Catholic Activists Lead Calls For Social Justice
Many lament that younger parishioners don't join them
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, January 17, 2003 - Page A-17
Gwen Watson, a longtime parishioner at Christ the King Parish in Pleasant Hill, will be coming to San Francisco on Saturday and marching down Market Street with thousands of other anti-war demonstrators.
Watson, 66, has been a Catholic social justice activist since the 1960s, when she took her kids to meet the late Cesar Chavez and rallied with the United Farm Workers.
But what really bothers Watson these days is how few young Catholic families she sees out there fighting for peace and justice.
"I went to the Nevada test site protests on New Year's and it was mostly gray-hairs and leftover '60s and '50s people," said Watson, a retired schoolteacher. "In every group, I'm trying to get more young people involved."
There's a long history of peace work and social activism in the American Catholic church, but many observers say that tradition has faded with the new generation -- including the new generation of priests.
"It's the end of an era," said George Wesolek, the director of the public policy and social concerns for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. "Younger priests don't keep that as a focus today, and it makes my life a little harder.
Priests are less involved in social issues and more involved in liturgical issues. I guess that's where we are historically."
Mary Doyle, who directs social justice work for the Diocese of Oakland, is more hopeful than her West Bay counterpart.
"There is a new generation coming," she said. "It's just that they are new to protesting. Somebody came up to me in the grocery store yesterday and said they are going to the march and are ready to get arrested. They just haven't done this before."
Doyle, Wesolek and others are not saying that Catholic young people are not interested in helping the poor. But they see a shift toward direct service work -- helping out in soup kitchens -- rather than politics and protests.
Paul Canavese, 30, sees the same thing, and he is trying to do something about it.
Canavese worships at the Basilica of St. Joseph in Alameda and studies at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley. He's also helping organize a Pax Christi USA retreat in Oakland for young adults later this month called "From Violence to Wholeness: Transforming Ourselves and Our World."
"There needs to be both service and justice work," Canavese said. "You can't just do hands-on work or vice versa."
Pope John Paul II and the U.S. Catholic bishops have called on the Bush administration to refrain from an invasion of Iraq without strong international support, clear evidence of a real threat, and only then as a last resort.
But that doesn't mean all Catholics agree -- and that bothers people like Contra Costa resident Watson.
"A goodly number of our parishioners are not in sync with the position of the Catholic bishops," she said. "That's very disappointing to those of us who have studied the doctrine of the church."
The Rev. Brian Joyce is the pastor of Christ the King Parish. He has 3,800 people coming through his church doors every Sunday and tries to keep the dialogue open between the hawks and the doves.
About 600 parishioners signed an anti-war petition put out by the parish's social justice committee -- which Joyce called a very strong response.
"That's a high number for anything," he said. "Two-thirds of them will walk by a petition calling for good weather."
Joyce gave a sermon questioning the wisdom of war and got a mixed response. "I got a lot of 'thank yous' after the sermon, at least one negative comment, and two strong letters of objection, but it's harder for people to come up and say they disagree with me."
For example, Joyce didn't hear a word from one parishioner he knows very well, but then saw that the same man wrote a letter to the Catholic Voice, the newspaper for the Diocese of Oakland.
Calling church peace advocates "hopelessly naive," the parishioner went on to write, "Fortunately, our elected leaders understand that this type of evil (Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden) must be confronted militarily."
These kind of debates don't just erupt in Catholic parishes -- they break out around the dinner tables of Catholic families.
"My 40-year-old daughter and I cannot talk about the world situation," said Watson. "She says things like, 'Mother, I don't know where you're getting your information.' What can you do? We've been practicing Catholics all our lives. We were exposed to faith and morals."
On the other hand, Watson's 42-year-old son became a Catholic priest.
"My son marched against the 1991 Gulf War in Shreveport, La.," said the mother of five, proudly. "He's the only person I knew who took a stand against that war."
Original article
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, January 17, 2003 - Page A-17
Gwen Watson, a longtime parishioner at Christ the King Parish in Pleasant Hill, will be coming to San Francisco on Saturday and marching down Market Street with thousands of other anti-war demonstrators.
Watson, 66, has been a Catholic social justice activist since the 1960s, when she took her kids to meet the late Cesar Chavez and rallied with the United Farm Workers.
But what really bothers Watson these days is how few young Catholic families she sees out there fighting for peace and justice.
"I went to the Nevada test site protests on New Year's and it was mostly gray-hairs and leftover '60s and '50s people," said Watson, a retired schoolteacher. "In every group, I'm trying to get more young people involved."
There's a long history of peace work and social activism in the American Catholic church, but many observers say that tradition has faded with the new generation -- including the new generation of priests.
"It's the end of an era," said George Wesolek, the director of the public policy and social concerns for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. "Younger priests don't keep that as a focus today, and it makes my life a little harder.
Priests are less involved in social issues and more involved in liturgical issues. I guess that's where we are historically."
Mary Doyle, who directs social justice work for the Diocese of Oakland, is more hopeful than her West Bay counterpart.
"There is a new generation coming," she said. "It's just that they are new to protesting. Somebody came up to me in the grocery store yesterday and said they are going to the march and are ready to get arrested. They just haven't done this before."
Doyle, Wesolek and others are not saying that Catholic young people are not interested in helping the poor. But they see a shift toward direct service work -- helping out in soup kitchens -- rather than politics and protests.
Paul Canavese, 30, sees the same thing, and he is trying to do something about it.
Canavese worships at the Basilica of St. Joseph in Alameda and studies at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley. He's also helping organize a Pax Christi USA retreat in Oakland for young adults later this month called "From Violence to Wholeness: Transforming Ourselves and Our World."
"There needs to be both service and justice work," Canavese said. "You can't just do hands-on work or vice versa."
Pope John Paul II and the U.S. Catholic bishops have called on the Bush administration to refrain from an invasion of Iraq without strong international support, clear evidence of a real threat, and only then as a last resort.
But that doesn't mean all Catholics agree -- and that bothers people like Contra Costa resident Watson.
"A goodly number of our parishioners are not in sync with the position of the Catholic bishops," she said. "That's very disappointing to those of us who have studied the doctrine of the church."
The Rev. Brian Joyce is the pastor of Christ the King Parish. He has 3,800 people coming through his church doors every Sunday and tries to keep the dialogue open between the hawks and the doves.
About 600 parishioners signed an anti-war petition put out by the parish's social justice committee -- which Joyce called a very strong response.
"That's a high number for anything," he said. "Two-thirds of them will walk by a petition calling for good weather."
Joyce gave a sermon questioning the wisdom of war and got a mixed response. "I got a lot of 'thank yous' after the sermon, at least one negative comment, and two strong letters of objection, but it's harder for people to come up and say they disagree with me."
For example, Joyce didn't hear a word from one parishioner he knows very well, but then saw that the same man wrote a letter to the Catholic Voice, the newspaper for the Diocese of Oakland.
Calling church peace advocates "hopelessly naive," the parishioner went on to write, "Fortunately, our elected leaders understand that this type of evil (Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden) must be confronted militarily."
These kind of debates don't just erupt in Catholic parishes -- they break out around the dinner tables of Catholic families.
"My 40-year-old daughter and I cannot talk about the world situation," said Watson. "She says things like, 'Mother, I don't know where you're getting your information.' What can you do? We've been practicing Catholics all our lives. We were exposed to faith and morals."
On the other hand, Watson's 42-year-old son became a Catholic priest.
"My son marched against the 1991 Gulf War in Shreveport, La.," said the mother of five, proudly. "He's the only person I knew who took a stand against that war."
Original article