Social Justice Ministry

Meets the 1st Tuesday of the Month
7:00pm - 9:00pm in Room 101
In the Seton Faith Formation Center

(Check event monitors for Room Change)




As Catholics we’re called to ongoing participation in public life, to vote and to help shape public policies that reflect our values. The Social Justice Ministry participates in public life by advocating for justice on key issues facing our communities -   issues such as Homelessness in Collin County, Healthcare, Workforce Development, Predatory Lending, Human Trafficking.  Our ministry members meet with public and private officials to promote peace and justice, host guest speakers to promote awareness of key issues, provide educational opportunities on the Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching, and provide Voter Registration opportunities.
 
Anyone interested in participating in advocacy activities, is invited to join us at our monthly meetings held at the Faith Formation Center.

To see that Catholic Social Teaching, as outlined in the “Seven Themes” by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is put into practice in the local community for the spiritual and physical benefit of its members.  

We advocate that a vibrant parish and a community at large must have a commitment to justice in practice with the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. 
Our Parish Social Justice Ministry works to shape the policies, programs, habits, and structures of society and provides opportunities to become involved by inviting and recruiting persons within and outside our faith community.

GOAL 1: Promote the awareness of the Scriptural and traditional bases of Catholic Social Teaching as articulated in the Seven Themes to motivate the community to action.

ACTION 1: Conduct training programs and publicity initiatives regarding the details of Catholic Social Teaching.

ACTION 2: Promote Catholic Social Teaching in the public sphere by participating through active involvement in the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops’ Advocacy Day at the Texas State Legislature and promoting ongoing awareness of issues that affect our community, and the position of the Church in current public events. 

GOAL 2: Ensure that those in the community have adequate shelter.

ACTION:  Support or establish programs for individuals needing housing by collaborating with organizations outside our Parish who are committed to these same goals and programs for the development of affordable housing options.

GOAL 3: Eliminate or effectively counteract the practices of businesses which use predation on persons in difficult financial circumstances as their business operating model.  (e.g., payday lending, rental of substandard residences, misleading advertising)

ACTION:  Advocate with the State, Collin County, and Plano City governments to establish legal controls on the lending industry to terminate predatory lending practices.

GOAL 4:  Other items from our Catholic Social Teaching that may be addressed as action items in the future. 

ACTION 1:  Advocate for improvements in government supported programs such as the foster care system, and health care such as CHIP, Medicaid, and women's health.
ACTION 2:  Advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.
ACTION 3:  Promote stewardship of God's creation and the resources of the temporal world.
 

To learn more about Catholic Social Teaching and its basis in Scripture and Catholic Tradition, follow this link to the page about the Seven Themes.  READ MORE...

To learn more about the connection between Catholic Social Teaching and citizenship, follow this link to the page about Faithful Citizenship. READ MORE...

To follow the progress our our ministry since its inception, follow this link to the page about Our Background. READ MORE...