MADISON A recent online course in Spanish on Catholic social teaching has prepared and inspired its 60 students from Hispanic parishes in the Diocese to make a commitment to advocate for social justice to make better faith communities, neighborhoods — and world — right at this chaotic moment in history ravaged by a global pandemic and widespread outcry against racial injustice.
These students gained a deeper understanding of the Church’s theology of Catholic social teaching, its doctrine on issues of human dignity and the common good in society, during the three-part course, presented by the diocesan Hispanic Ministry, which started in May. In it, these Catholics examined many of these teachings in Scripture — such as Christ’s command to “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself” — and many of the Church documents that they inspired, such as the encyclical “Rerum Novarum” (“Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor”), issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. The program deepened students’ commitment to social justice now and in the future — launching them into an auspicious time now beset with COVID-19 pandemic and global demonstrations against police brutality, sparked by the death of George Floyd caused by the actions of a Minneapolis police officer.
“We wanted to encourage Hispanic Catholics to become more active in society in the matter of social justice, which is very Catholic. Rooted in our theology, we are called not only to pray, but also to get involved,” Ivannia Vega-McTighe, diocesan assistant director of evangelization, expressing hope of assembling a team of diocesan faithful soon to work toward social justice. “Now that they are educated and informed, our students have the tools to get more involved. The next step is for them to become advocates — community organizers. They are excited about it,” she said.
To watch the course, students connected to an online “link” to each 35-minute class — a slide presentation with eye-catching graphics and that is guided by a voiceover from Maria Moncaleano, diocesan coordinator of faith and leadership formation who taught the sessions. She explores the theology and philosophy behind Catholic Social Teaching through Church documents up to Laudato Si’ (“On Care of Our Common Home”), issued by Pope Francis in 2016.
Participating catechists can earn up to six continuing education hours for their certification, although the course is open to everyone. Hispanic Ministry is offering the course online because faithful of the Diocese have been following shelter-in-place orders at home to help slow the spread of the virus. Normally, the ministry presents all of its 65 courses and classes live at the Pope St. John Paul II Pastoral Center in Clifton — a satellite center for St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison, where Hispanic Ministry holds it programs, Vega McTighe said.
One student, Sonia Castro, director of religious education at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish in Dover, said that the course cleared up the confusion many feel “that the Church shouldn’t be involved [in public affairs].”
“We Catholics understand that the world that God gave us is good. We are here to fight for the common good and people’s rights. The Church can’t be silent; it must speak out,” said Castro, one of 17 local Hispanic Catholics who recently completed the diocese’s first class of the diocesan Leadership Certificate in Hispanic Ministry with Specialization in Evangelization [see related story starting on page 1].
In the first part of the course, Moncaleano explains how the principles of Catholic social teaching have been part of our faith tradition since the time of Scriptures and continue to guide us today “for us to follow and to bring about the Reign of God.” She also describes the connection between the Church’s social doctrine and evangelization.
The second and third parts of the course focus on how papal, council and episcopal documents articulate Catholic Social Teaching — a deepness and richness of the Church’s tradition that the faithful can best understand by reading the documents for themselves. During these classes, Moncaleano gives brief reflections of the Church documents from Rerum Novarum to Laudato Si’, while “highlighting several of the key themes that are at the heart of our Catholic social tradition.”
“For centuries the Church has cared about social justice, which comes not only from Church documents, but also before that in the Scriptures,” Moncaleano said. “It’s our responsibility as Catholics to fight to create a better and just world. Catholic social teaching should motivate us to get more involved — using our hearts to cry with compassion, our heads to understand what is asked from us to do and our hands to put our action into practice,” she said.
Raul Nombera of St. Mary Help of Christians Parish in Paterson called the course that he watched with his wife, Martha, “eye-opening.”
“We don’t always get the opportunity to hear about the Church’s social doctrine — a call for the world, especially the Catholic community, to put faith in action. We see the inequities and human rights violations like in Minneapolis and see the struggles in the Hispanic community. We must love God and our neighbor. We need to be in solidarity with people who are in need and are being mistreated by others,” said Raul Nombera who also recently completed the three-year Leadership Certificate in Hispanic Ministry.
In response, Martha Nombera told The Beacon, “We need to hear more about social justice in our houses [churches] from the pulpit. Before we go outside [to fight for justice], we first must look at the reality inside our Church and start changing that.”