Guests attending service at The
Bowery Mission Chapel in Lower
Manhattan.
A few days ago an article appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentential about the debate of how to use the over one million dollars assigned a Church from sales of three Church properties in North Central Milwaukee. At first I did not like the article but after reading it over again, I thought that perhaps it started a good discussion of how a Catholic parish should use money given it from neighborhood parishes in areas of need. Below is a rough draft on a letter to the editor about the article and the questions it raises. This is just a draft so let us know if you have suggested changes. You can find the Cry of the Poor Petition here.
Dear Editor,
In the (MJS 12/10/2013) raised the issue of use of the million plus dollars the Archdiocese realized from the sales of three Catholic Churches in North Central Milwaukee, not Northwest as mentioned in the article. Over the years
North Central Milwaukee has sadly, according to U.S. Census become the poorest area in Milwaukee, the four poorest city in the USA and the most segregated area in the most segregated city in the USA.
Most religions teach what is called in Catholic Church social teaching calls the ‘preferential option for the poor”. This simply means that the main mission of Jesus and his followrs in parishes is to poor, outcast and marginalized. Catholic parishes are created to bring this mission of Jesus to neighborhoods.
However, the Catholic Churches in the North Central Milwaukee have been decreased from high in the 1960’s of 17 to 3 today. This is the opposite of the option for the poor. The money and people of Blessed Trinity, a merged Church of three were inherited by St. Catherine parish when the Archdiocese closed Blessed Trinity Church. Now Saint Catherine is in the process of being joined with St. Sebastian, are outside of North Central Milwaukee.
The proposal of the Cry of the Poor Petition is quite simple: take the money that is left from closing of these three Churches in North Central Milwaukee and use it for the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, like beds for children, refrigerators and stoves so people can preserve, prepared and cook healthy foods.
There are lots of agencies and outreach centers in North Central Milwaukee but none offer vouchers for new beds, refrigerators and appliances except the three Catholic parish that cover part of the area. In the Gospel there is no conflict on how to use these money resources. Jesus says in the parable of the Judgment of Nations to those who practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy: “Whatsoever you did for one of my brothers and sisters, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did for me.” (Matt. 25: 40)
Check out the Cry of the Poor Petition at www.nonviolentcow.org and if you agree join the many of us who signed it.
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