Social Justice
Work for social justice is central to the identity of the Paulist Center.
Our history is filled with brave and gritty work in social justice that has deeply impacted our community and the Boston area. We believe, as Christians, that part of our call is to live a life dedicated to working alongside God in making this world a better, more just, and more vibrant place. We have many groups dedicated to different issues and projects here at the Center. All are open groups that would love to have new people involved!
Social Justice Groups
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Creation Care
Creation Care
Letter from Governor Maura Healy June 2024
Giving Witness. Taking action.
Mission Statement
Ecological sustainability is an issue of global social justice, disproportionately affecting the poor and marginalized. It requires an approach to “questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (Laudato Si, #49).
To live out this approach,
- We will learn and embrace a Christian spirituality of environmental justice and stewardship. We will assist other ministries of the Paulist Center to incorporate this spirituality into the community’s consciousness and works.
- We will take actions that demonstrate our collective commitment to environmental sustainability and justice. In partnership with the Paulist Center staff and members of the community, we will seek and implement ways to manage our personal and communal use of energy and materials to achieve sustainable patterns of consumption.
- We will collaborate with other communities of faith and people of good will in advocacy and action to establish environmentally responsible policies in corporate and civic institutions.
- Online resources resources about Laudato Si’, music, spirituality and the Catholic Climate Movement can be found here.
To contact the Creation Care team email paulistcentercreationcare@gmail.com
To see a list of our team members, click here
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Food Pantry
Paulist Center Emergency Food Pantry
“I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.” — Matthew 25:35
As you have probably noticed, the appeal for food is a weekly affair. The reason: the demand is constant. In earlier years, the pantry could be stocked by an occasional bulletin notice, but no longer. Even when the food donated on Sunday has been augmented by collections taken up by schools, universities, and other groups, the supply usually does not meet the demand. As a result, The Paulist Center has teamed up with the Greater Boston Food Bank to collect additional food for a nominal fee. Three volunteer shoppers make weekly visits.
The food pantry is located on the first floor, two doors down from the reception area. There, four volunteers spend one and one-half hours on Tuesday afternoons (1:30-3:00 pm) distributing food that three different volunteers have previously shelved. One visit for one grocery bag a month is the operating guideline. We are now giving out bags of groceries that feed over 400 people a month.
The people who need the pantry come for a variety of reasons. They work for minimum wages or live on some governmental assistance that may have been reduced. Some on minimum wages feed children as well as themselves. Money runs out before the month runs out. They are formerly homeless persons getting back on their feet. Some are unemployed. Others are elderly or disabled with fixed and limited resources such as Social Security. Some just don’t make enough to pay rent and buy food.
Many people learn of the pantry from friends. Some are referred by neighboring churches and social service agencies; we are one of the few food pantries around that is open to anyone. The Wednesday Night Supper volunteers tell our guests about it.
We have a pretty good idea of what people can use. It is almost impossible to have too much:
- rice
- tuna and mayonnaise
- canned fruit and vegetables
- peanut butter and jelly/jam
- dry milk, and juice boxes
- beef stew, ravioli, chili
- spaghetti sauce
- boxed cereal
- canned beans and baked beans
- soup and packaged macaroni and cheese (in winter especially)
Pasta products move rather slowly. Surprisingly, there is almost no demand for baby food, dried beans, clear broths and “cooking soups” such as mushroom soup. Cranberry sauce, pumpkin and similar seasonal products, and uncommon foods sit on the shelf for a very long time as well.
One basic rule: the less cooking required, the better Another: the more familiar, the better. We are restricted to using non-perishable and pre-packaged food because of health concerns.
The Pantry is important as we work to live out the Biblical call to feed the hungry and reach out to our neighbors.
Sincere thanks to all who keep the food pantry supplied. Without you, there would be empty shelves and more hungry people seeking food.
Opened every non-holiday Tuesday afternoon for those with an immediate, critical need for food. Donations of non-perishable items are always needed and can be left by the Mary Altar after the weekend liturgies.
For more information or to get involved, contact Susan Rutkowski.
