Spirit Alive

375 Pages·2009·2.88 MB·English

S P I R I T A L I V E!

FIFTY YEARS OF

CONSISTENT LIFE ETHIC ADVOCACY

AND

PARISH SOCIAL MINISTRY

IN THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF ROCHESTER

1958 – 2008

Jack Balinsky
Diocesan Director
Catholic Charities
Diocese of Rochester
March 2009
PREFACE

The Evolution of Catholic Charities in the United States

To truly understand the history, context and work of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of
Rochester, one must begin with the treaty of Westphalia of 1648.

History buffs will recall that this treaty brought to conclusion 100 years of religious warfare in
Europe. The fundamental principle underlying in the treaty was “cuius regio, eius religio”,
“whose territory, his religion.”

Resulting from this treaty, Europe became even more a series of homogeneous enclaves based on
religion.

It was these homogeneous enclaves that were basically transported from Europe to the United
States in the great European immigration waves from the mid-1800’s until the early 1900’s.

Thus, there were established in many locations in the United States, particularly in the Northeast
and Midwest, Catholic ghettos. An apt characterization of the ghettos was that in the context of
the “no Irish need apply” mentality, Catholic communities became societies unto themselves.
The priest was the ward healer. Catholics created their own school systems, healthcare services
and also met human service needs of their parishioners. The earliest providers of Catholic social
services were the parishes themselves, focusing on financial, marriage and family problems, plus
care of the young and of the old.

What are now known as Catholic Charities agencies came into being in the late 1800’s and early
1900’s largely to centralize and make more efficient the provision of social services, much as our
churches now come together in communities to form one emergency services entity, soup
kitchen or food pantry.

The first convening of representatives from across the country of Bureaus of Catholic Charities
occurred in Washington, D.C., in 1910.

The Growth of Catholic Charities in the United States

The growth and transformation of the Catholic Charities family in the United States in the last
100-plus years has been remarkable.

Its roots are both the Diocesan structures described above, and the indefatigable work of
communities of religious men and women, who even from the early 1700’s established
healthcare institutions and programs to serve both the very young and also older persons in the
community.

From its earliest beginnings to the mid-1950’s, the typical diocesan charities agency provided
adoption, counseling and financial assistance services almost exclusively to Catholics. The
dominant evolution was toward professionalization of services, reflecting the drive of the larger
social work profession to gain a status akin to that of the educational profession.
Catholic Charities agencies, often called Catholic Social Services agencies, were invariably led
by priests, had no boards or, if they did have boards, had ecclesially controlled boards, and were
located almost exclusively in the See city of the diocese.

The work of these agencies was often accompanied by Catholic institutions for children created
by religious communities, primarily those of religious women.

It would be a serious omission not to mention the power of Catholic Charities advocacy during
this time period. It was said, for example, that in a 40-year period not one piece of child welfare
legislation was passed by Congress without the imprimatur of Msgr. John O’Grady, national
Charities Director.

Then came the ‘60’s, both in the Church and in the world.

Within the Church, among the many outcomes of the Second Vatican Council was a heightened
sense of social justice awareness, including preferential option for the poor, a recognition of the
role of the laity, and furtherance of the principle of subsidiarity, i.e. the recognition that issues
should be addressed at the lowest possible level of social organization.

In the world, the 1960’s began for Catholic Charities and other not-for-profit agencies in 1959
with the introduction of the government-purchase-of-service concept. While Catholic Charities
agencies and other not-for-profits had long worked in cooperation with government, this new
concept resulted in an explosion of funding for not-for-profits and significant expansion of
services. With this impetus, the initiation of the “war on poverty,” and the creation of Medicaid
and Medicare, Catholic Charities agencies became involved in everything from drug abuse and
housing to the care of mentally ill and developmentally disabled persons, as well as advocacy
programs.

Within a short period of time, by the late 1960’s, Bishops and Catholic Charities leaders were
asking questions like:

• Not what can we do, but what should we do?
• What is Catholic about Catholic Charities?
• What has happened to our rootedness in parishes?
• If we accept government funding, can we still maintain our role as advocate with
government?
• Should we serve only Catholics, or all persons in need?

These questions were answered through the Cadre Report adopted by the National Conference of
Catholic Charities in 1972.

The Cadre Report outlined a three-fold mission for Catholic Charities:

• the quality provision of direct services (it’s OK to accept government funding) on a non-
denominational basis (and to serve more than Catholics)
• advocacy to transform the social order
• a convening function, calling together local faith communities and in particular Catholic
faith communities, to address local issues.

