S. are being born and raised in poverty.

The type of household in which a child is raised is a factor. Around 47 percent who lived only with a female householder were in poverty, compared to only 10 percent of related children in married couple families. Furthermore, more than half of related children under six in families with a female householder were in poverty. This statistic is four and a half times the percentage of children under the age of six in poverty within married coupled families.

The story worsens when you consider race. African American children are among the largest race group facing child poverty; their rate is 38.2 percent, twice as high as the rate for white children.

What to do?

The first step is to communicate this shameful situation to all Americans. Americans are known worldwide as a caring people who contribute to charities that benefit the sick and the poor. Yet as the facts illustrate, they do not seem to respond to the startling information about the number of children suffering from poverty at home.

The first challenge: Awaken them with these facts. It will not be difficult in the U.S., which boast the world’s largest and most modern communications system. Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship could embrace such a challenge. What an impact all believers could have were they to unite and speak with one voice to eradicate in our lifetime poverty among children in the United States.

After sounding the alarm and working through political parties, believers could advocate programs that contribute to the ending of poverty among people under 18. Given the successful farming conditions in the U.S., one specific program could be to assure that all children start school each morning with a nourishing breakfast. Other programs could be designed for periods when children are not in school. There calls for one simple focus: To guarantee that all children in the United States receive a nourishing diet.

Since the civil rights of the 50s and 60s America has needed a cause that all —regardless of background, religious identification or race — could get behind with enthusiasm.  What could be a more just moral cause that to end poverty among American children. It could become a proud and beautiful moment in our history and a rewarding experience for all participants.

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Dr. Thomas Melady is a former U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, Uganda and the Vatican.  He is also President Emeritus of Sacred Heart University

Five Things to Remember on Jan. 7

 

1.      The 113^th Congress has 163 Catholics (30 percent of the body), up from 156 Catholics (29 percent of the Congress) in the previously elected body, notes the Pew Forum on Religion. About a fifth of the nation is Catholic.

2.      Another preliminary injunction, this time from Illinois, to bar enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage mandate against a for-profit company. Notes the blog Religion Clause, “the company's Catholic owners believe that providing their employees with insurance coverage that facilitate abortion, contraception and sterilization constitutes 'cooperation with evil that violates the laws of God.' ” 
 
3.      For Poverty Awareness Month, the USCCB blog will feature guest posts this week by Carolyn Woo, CEO, Catholic Relief Services; Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Chairman of Board, CRS; Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, chairman, USCCB Committee on International Justice and World Peace; Thomas Melady, former U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, Uganda and the Vatican and Msgr. Charles Pope, pastor, Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Parish, Washington and blogger for the Washington Archdiocese and Our Sunday Visitor. Blogs will be in English and Spanish.
 
4.      Yesterday we marked the feast of Epiphany, which celebrates the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem. The three wise men warned that the newborn Jesus faced the threat of Herod’s massacre of the innocents and soon the Holy Family fled into Egypt. The story of this immigrant family 2,000 years ago is a reminder of the plight of immigrants today. Information about comprehensive immigration reform can be found at http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/immigration/frequently-asked-questions-comprehensive-immigration-reform.cfm

5.      God loves you.