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Immigration Advocacy Group
Paulist Center Immigrant Advocacy Group
Mission Statement
The work of the Immigration Advocacy Group is grounded in our Catholic faith which calls us to welcome the stranger among us. In welcoming the immigrant, migrant, and refugee, we encounter Christ. The Catholic Church has consistently upheld our moral obligation to treat the stranger as we could Christ. Catholic Social Teaching on immigration recognizes that 1) people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families; 2) a country has the right to regulate its borders and to control immigration; but 3) a country must regulate its border with justice and mercy. This teaching is grounded in the equality of all people and the commitment to the common good.
We seek to accomplish this mission through:
- Providing direct assistance to refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants.
- Advocating for just and merciful public policy locally and nationally
- Educating ourselves and the Paulist Center Community issues of relevance
For more information, contact us at: paulistcenterimmigration@gmail.com.
Updates and Activities
April/May 2024
Direct Assistance to Newcomers
● A network of Paulist Center members has been helping to resettle a Haitian family. They have found housing and received work authorization. Now they are searching for employment.
● Our Welcome Circles initiative is working with two Ukrainian families. Housing has been secured and the families are expected to arrive in early May
● Our FREP students celebrated Kindness Week by soliciting donations of personal items and assembling them into packages for distribution to families in shelter ● We have issued a call for volunteers, in partnership with the International Institute of New England
Just and Merciful Public Policy
● We testified on behalf of the Safe Communities Act, and our members advocated with legislators on its behalf.
● Ten Paulist Center member Safe Communities Act attended Immigrants Day at the Statehouse, carrying signs created for us by our 4-6th grade FREP class. Here are some pictures
● We have formed a policy team! Members include Bill Bagley, Robin Chan, Liz Duclos-Orsello, Adrienne Murphy and Chris O’Keeffe
● We are participating in the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition’s #MassachusettsWelcomes campaign
Educating Ourselves and Our Community
● FREP classes studied In addition to FREP Classes for Immigrant Day
● Oral history project
March 2024 – What we’re working on this month
Direct Assistance
- Paulist Center FREP students are soliciting materials, assembling kits, and providing them to families. To explore, visit our Amazon Wish List (links)
- We are recruiting volunteers for a variety of activities, including ESOL & job search coaching, household setup for new arrivals and ongoing assistance to families directly involved with Paulist Center community members, including folks from Haiti, Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Just and Merciful Public Policy
- We are reaching out to our supporters at the Paulist Center (and enlisting new ones) to gather address information to facilitate outreach to local and state officials.
- Immigrants Day. We are recruiting a Paulist Center contingent to attend this event at the State House on March 28. Our FREP 4th-6th grade and Jr/Sr high school groups will be helping with signs,etc..
- Recruiting constituent of key legislators to support passage of the Safe Communities Act
Educating ourselves and our community
- Or 4th-6th grade FREP class is learning how to welcome (link)
- Members of our group are attending trainings at IINE, MIRA to learn more
February 2024
Direct Assistance
- Welcome Circles. This is USCCB’s model for resettlement. Led by Carol Geyer, and generously funded by an anonymous community member who contributed $100,000, we are moving forward. Mary Sullivan is handling the federal paperwork and Temple Aliyah in Needham will administer the funds
- Haitian Family. Bill Mitchell and his family are coordinating the resettlement of a Haitian family in Dorchester, with a big assist from Vincent Rocchio and several other PCC members.
- International Institute of New England (IINE). We have identified IINE as a conduit for deploying volunteers to assist with…. Chris O’Keeffe,Ed Marakovitz and new IAG member Sally Reyering have attended a volunteer orientation at IINE and are working on plans to begin recruiting volunteers for IINE slots as well as for IAG’s resettlement and policy projects.
Just and Merciful Public Policy
We have established a policy team, which met on Jan 21: Bill Bagley, Robin Chan, Liz Duclos-Orsello, Adrienne Murphy and Chris O’Keeffe.
Recent policy achievements in which we have played a role:
- Work and Family Mobility Act (WFMA, aka Driver’s License Bill) passed the legislature, overriding a gubernatorial veto, and survived a ballot challenge in Nov 2022. Implementation of the law began on July 1. WFMA will make our roads safer and greatly reduce the anxiety and stress endured by immigrant families.
- Tuition Equity. As part of the FY2024 budget signed by governor Healey, all students who reside in Massachusetts will be eligible for in-state tuition rates, regardless of immigration status. This is a major win for myriad young people who have grown up here.