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Probably the most important part of the Cadre Report, however, was the preamble, written by a
visionary priest from New York, Monsignor Bob Fox, because it articulated a vision for the work
of Catholic Charities. In accepting the Catholic Charities USA vision 2000 Award at the
national meeting in New Orleans in September, 2008, longtime Catholic Charities leader, Bishop
Joseph Sullivan of Brooklyn summarized the preamble in his address as follows:

“However we are not driven by external events in charting our future. I believe it is
worthwhile to review the report “Towards a Renewed Catholic Charities,” especially the
preamble – ‘A Theology of Charity’. It was penned by the charismatic Monsignor Robert
Fox. It is the most important part of the study and a source of endless inspiration. It is a
contemporary rendering of the meaning of charity. It embodies an ecclesiology rooted in the
baptismal commitment of all the people of God, a principle of sacramentality which
challenges us to make our programs and services transparencies of the love of Christ, a
spirituality which sees all creation, events and happenings as a medium through which God
reveals God and the consequent need for all to bring the gifts of the Spirit, wonder and awe,
to our experiences. In a hectic and demanding social ministry, it is necessary for us to find
time to create moments of celebration in which, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we can digest
the full meaning of our experiences. We ought to avoid the temptations to offer people easy
escape from life’s hardship, but help them probe the meaning of these experiences in depth
and with God’s grace to endure and overcome them. According to Monsignor Fox one did
not have to escape city pavements to find beauty somewhere else in some future time or
place, but in the midst of the struggle there was beauty all around us. As compassionate and
competent professionals we had to go beyond particular acts of charitable service to probe
the underlying contributing factors to poverty and oppression. The Cadre saw no dichotomy
between social service and social action. It was essential to see them linked, lest one mute
the harsh inequities of unjust policies and institutional practices or lest one becomes an
ideologue with a cause and a methodology to bring about change.”

While the three-fold mission statement was updated and refined somewhat in the Catholic
Charities USA Vision 2000 process, it remains the central mission still today. Bob Fox’s vision
statement was in many ways reaffirmed and extended in Pope Benedict’s first Encyclical “Deus
Caritas Est.”

Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Rochester

To understand fully the impact of the guidelines and accomplishments described in this book, it
is helpful to understand the status of the work of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Rochester
at the time the Cadre Report was adopted in 1972.

From the mid-19th Century through the first three quarters of the 20th Century, Catholic health
and social service activity in this Diocese reflected quite closely the national trends described
above. The Daughters of Charity established St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester in 1857, followed
by the creation of St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elmira. The
Sisters of St. Joseph also established St. Ann’s nursing home facility in Rochester and the
Franciscan Sisters created a nursing home in Auburn.

In 1913, the Catholic Charities Guild was organized to coordinate “Almsgiving” of Catholic
organizations. Its first staff person was a visionary leader – Kathleen D’Olier. In 1915, the St.
Elizabeth’s Guild was incorporated to provide residential services to women. Following passage
of Chapter 256 of the Laws of 1917 in April, enabling the creation of Catholic Charities
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Corporations in each Diocese in the state, the Rochester Catholic Charities Aid Association was
incorporated in June 28, 1917, with William Nolan serving as its first executive director. Also in
1917, Charles Settlement House was opened. In 1918, the Charities’ trustees voted to join
Rochester’s Patriotic and Community Fund (Community Chest) after George Eastman’s
Organizing Committee assured Bishop Thomas Hickey that Charities autonomy and programs
would be safeguarded. The name of the organization was changed in 1922 to Rochester Catholic
Charities. Also in 1922, the Knights of Columbus raised $577,000 to build a building to house
Catholic Charities on the corner of Main and Chestnut Streets. In 1924, Charities took over the
Big Brothers Club and joined the Council of Social Agencies. In 1926 Camp Stella Maris was
founded by seminarians from St. Bernard’s to serve poor, inner-city children.

There were several important developments within Catholic Charities in the 1930s. In 1930,
Father Walter Foery became the first priest Director of Catholic Charities. Also in 1930, Elmira
Catholic Family Center was organized and Rochester Charities organized a program to provide
clothes to those in need which would last until the end of the Depression. From 1931-1943,
Charities administered relief in contract with the City of Rochester’s Bureau of Public
Assistance.

Catholic Charities was also evolving internally during this decade. In 1934, Diocesan Charities
was separated from the Casework Division, and Charities hired a girls’ youth worker. In 1935,
Parole Services were discontinued, but the St. Gerald Maternity Guild was founded to meet the
needs of expectant mothers. In 1936, the Catholic Youth Association (which became the
Catholic Youth Organization) was created. In 1938, all Charities activities, except a few retained
in the Social Action Department, were transferred to a new Department of Family and Child
Care.

