Based on this one could legitimately ask, “What can the Passionist contribute to the social issues of our time separate from what the universal Church already proclaims?”

The Passionist, like so many other religious communities of the Church, contributes to the social teachings of our Church in two ways. On the one hand we have a specific spiritual perspective that is based on the charism that we have from our founder. This lens can often offer us a deeper perspective on any social issue in that it places the issue within the specific Christian spirituality that is the hallmark of our community. In the case of the Passionist community we reflect on issues from the perspective of Christ’s suffering and Passion. The Passionist Constitutions explain this spiritual perspective in this way:

We are aware that the Passion of Christ continues in this world until He comes in glory; therefore we share in the joys and sorrows of our contemporaries as we journey through life toward our Father. We wish to share in the distress of all, especially those who are poor and neglected; we seek to offer them comfort and to relieve the burden of their sorrow. The power of the Cross, which is the wisdom of God, gives us strength to discern and remove the causes of human suffering.   

Our spirituality looks at social issues from the perspective of redemptive suffering. Our devotion to the Passion constantly reminds us that the social Passion that Jesus suffered was not in vain. Coupled with the Resurrection we know that through the power of God the suffering of humanity can be redeemed if we journey with God and place all our suffering within the framework of establishing the Kingdom of God. Through the mystery of incarnation Jesus took on our suffering. Obviously we know that does not mean that suffering has been eliminated. Instead it means that God continues to walk with us in our suffering. This has been recently expressed by Pope Benedict XVI 2007 encyclical titled Spe Salvi:

Man is worth so much to God that he himself became man in order to suffer with man in an utterly real way—in flesh and blood—as is revealed to us in the account of Jesus’s Passion. Hence in all human suffering we are joined by one who experiences and carries that suffering with us; hence con-solatio is present in all suffering, the consolation of God’s compassionate love—and so the star of hope rises.      

Our spiritual focus then is to examine all social issues from the vantage point of redemptive suffering. We identify with the very real suffering that is happening. We then reflect on how we can find meaning in the midst of this real experience of suffering. This search for meaning will call us to reevaluate the national and global policies that are affecting the suffering community that we are walking with. We then advocate redeeming society from these negative social or economic policies in a way that can heal the social wounds that they are directly or indirectly causing.   

The second way that the Passionist contributes to the Catholic social position is through our direct ministries of service. We are called to be in solidarity with the human community that is suffering. That call to solidarity means that we are expected to have a real ministry of presence and service to the community that is suffering. Since suffering can be experienced in so many different ways, our lay and vowed community can serve this mission through any variety of programs. When we advocate and promote social positions of our Church it is important for us that we do not raise these principles and positions from a theoretical framework. So we raise the real ministry experience of our international community who serves the population whose suffering we are addressing at the moment.

In the next few weeks we will be sharing our spirituality and ministerial experiences over the issue of immigration. Afterwards we will continue addressing other Catholic social issues but always from these two ways. We will share from the spiritual reflection of our charism and from the ministry experience of our communities.

In 2006 the Passionists held their 45^th General Chapter. A General Chapter is a worldwide gathering of the Catholic Religious Community to set direction and elect its own international government. In the Catholic Church many international religious communities have organized themselves in this way from the moment that they are founded in order to develop a governing structure for the spiritual mission of these communities.

Like other Catholic religious communities, the Passionists take the opportunity during these gatherings to reflect on the state of their mission and spirituality in light of our ever changing world. This has been especially true after Vatican II when the document on religious life requested that religious communities reflect on the spirit of their founder or foundation in light of the contemporary reality. During this recent gathering the Community offered a single decree that proposes a reconfiguration of the international community on the basis of globalization and the social and spiritual issues of our time. Along with this decree, 10 recommendations were listed as priorities for this new reconfiguration. The fifth priority included the following statement:

Another priority is that of commitment to justice, peace and the integrity of creation.  This commitment is profoundly rooted in our charism.  Our Constitutions express our desire “to share in the distress of all, especially those who are poor and neglected…” (Const.#3).  We believe that the power of the Cross offers us the strength to discern and to alleviate the burden of suffering experienced by the poor and the marginalized of our world.  The preferential option for the poor has a central role in the process of Restructuring, guiding us to channel and utilize our resources. Furthermore, the ecological crisis of the world in which we live invites us to be concerned about the safeguarding and the protection of creation.

Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) is identified by the Passionist and by a number of other Christian religious communities and organizations as the lens through which many Christian communities are re-interpreting the social mission of the Gospel. There is a holistic and spiritual quality to this acronym that goes beyond the more secular term of social justice. Justice and peace are identifiable values within our Sacred Scripture and Christian tradition. The Integrity of Creation places us in relationship to a larger sacred reality: The reality of God’s natural revelation which we identify as Creation. Integrity of Creation also reminds us that the values of justice and peace can only be realized when we affirm a deep relationship with God and all of creation. It reminds us of the dignity that all creation shares including both humanity and the environment.

During the General Chapter the Passionist reflected on JPIC from their unique spirituality. Passionist spirituality is based on the memory of Christ’s Passion. Our devotion to this sacred historical moment reminds us of the redemptive power of suffering. We recall that Jesus suffered a truly unjust death at the hands of the social powers of his day. We also recall also how God redeemed the world through Jesus. In the Resurrection our early Christian forbearers witnessed two things: the reality of who Jesus was as the incarnation of God and humanity, and the redemption of our humanity from the power of sin. Passionists are attentive to the power of sin that continues to cause social suffering, similar to that which Jesus suffered. This spirituality is described under article 65 of the Passionist Constitutions:

His Passion and death are no mere historical events. They are ever-present realities to people in the world of today, “crucified” as they are by injustice, by the lack of a deep respect for human life, and by a hungry yearning for peace, truth, and the fullness of human existence.

Corporate Responsibility has a long history in Holy Cross. In the early 1970’s the province, under the leadership of Fr. Neil Parson’s its Treasurer, began the development of an investment fund to support its ministries. At the same time some protestant churches led by the Episcopalians and United Methodists began to see the connection between their economic power as shareholders and the ability to change corporate policies and behavior. The catalyst was a request from the churches of South Africa that the international community join the fight against apartheid. Large transnational corporations were seen has supporting the white government’s suppression of the black population. A movement began here to ask large US corporations such as General Motors and Ford to leave South Africa. The large New York banks were asked to cut off lending.

Shareholders are the real owners of corporations. Shareholders elect the corporation’s Board of Directors who in turn hires top management to operate the company. The church shareholders felt the need to coordinate their efforts and set up in NYC the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility.

In 1969 the Passionists had renewed their Constitutions. The new Constitution spells out in a forceful way that the Passion of Christ continues in the world today in the oppression of the poor, in the denial of basic human rights, in the violence of war, and even in the destruction of the earth’s environment. Fr. Parson’s realized the province’s investment portfolio could address this contemporary Passion of Christ. He began to relate to ICCR and heard about the situation in Chile where a coup against the socialist government of Aliende had installed a military dictator. What concerned him even more was that a large US transnational corporation, International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), was accused of using money funneled by our CIA to finance the coup. The allegation was that they were afraid the socialist government would nationalize their operations in Chile. This corporation was owned in the Passionist investment portfolio.

Fr. Parsons realized he was in no position to investigate the truth of this accusation. but the Passionists could as shareholders ask the corporation to investigate what happened in Chile and report it to the shareholders and more importantly to adopt a corporate wide policy that they would not fund the violent overthrow of governments where they operated, especially in the third world. With the help of ICCR a resolution was written and sent to the company to be voted upon by all the shareholders at the next annual meeting.

Fr. Parsons asked me to attend the ITT annual meeting in Pittsburgh to move our resolution. I felt very intimidated walking into this enormous hall. There were several other members of ICCR there ready to support and talk very eloquently on this issue. To this day I do not remember the vote. But the important thing was that a light had been thrown on this issue. ITT had to stand up in public to deal with it. Hopefully they would not repeat these actions in other countries of the world. Today corporate management knows that there are shareholders moved by faith that will speak the truth to power.

Fr. Parsons left his position soon after this happened, but I remembered it very well.  In 1987 I was appointed Treasurer. One of my first actions was to have our province join ICCR as a full member.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXuCjtY45io