- MA FY2024 Budget. The current state budget contains increased funding for a number of programs serving immigrants, addressing housing, employment and other needs. Our advocacy has helped to create a more supportive climate for these investments
- 2022 Isaac Hecker Award to Sr. Norma Pimentel, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
Current priorities (in alignment with Mass Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)
- Safe Communities Act. This bill would end state and local involvement in immigration enforcement. Chris testified on IAG’s behalf at the bill’s 1/22/24 hearing (attached)
- Language Access and Inclusion Act to ensure that state agencies provide information and services in the primary languages of its limited English-proficient state residents
- Upstream RAFT Act, to protect all low-income state residents from eviction or foreclosure by codifying and streamlining access to DHCD’s homelessness prevention programs and restoring critical COVID-era protections.
- Cover All Kids Act, to expand comprehensive MassHealth coverage to children and young adults whose only barrier to eligibility is their immigration status.
- Physician Pathway Act to marshall the skills of seasoned, internationally-trained physicians to address acute physician shortages in Massachusetts by creating a streamlined pathway to full licensure.
- Immigrants Day at the State House. March 28, 9:00AM-1:00PM. How can the Paulist Center show up and lend support?
Educating Ourselves and Our Community
- We hosted an Intergenerational dialogue with FREP after the 10:00AM Mass on Oct 11, 2023
Notes From the Steering Committee
- Members include Chris O’Keeffe, Ed Marakovitz, Mary Lesko, Mary Hughes, Carol Geyer, Peter McLoughlin, Mi-Rang Yoon, Susan Rutkowski, Anne Mackin, Christopher Spicer Hankle, Mary Skinner,
- The Steering Committee met on January 23, 2024. See meeting notes here
Archive
For past updates and activities, look here.
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The Paulist Center Immigrant Advocacy Group (IAG), heeding the profound calling of Jesus Christ, seeks protection, social justice and personal fulfillment for Greater Boston immigrants and refugees through spreading awareness of difficulties and injustices facing them, providing services to them, and advocating for policies and programs that support them. We carry out our mission in partnership with immigrants, social agencies and faith communities in Greater Boston.We carry out our mission through a large number of volunteers drawn from Paulist Center members who:
- Provide direct assistance to refugees and other immigrants including
- “resettling” them in their new Greater Boston neighborhoods
- helping them find and furnish housing
- learning English
- applying for public benefits
- accessing health care
- registering children for school
- shopping for food and other necessary items
- participate in advocacy efforts focused on local, state and federal policies affecting immigrants
- provide information and educational programs regarding immigrants to the Paulist Center community
- “resettling” them in their new Greater Boston neighborhoods
For more information and/or to volunteer contact Ed Marakovitz, 617-306-9726; edmarakovitz@yahoo.com
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Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice
Given annually to an individual or group in recognition of the outstanding commitment of a North American Catholic to building a more just and peaceful world.
Past recipients include Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, Archbishop Hunthausen, and Rev. Thomas Doyle. See the guidelines to nominate your favorite Catholic whose work for justice you admire.- 2023 Fran Ludwig, Boston Catholic Climate Movement
- 2022 Sr. Norma Pimentel, MJ, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
- 2021 Len and Cherylann Gengel, BeLikeBrit Foundation Haiti
- 2020 Fr. Bryan Massingale, recognized voice and face of the call for racial and LGBTQ+ justice and inclusion
- 2019 Joan Chittister, OSB: Author, Theologian, International Lecturer
- 2018 Colleen Kelly: Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
- 2017 Jane O’Connor: Educator
- 2016 William B. Evans: Boston Police Commissioner
- 2015 Suzanne & Brayton Shanley: Agape Community
- full list See this page or the second page of the award guidelines
For more information or to get involved, contact Susan Rutkowski.
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Pax Christi Boston
Who we are:Grounded in the Gospel and Catholic social teaching, Pax Christi USA is a membership organization , a section of Pax Christi International, that rejects war, preparation for war, every form of violence and domination, and personal and systemic racism. We are a Catholic peace and justice movement that seeks to model the Peace of Christ in our witness to the mandate of the nonviolence of the Cross.What we do:Guided by the spirituality of nonviolence, we advocate and provide leadership for disarmament, demilitarization and reconciliation with justice, inclusiveness, economic and interracial justice, human rights and care of creation.
- We strive through prayer, study and action to be attentive to the interrelatedness of the key issues stated above and, in our response, to be conscious of their impact on the world community.