In the 1940s there were five important developments:

• In 1940, Charities hired an adolescent boy worker.
• In 1941, St. Joseph’s Village was organized.
• After the Second World War, Catholic Charities helped displaced persons seeking
freedom in the United States.
• In 1946, Elmira Catholic Family Center was licensed to provide child care services and
also began refugee resettlement.
• In 1949, the organization Rochester Catholic Charities was renamed as Catholic Charities
of the Diocese of Rochester.

These major events occurred in the 1950’s:

• In 1950, Catholic Charities established DePaul Clinic as a child guidance clinic for
parochial school children.
• In 1950, Charities Family and Children Division became Catholic Family Center.
• In 1955, Catholic Family Center of Auburn was established.
• In 1956, Catholic Charities helped resettle Hungarian refugees.

While there was a general evolution of services in 1960s due to the availability of government
funding, the 1970’s saw organizational changes. Most notably, in 1972, the Elmira Catholic
Family Center was merged into the secular Family Services agency after the flood, and the
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Catholic Family Center program in Auburn merged with a secular agency to form the Cayuga
Family Center.

By the mid-1970s, Catholic Family Center had organized its services into three broad categories:
Family Strengthening Services, Family Substitutive Services, and Services to Specific
Populations.

Specific services provided included:

Counseling
Unwed Parent
Adoption
Foster Care
Group Home for Teen-age Girls
Inner City Outreach
Mandated Prevention Services
Restart Drug Abuse Program
Refugee
Aged
Hispanic

Thus at the time period when the Cadre Report was adopted, the formal Catholic Charities
presence in the Diocese was Catholic Family Center, CYO, Charles Settlement House, Genesee
Settlement House in Rochester and Camp Stella Maris. Their focus was direct services
provision.

This is the context in which the work described in this book should be understood.

It is the purpose of this book to describe the extraordinary efforts of Catholic Charities and the
Diocese of Rochester to carry out the second and third elements of the national mission
statement: consistent life ethic advocacy and parish social ministry, from 1967 until the present.

A subsequent volume will detail the evolution of direct service provision by Catholic
Charities stretching back to its founding in 1910 up until the present time. This, too, is an
extraordinary story of significant historical worthiness.

The accomplishments detailed in this volume would not have been possible without the solid
foundation of activities already underway in the Diocese in the wake of the Second Vatican
Council. Mention is made of these pioneering efforts in each area addressed in the book.

It is the thesis of this book that these accomplishments were then made possible by four
fundamental approaches undertaken by Diocesan and Catholic Charities leadership:

• The decision early on to devote considerable Diocesan resources to advocacy and parish
social ministry activity, very different from the traditional direct service provision of
Catholic Charities.
• The successful integration of advocacy and direct service activities into one
administrative structure, commencing with the creation in 1977 of what was then known
as the Office of Social Ministry.
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• The integration over time, not without its continuing tensions, of social justice advocacy
and life issues advocacy into a Consistent Life Ethic approach.
• The creation of a decentralized model of governance for Catholic Charities, first
envisioned in the 1979 Catholic Charities of the Future proposal, which has enabled the
organization to have substantial advocacy and parish social ministry presence throughout
the Diocese.

This volume details the ways in which these fundamental approaches found expression in
Catholic Charities work over the last 40 years.

Special Note: As always, I express deepest appreciation to JoAnn Anderson, my incomparable
administrative assistant, without whom this work would not be possible.

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Table of Conte nts

Dedication

Introduction

Page
Chapter One:

The Office of Human Development 1967 – 1980……………………………………………………..1

A. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1
B. The Urban Vicar 1967-1969………………………………………………………………1
C. Secular Mission – Office of Human Concern 1967-1971………………………………..7
D. Consolidation of the Office of Human Development …………………………………..11
1971-1976
E. The Office of Human Development Within……………………………………………..20
Social Ministry 1976-1980
F. Campaign for Human Development 1970-1980…………………………………………30
G. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….39

Chapter Two:

The Diocesan Commissions: Human Life (1978-1985) and International…………………………..40
Justice and Peace (1976-1985)

A. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..40
B. The Diocesan Human Life Commission 1978-1985……………………………………...40
C. The International Justice and Peace Commission……………………………………….55
1976-1985
D. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………76

Chapter Three:

The Department of Justice and Peace within the Office of Social Ministry………………………..77
1980-1985

A. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….77
B. The Development of the Department of Justice and Peace…………………………….78
C. The Office of Human Development……………………………………………………...81
D. The Campaign for Human Development………………………………………………..88
E. Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation, Inc……………………………………90
F. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………94

Chapter Four:

The Peace (1983) and Economics (1986) Pastorals …………………………………………………..95

A. Introduction.........................................................................................................................95
B. The Peace Pastoral 1983…………………………………….…………………………….95
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C. The Economics Pastoral 1986…………………………………………………………..104
D. Late 1980’s Follow-up Activities……………………………………………………….109
E. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….111

Chapter Five:

The Evolution of the Office of Social Ministry 1976-1985……………………………… …….…..112

A. Introduction……………………………………………………………….……………..112
B. The Creation of the Office of Social Ministry 1977……………………………………113
C. Catholic Charities of the Future 1979…………………………………………………..114
D. The Creation of the Southern Tier Office of Social Ministry………………………….121
(1980) and The Finger Lakes Office of Social Ministry (1982)
E. The Renewal of Social Ministry 1985…………………………………………………....128
F. Conclusion............................................................................................................................147

Chapter Six:

The Further Development of the Office of Social Ministry 1985-1992…………………….…….148
“Growing Pains”

A. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..148

B. The Evolution of the Genesee Valley Office of Social Ministry………………………148
1985-1989
C. The Evolving Administrative Structure 1985-1989………………………..………….154
D. The Transition Process 1990-1991…………………………………………..………….171
E. A New Beginning 1991-1992……………………………………………….....…………177
F. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..…………187

Chapter Seven:

The Further Development of Catholic Charities 1993-2008………………………………….…….188
“The Noble Experiment”

A. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….................188
B. The Growth of Catholic Family Center, Catholic Charities of the…………………….189
Finger Lakes and Catholic Charities Community Services 1993-2008
C. The Creation of Catholic Charities of Livingston County 1995………………………..193
D. The Integration of Kinship Family and Youth Services into……………………………198
Catholic Charities 2000
E. The Transformation of Catholic Charities of the Southern Tier……………………….202
1996-2003
F. The Creation of Catholic Charities of Wayne County 2004…………………………….211
G. The Significant Strengthening of Centralized Services 1993-2008……………………..218
H. Conclusion.............................................................................................................................231

Chapter Eight:

Consistent Life Ethic Advocacy and Parish Social Ministry 1985-1992…………………………………232

A. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….......232
B. The Justice and Peace Staff………………………………………………………………..232
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C. International Involvement and Catholic Relief Services…………………………………237
D. Consistent Life Ethic Advocacy……………………………………………………………240
E. Campaign for Human Development………………………………………………………245
F. Parish Social Ministry………………………………………………………………………246
G. Conclusion………………………………………..………………………………….………248

Chapter Nine:

The Work of the Diocesan Public Policy Committee (1992-2008) and Synod……………………………249
Goal II Implementation: Consistent Life Ethic Advocacy (1994-1999)

A. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..249
B. The Work of the Diocesan Public Policy Committee 1992-2008……………………………..249
C. Synod Goal II Implementation: Consistent Life Ethic Advocacy 1994-1999………………..262
D. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………..274

Chapter Ten:

Consistent Life Ethic Advocacy and Parish Social Ministry 1993-2008………………………………….274

A. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..275
B. The Justice and Peace Staff…………………………………………………………………….275
C. International Involvement and Catholic Relief Services……………………………………..284
D. Consistent Life Ethic Advocacy (including Catholic Campaign……………………………..291
for Human Development)
E. Parish Social Ministry…………………………………………………………………………..295
F. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………..304

CONCLUSION:

The Fruits of our Labor in Retrospect…………………………………………………..………………….305

APPENDICES

Appendix I : Bishop Sheen’s 14 Questions to Inner-city Pastors 1967

Appendix II: Outline of Office of Human Development Ministry Goals 1973

Appendix III: Human Life Commission Bylaws 1978

Appendix IV: Charter of the International Justice and Peace Commission 1981

Appendix V: Parish Social Ministry Coordinator Job Description 1985

Appendix VI: The Renewal of the Parish Social Ministry Committee 1985

Appendix VII: Bishop Clark’s Address at Sampson State Park Rally 1983

Appendix VIII: Charter of the Southern Tier Office of Social Ministry 1980

Appendix IX: Charter of the Finger Lakes Office of Social Ministry 1982

Appendix X: Charter of the Genesee Valley Office of Social Ministry 1985
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