Parishes play a “vital role” in bringing Christ’s transformative love to the world, said two U.S. bishops as a key document on social ministry marks its 30th year.
“Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish” was approved by the U.S. Catholic bishops in November 1993 and continues to serve as a roadmap for parish social ministry.
The document’s title points to Jesus’ likening of the disciples to salt and light, called to season and illuminate the world with the Gospel message (Mt 5:13-16).
“Three decades after its release, we see the enduring importance of this guiding document,” said Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, who in mid-November completed his three-year term as chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace.
“We continue to invite faith communities to integrate social ministry throughout the life of the parish, and to take up the call to be communities of salt and light, forming and sending the faithful to protect the least of these,” said Archbishop Gudziak and Bishop Malloy in a statement issued Nov. 20.
The statement noted that updated resource pages, available in both English and Spanish, have integrated Pope Francis’ teaching with the original document. Also available are new prayer and educational materials, including an interactive assessment tool to help parishes implement their social ministry initiatives.
“Communities of Salt and Light” was the U.S. Catholic bishops’ first effort to specifically address what they called “the crucial role of parishes” in the Church’s social ministry.
“We are convinced that the local parish is the most important ecclesial setting for sharing and acting on our Catholic social heritage,” since “the parish is where the church lives,” said the bishops in the document.
Parish social ministry “has clear biblical roots,” and “especially in the Hebrew prophets and the life and words of Jesus,” wrote the bishops.
They noted that biblical mandates to uphold human dignity – for example, through care of the poor and marginalized – “have been explored and expressed in a special way in Catholic social teaching.”
In 1990, the U.S. bishops outlined the development of that teaching in a pastoral message for the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, an 1891 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII that articulated the Church’s stance on issues of social justice, particularly those raised by the impact of the Industrial Revolution on modern society and human dignity. The encyclical is a foundational document on Catholic social teaching.
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