- We work to align our organizational structures, policies, and practices with our intent to be an anti-racist, multicultural Catholic movement for peace and justice.
Our Vision:A more peaceful, just and sustainable world through the efforts of our members and in collaboration with other groups.We dream of a world that respects the universal human rights of all people, and we do this by being in solidarity with oppressed and marginalized people struggling for dignity. We reject every form of political and economic domination over others. We continue to knock on the door of the Empire demanding entrance and a voice:avoice that proclaims that every human being is worthy of respect regardless of race, class, socio-economic status, and on which side of what border one comes from.Toward these ends PCUSA is joined with many justice seeking organizations around the world.We dream of restoring our globe to a place of balance where the earth is recognized as our home and its care our future. We believe with Teilhard de Chardin when he said, “creation, nature is the first Body of Christ.”We realize that the extremes in weather, the susceptibility of fire and drought in so many parts of the globe, the displacement and migrations of peoples, the dramatic loss of plant and animal life are not coincidences. The thread that runs through them all is the misuse of the earth’s resources along with the greed and miss-use of power in polluting the atmosphere and thus rendering the earth seriously off balance.Contact Information:Christina Abbey, Convener, Pax Christi Boston474 Revere Beach Boulevard 904Revere,MA 02151 -
Racial Justice Advocacy Group
Out of the Just Faith Community series, starting in November 2020, the Racial Justice Advocacy Group was formed. We are planning a range of educational and community action(s). We are looking for people who are concerned about the many facets of racism and seek concrete ways to deconstruct racist systems. We welcome new members who can meet once a month and support the Ministry’s work.
You can see our Mission Statement below. are interested in hearing more, please contact either Tom Sharkey (sharkey.te@verizon.net) or Susan Buta (sue@buta.org)
Contact Susan Buta for information about upcoming meetings on zoom. RJAG meetings take place the second Tuesday of the month at 7 PM via zoom.
Mission Statement
The Paulist Center’s Racial Justice Advocacy Group, holds racial justice as the systematic fair treatment of people of all races that results in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone.
Racial justice—or racial equity—goes beyond “anti-racism.” It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity.
The Racial Justice Advocacy Group seeks to promote racial justice by supporting Paulist Center members in:
- Understanding the history of racism and the system of white supremacy (education).
- Engaging in personal and collective introspection to reimagine and co-create within the Paulist Center Community deliberate systems and supports that achieve and sustain racial equity.
- Envisioning and identifying opportunities in our local community and beyond to help progress on the ground level, through existing Paulist Center ministries or external initiatives.
- Joining with other faith communities in order to walk alongside people on the margins; and
- Exerting power and influence – grounded in love and relationships – at the town, state and national levels, to disrupt and resist the status quo and to hold our elected leaders accountable for enacting policies and laws that promote racial and social justice.
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St. Dismas Committee
St. Dismas Committee: Educating, Informing and Advocating for Criminal Justice Reform
Do you feel the Gospel call to visit the prisoner? Did the Trayvon Martin case motivate you to act for change? Do you want to fight for fairness in our criminal justice system? Join the St. Dismas Committee at the Paulist Center. We organize educational events for the community, perform direct service, and work for legislative change.
For more information or to get added to the group email list, contact Susan Rutkowski.
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Walk for Hunger
Founded by and at the Paulist Center, this annual 20-mile walk takes place the first Sunday of May. Volunteers help plan, coordinate, and walk to raise funds for Project Bread and the many meal programs and food pantries throughout Massachusetts. The Walk is now sponsored by Project Bread.
The Paulist Center continues to participate in this project.
For more information or to get involved, contact Susan Rutkowski.
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Wednesday Night Supper Club
Volunteers host a meal for our neighbors who are hungry. The meal is offered weekly in the Paulist Center Auditorium at 6pm and is funded by Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger as well as donations from groups and individuals.
For more information or to get involved, contact Jeff Buckley.
To arrange for a group to volunteer, contact The Supper Club Team.
If you are interested being a cook, contact Emily Hankle.
Individuals with questions about volunteering are welcome to send an email to the email address above, but also know that it is fine for an individual to just come to help any week without prearranging your visit. Suffolk University students interested in volunteering in order to complete their Local and Global Engagement hours are asked to sign up via SU Connect available HERE. You can follow us on Facebook HERE.